Micah 5-7
New Century Version
5 So, strong city, gather your soldiers together,
because we are surrounded and attacked.
They will hit the leader of Israel
in the face with a club.
The Ruler to Be Born in Bethlehem
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are too small to be among the army groups from Judah,
from you will come one who will rule Israel for me.
He comes from very old times,
from days long ago.”
3 The Lord will give up his people
until the one who is having a baby gives birth;
then the rest of his relatives will return
to the people of Israel.
4 At that time the ruler of Israel will stand
and take care of his people
with the Lord’s strength
and with the power of the name of the Lord his God.
The Israelites will live in safety,
because his greatness will reach all over the earth.
5 He will bring peace.
Rescue and Punishment
Assyria will surely come into our country
and walk over our large buildings.
We will set up seven shepherds,
eight leaders of the people.
6 They will destroy the Assyrians with their swords;
they will conquer the land of Assyria with their swords drawn.
They will rescue us from the Assyrians when they come into our land,
when they walk over our borders.
7 Then the people of Jacob who are left alive
will be to other people
like dew from the Lord
or rain on the grass—
it does not wait for human beings;
it does not pause for any person.
8 Those of Jacob’s people who are left alive
will be scattered among many nations and peoples.
They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest,
like a young lion in a flock of sheep:
As it goes, it jumps on them
and tears them to pieces,
and no one can save them.
9 So you will raise your fist in victory over your enemies,
and all your enemies will be destroyed.
10 The Lord says, “At that time,
I will take your horses from you
and destroy your chariots.
11 I will destroy the cities in your country
and tear down all your defenses.
12 I will take away the magic charms you use
so you will have no more fortune-tellers.
13 I will destroy your statues of gods
and the stone pillars you worship
so that you will no longer worship
what your hands have made.
14 I will tear down Asherah idols from you
and destroy your cities.
15 In my anger and rage,
I will pay back the nations that have not listened.”
The Lord’s Case
6 Now hear what the Lord says:
“Get up; plead your case in front of the mountains;
let the hills hear your story.
2 Mountains, listen to the Lord’s legal case.
Foundations of the earth, listen.
The Lord has a legal case against his people,
and he will accuse Israel.”
3 He says, “My people, what did I do to you?
How did I make you tired of me?
Tell me.
4 I brought you from the land of Egypt
and freed you from slavery;
I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to you.
5 My people, remember
the evil plans of Balak king of Moab
and what Balaam son of Beor told Balak.
Remember what happened from Acacia to Gilgal
so that you will know the Lord does what is right!”
6 You say, “What can I bring with me
when I come before the Lord,
when I bow before God on high?
Should I come before him with burnt offerings,
with year-old calves?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with a thousand male sheep?
Will he be pleased with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Should I give my first child for the evil I have done?
Should I give my very own child for my sin?”
8 The Lord has told you, human, what is good;
he has told you what he wants from you:
to do what is right to other people,
love being kind to others,
and live humbly, obeying your God.
9 The voice of the Lord calls to the city,
and the wise person honors him.
So pay attention to the rod of punishment;
pay attention to the One who threatens to punish.
10 Are there still in the wicked house
wicked treasures
and the cursed false measure?
11 Can I forgive people who cheat others
with wrong weights and scales?
12 The rich people of the city
do cruel things.
Its people tell lies;
they do not tell the truth.
13 As for me, I will make you sick.
I will attack you, ruining you because of your sins.
14 You will eat, but you won’t become full;
you will still be hungry and empty.
You will store up, but save nothing,
and what you store up, the sword will destroy.
15 You will plant,
but you won’t harvest.
You will step on your olives,
but you won’t get any oil from them.
You will crush the grapes,
but you will not drink the new wine.
16 This is because you obey the laws of King Omri
and do all the things that Ahab’s family does;
you follow their advice.
So I will let you be destroyed.
The people in your city will be laughed at,
and other nations will make fun of you.
The Evil That People Do
7 Poor me! I am like a hungry man,
and all the summer fruit has been picked—
there are no grapes left to eat,
none of the early figs I love.
2 All of the faithful people are gone;
there is not one good person left in this country.
Everyone is waiting to kill someone;
everyone is trying to trap someone else.
3 With both hands they are doing evil.
Rulers ask for money,
and judges’ decisions are bought for a price.
Rich people tell what they want,
and they get it.
4 Even the best of them is like a thornbush;
the most honest of them is worse than a prickly plant.
The day that your watchmen[a] warned you about has come.
Now they will be confused.
5 Don’t believe your neighbor
or trust a friend.
Don’t say anything,
even to your wife.
6 A son will not honor his father,
a daughter will turn against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law will be against her mother-in-law;
a person’s enemies will be members of his own family.
The Lord’s Kindness
7 Israel says, “I will look to the Lord for help.
I will wait for God to save me;
my God will hear me.
8 Enemy, don’t laugh at me.
I have fallen, but I will get up again.
I sit in the shadow of trouble now,
but the Lord will be a light for me.
9 I sinned against the Lord,
so he was angry with me,
but he will defend my case in court.
He will bring about what is right for me.
Then he will bring me out into the light,
and I will see him set things right.
10 Then my enemies will see this,
and they will be ashamed,
those who said to me,
‘Where is the Lord your God?’
I will look down on them.
They will get walked on, like mud in the street.”
Israel Will Return
11 The time will come when your walls will be built again,
when your country will grow.
12 At that time your people will come back to you
from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to the Euphrates River,
and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
13 The earth will be ruined for the people who live in it
because of their deeds.
A Prayer to God
14 So shepherd your people with your stick;
tend the flock of people who belong to you.
That flock now lives alone in the forest
in the middle of a garden land.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead
as in days long ago.
15 “As in the days when I brought you out of Egypt,
I will show them miracles.”
16 When the nations see those miracles,
they will no longer brag about their power.
They will put their hands over their mouths,
refusing to listen.
17 They will crawl in the dust like a snake,
like insects crawling on the ground.
They will come trembling from their holes to the Lord our God
and will turn in fear before you.
18 There is no God like you.
You forgive those who are guilty of sin;
you don’t look at the sins of your people
who are left alive.
You will not stay angry forever,
because you enjoy being kind.
19 You will have mercy on us again;
you will conquer our sins.
You will throw away all our sins
into the deepest part of the sea.
20 You will be true to the people of Jacob,
and you will be kind to the people of Abraham
as you promised to our ancestors long ago.
Footnotes
- 7:4 watchmen Another name for prophets. The prophets were like guards who stood on a city’s wall and watched for trouble coming from far away.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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