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Micah 5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Micah 5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 5
1 [a]But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah(A)
least among the clans of Judah,
From you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel;
Whose origin is from of old,
from ancient times.
2 Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time
when she who is to give birth has borne,[b]
Then the rest of his kindred shall return
to the children of Israel.(B)
3 He shall take his place as shepherd
by the strength of the Lord,
by the majestic name of the Lord, his God;
And they shall dwell securely, for now his greatness
shall reach to the ends of the earth:
4 he shall be peace.[c]
If Assyria invades our country
and treads upon our land,
We shall raise against it seven shepherds,
eight of royal standing;
5 They shall tend the land of Assyria with the sword,
and the land of Nimrod[d] with the drawn sword;
They will deliver us from Assyria,
when it invades our land,
when it treads upon our borders.
6 The remnant of Jacob shall be
in the midst of many peoples,
Like dew coming from the Lord,
like showers on the grass,
Which wait for no one,
delay for no human being.
7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
Like a lion among beasts of the forest,
like a young lion among flocks of sheep;
When it passes through it tramples;
it tears and no one can rescue.
8 Your hand shall be lifted above your foes,
and all your enemies shall be cut down.
9 [e]On that day—oracle of the Lord—
I will destroy the horses from your midst
and ruin your chariots;
10 I will destroy the cities of your land
and tear down all your fortresses.
11 I will destroy the sorcery you practice,
and there shall no longer be soothsayers among you.
12 I will destroy your carved figures
and the sacred stones[f] from your midst;
And you shall no longer worship
the works of your hands.(C)
13 I will tear out the asherahs from your midst,
and destroy your cities.
14 I will wreak vengeance in anger and wrath
upon the nations that have not listened.
Footnotes
- 5:1–6 Salvation will come through a “messiah,” an anointed ruler. The Book of Micah shares with Isaiah the expectation that God will deliver Israel through a king in the line of David. Bethlehem-Ephrathah is the home of the Davidic line.
- 5:2 These words are sometimes understood as a reference to Isaiah’s Emmanuel oracle, given some thirty years earlier (Is 7:14). The Gospel of Matthew reports that the chief priests and scribes cite this passage as the ancient promise of a messiah in the line of David to be born in Bethlehem (Mt 2:5–6).
- 5:4 Peace: he will not only symbolize but also bring about harmony and wholeness.
- 5:5 Nimrod: the legendary ancestor of the Mesopotamians; cf. Gn 10:10–12.
- 5:9–13 The Lord will destroy all those features of the nation’s life that have stood between the people and their God. These false supports include horses, chariots, fortifications, and forbidden practices such as sorcery and idolatry.
- 5:12–13 Sacred stones…asherahs: the Hebrew asherah is a sacred pole. All forms of idolatry (standing stones and sacred poles were part of forbidden cult practices) were violations of Israel’s covenant with the Lord.
Micah 5
New International Version
Micah 5
New International Version
A Promised Ruler From Bethlehem
5 [a]Marshal your troops now, city of troops,
for a siege is laid against us.
They will strike Israel’s ruler
on the cheek(A) with a rod.
2 “But you, Bethlehem(B) Ephrathah,(C)
though you are small among the clans[b] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler(D) over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,(E)
from ancient times.”(F)
3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned(G)
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites.
4 He will stand and shepherd his flock(H)
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness(I)
will reach to the ends of the earth.
5 And he will be our peace(J)
when the Assyrians invade(K) our land
and march through our fortresses.
We will raise against them seven shepherds,
even eight commanders,(L)
6 who will rule[c] the land of Assyria with the sword,
the land of Nimrod(M) with drawn sword.[d](N)
He will deliver us from the Assyrians
when they invade our land
and march across our borders.(O)
7 The remnant(P) of Jacob will be
in the midst of many peoples
like dew(Q) from the Lord,
like showers on the grass,(R)
which do not wait for anyone
or depend on man.
8 The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,(S)
like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
which mauls and mangles(T) as it goes,
and no one can rescue.(U)
9 Your hand will be lifted up(V) in triumph over your enemies,
and all your foes will be destroyed.
10 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“I will destroy your horses from among you
and demolish your chariots.(W)
11 I will destroy the cities(X) of your land
and tear down all your strongholds.(Y)
12 I will destroy your witchcraft
and you will no longer cast spells.(Z)
13 I will destroy your idols(AA)
and your sacred stones from among you;(AB)
you will no longer bow down
to the work of your hands.(AC)
14 I will uproot from among you your Asherah poles[e](AD)
when I demolish your cities.
15 I will take vengeance(AE) in anger and wrath
on the nations that have not obeyed me.”
