The Mountain of the Lord

It shall come to pass (A)in the latter days
    that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
    and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
    and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
    and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,[a]
    and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples,
    and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away;
and they shall (B)beat their swords into plowshares,
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
    neither shall they learn war anymore;
(C)but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
    (D)and no one shall make them afraid,
    (E)for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
For (F)all the peoples walk
    each in the name of its god,
but (G)we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
    forever and ever.

The Lord Shall Rescue Zion

(H)In that day, declares the Lord,
    (I)I will assemble the (J)lame
and gather those who have been driven away
    and those whom I have afflicted;
and the lame I will make (K)the remnant,
    and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and (L)the Lord will reign over them (M)in Mount Zion
    from this time forth and forevermore.

And you, O tower of the flock,
    hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you shall it come,
    the former dominion shall come,
    kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.

Now why do you cry aloud?
    (N)Is there no king in you?
(O)Has your counselor perished,
    that (P)pain seized you like a woman in labor?
10 (Q)Writhe and groan,[b] O daughter of Zion,
    like a woman in labor,
for (R)now you shall go out from the city
    and dwell in the open country;
    you (S)shall go to Babylon.
There you shall be rescued;
    (T)there the Lord will redeem you
    from the hand of your enemies.

11 Now (U)many nations
    are assembled against you,
saying, “Let her be defiled,
    and (V)let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”
12 But (W)they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
    that (X)he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 Arise and thresh,
    O daughter of Zion,
for I will make your horn iron,
    and I will make your hoofs bronze;
you shall beat in pieces many peoples;
    and (Y)shall devote[c] (Z)their gain to the Lord,
    their wealth to (AA)the Lord of the whole earth.

Footnotes

  1. Micah 4:2 Or teaching
  2. Micah 4:10 Or push
  3. Micah 4:13 Hebrew devote to destruction

The Lord’s Future Reign

In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house
    will be the highest of all—
    the most important place on earth.
It will be raised above the other hills,
    and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.
People from many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the house of Jacob’s God.
There he will teach us his ways,
    and we will walk in his paths.”
For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion;
    his word will go out from Jerusalem.
The Lord will mediate between peoples
    and will settle disputes between strong nations far away.
They will hammer their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer fight against nation,
    nor train for war anymore.
Everyone will live in peace and prosperity,
    enjoying their own grapevines and fig trees,
    for there will be nothing to fear.
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    has made this promise!
Though the nations around us follow their idols,
    we will follow the Lord our God forever and ever.

Israel’s Return from Exile

“In that coming day,” says the Lord,
“I will gather together those who are lame,
    those who have been exiles,
    and those whom I have filled with grief.
Those who are weak will survive as a remnant;
    those who were exiles will become a strong nation.
Then I, the Lord, will rule from Jerusalem[a]
    as their king forever.”
As for you, Jerusalem,
    the citadel of God’s people,[b]
your royal might and power
    will come back to you again.
The kingship will be restored
    to my precious Jerusalem.

But why are you now screaming in terror?
    Have you no king to lead you?
Have your wise people all died?
    Pain has gripped you like a woman in childbirth.
10 Writhe and groan like a woman in labor,
    you people of Jerusalem,[c]
for now you must leave this city
    to live in the open country.
You will soon be sent in exile
    to distant Babylon.
But the Lord will rescue you there;
    he will redeem you from the grip of your enemies.

11 Now many nations have gathered against you.
    “Let her be desecrated,” they say.
    “Let us see the destruction of Jerusalem.[d]
12 But they do not know the Lord’s thoughts
    or understand his plan.
These nations don’t know
    that he is gathering them together
to be beaten and trampled
    like sheaves of grain on a threshing floor.
13 “Rise up and crush the nations, O Jerusalem!”[e]
    says the Lord.
“For I will give you iron horns and bronze hooves,
    so you can trample many nations to pieces.
You will present their stolen riches to the Lord,
    their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.”

Footnotes

  1. 4:7 Hebrew Mount Zion.
  2. 4:8 Hebrew As for you, Migdal-eder, / the Ophel of the daughter of Zion.
  3. 4:10 Hebrew O daughter of Zion.
  4. 4:11 Hebrew of Zion.
  5. 4:13 Hebrew “Rise up and thresh, O daughter of Zion.”