Micah 4:9-5:15

Christian Standard Bible

⁹ Now, why are you shouting loudly?^(A)
Is there no king with you?
Has your counselor perished^(B)
so that anguish grips you like a woman in labor?
¹⁰ Writhe and cry out,^[a](C) Daughter Zion,
like a woman in labor,
for now you will leave the city^(D)
and camp in the open fields.
You will go to Babylon;
there you will be rescued;^(E)
there the Lord will redeem you^(F)
from the grasp of your enemies!
¹¹ Many nations have now assembled against you;^(G)
they say, “Let her be defiled,
and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”
¹² But they do not know the Lord’s intentions^(H)
or understand his plan,
that he has gathered them
like sheaves to the threshing floor.
¹³ Rise and thresh,^(I) Daughter Zion,
for I will make your horns iron
and your hooves bronze
so you can crush many peoples.^(J)
Then you^[b] will set apart their plunder^(K)
for the Lord,
their wealth for the Lord of the whole earth.

5 Now, daughter who is under attack,
you slash yourself in grief;
a siege is set against us!
They are striking the judge^(L) of Israel
on the cheek with a rod.
² Bethlehem Ephrathah,^(M)
you are small among the clans of Judah;
one will come from you^(N)
to be ruler over Israel for me.^(O)
His origin^[c] is from antiquity,^(P)
from ancient times.
³ Therefore, Israel will be abandoned^(Q) until the time
when she who is in labor^(R) has given birth;
then the rest of the ruler’s brothers^(S) will return
to the people of Israel.^(T)
4 He will stand and shepherd them^(U)
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majestic name of the Lord his God.
They will live securely,
for then his greatness will extend
to the ends of the earth.^(V)
5 He will be their peace.^(W)
When Assyria invades our land,^(X)
when it marches against our fortresses,
we will raise against it seven shepherds,
even eight leaders of men.
⁶ They will shepherd^(Y) the land of Assyria with the sword,
the land of Nimrod^(Z) with a drawn blade.^[d]
So he will rescue us^(AA) from Assyria
when it invades our land,
when it marches against our territory.

⁷ Then the remnant of Jacob^(AB)
will be among many peoples
like dew from the Lord,^(AC)
like showers on the grass,^(AD)
which do not wait for anyone
or linger for mankind.
⁸ Then the remnant of Jacob
will be among the nations, among many peoples,
like a lion among animals of the forest,^(AE)
like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
which tramples^(AF) and tears^(AG) as it passes through,
and there is no one to rescue them.^(AH)
9 Your hand will be lifted up against your adversaries,^(AI)
and all your enemies will be destroyed.