Footnotes
- Micah 5:1 In Hebrew texts 5:1 is numbered 4:14, and 5:2-15 is numbered 5:1-14.
- Micah 5:2 Or rulers
- Micah 5:6 Or crush
- Micah 5:6 Or Nimrod in its gates
- Micah 5:14 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
Micah 5
King James Version
Micah 5
King James Version
5 Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
3 Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
5 And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.
6 And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.
7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.
8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
9 Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots:
11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds:
12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers:
13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands.
14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities.
15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.
Micah 5
EasyEnglish Bible
Micah 5
EasyEnglish Bible
The ruler that God chooses will be born in Bethlehem
5 Soldiers in Jerusalem, come together!
Get ready, because your enemies are attacking you.
They are all round the city, ready to fight.
They will hit Israel's ruler on his face with a stick.[a]
2 But God tells us this:
‘Bethlehem Ephrathah is only a little town,
among all the many towns in Judah,’ God says.
‘But I will choose someone who is born there.[b]
He will rule Israel for me.
Long, long ago, I prepared for him to come.’
3 So God will turn away from his people,
until the time that the woman gives birth to this baby in Bethlehem.
Then this ruler's own people who are still alive will return to Israel.
4 And this ruler will stay strong because the Lord will make him strong.
He will supply what his people need.
He will be like a man who supplies everything for his sheep.
He will rule with authority from the Lord his God,
and his people will be safe.
So then, all over the world, people will know that he is great.
5 And he will cause the people to rest,
so that they have no trouble.
Assyria's soldiers will come to attack our country.
They will march through our large, strong buildings.
Then we will choose seven or eight leaders to fight against them.[c]
6 These leaders will use their swords to destroy Assyria.
They will beat the people in the country called Nimrod with swords in their hands.[d]
Assyria's soldiers will come into our country.
They will march across our borders,
but our ruler will save us from them.
God's people will be strong again
7 And later, Jacob's people who are still alive will be in many countries.
They will be everywhere,
like water on the ground in the early morning,
or rain on the grass.
The Lord sends the water to help the plants,
but no human can make it stay.
8 Jacob's people who are still alive will be living among people in many other countries.
They will become like a dangerous lion among the other animals in the forest.[e]
They will become like a young lion among people's sheep.
The lion attacks other animals.
It knocks them down and it tears them in pieces.
Nobody can save them.[f]
9 You will be strong like that and so you will beat your enemies.
You will kill all of them.
God wants people to obey him
10 ‘At that time,’ the Lord says, ‘I will take your horses away from you.
I will destroy your chariots.
11 I will destroy the cities in your country.
I will knock down all your strong buildings.
12 You make bad spirits help you.
But I will destroy the things that you use to talk to them.
You will have nobody to tell you about future times.
13 You bend down to worship tall stones and idols.[g]
But I will destroy all of them.
You will stop worshipping things that you have made with your own hands.
14 You worship the false god Asherah,[h]
but I will pull her poles from the ground.
I will even destroy your cities.
15 Also I will punish all the people in other countries who refuse to obey me.
I will show them that I am very angry with them.’
Footnotes
- 5:1 This verse tells us again about the enemies who were coming to fight against Jerusalem. They will hit the king on his face, because they will almost win the war. This will show that they have authority over him. (An army from Assyria attacked Jerusalem in 701 BC but they did not completely beat Judah's soldiers. An army from Babylon came years later and beat them.)
- 5:2 This verse tells people that the birth of the ruler will be in Bethlehem, a very small town. Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem.
- 5:5 ‘Seven or eight leaders’ means ‘as many leaders as we need’. The idea is that Israel will have more than enough leaders to beat their enemy at that time.
- 5:6 Nimrod is another name for Assyria. (Genesis 10:8-11 says that Nimrod was a strong hunter. He lived in the same place as Assyria, but many years earlier.)
- 5:8 A lion is a big wild animal. It kills other animals and it eats them.
- 5:8 Verses 7-8 These verses tell about the future time when God's people will be strong again. This time is the ‘last days’, as in Chapter 4:1. Jacob's people can bring life to people from other countries as water brings life to plants. But some of those other people may not want to obey God. To them, Jacob's people will bring death, as a lion kills other animals.
- 5:13 An idol is a thing that people have made from stone, wood or metal. Then they worship and pray to the idol instead of God.
- 5:14 Asherah was the mother-god of the people called Canaanites. Israel's people took their country from the Canaanites and they lived there. They learned to worship the Canaanites' god, Asherah. They used the poles to worship Asherah. But God had told Israel's people not to worship any other gods.
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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