Micah 3

Judgment against Israel’s Leaders

1I said, “Listen, you leaders of Israel!

You are supposed to know right from wrong,

2but you are the very ones

who hate good and love evil.

You skin my people alive

and tear the flesh from their bones.

3Yes, you eat my people’s flesh,

strip off their skin,

and break their bones.

You chop them up

like meat for the cooking pot.

4Then you beg the Lord for help in times of trouble!

Do you really expect him to answer?

After all the evil you have done,

he won’t even look at you!”

5This is what the Lord says:

“You false prophets are leading my people astray!

You promise peace for those who give you food,

but you declare war on those who refuse to feed you.

6Now the night will close around you,

cutting off all your visions.

Darkness will cover you,

putting an end to your predictions.

The sun will set for you prophets,

and your day will come to an end.

7Then you seers will be put to shame,

and you fortune-tellers will be disgraced.

And you will cover your faces

because there is no answer from God.”

8But as for me, I am filled with power—

with the Spirit of the Lord.

I am filled with justice and strength

to boldly declare Israel’s sin and rebellion.

9Listen to me, you leaders of Israel!

You hate justice and twist all that is right.

10You are building Jerusalem

on a foundation of murder and corruption.

11You rulers make decisions based on bribes;

you priests teach God’s laws only for a price;

you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid.

Yet all of you claim to depend on the Lord.

“No harm can come to us,” you say,

“for the Lord is here among us.”

12Because of you, Mount Zion will be plowed like an open field;

Jerusalem will be reduced to ruins!

A thicket will grow on the heights

where the Temple now stands.

Micah 4

The Lord’s Future Reign

1In 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.

2People 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.

3The 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.

4Everyone 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!

5Though the nations around us follow their idols,

we will follow the Lord our God forever and ever.

Israel’s Return from Exile

6“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.

7Those 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*4:7 Hebrew Mount Zion.

as their king forever.”

8As for you, Jerusalem,

the citadel of God’s people,*4:8 Hebrew As for you, Migdal-eder, / the Ophel of the daughter of Zion.

your royal might and power

will come back to you again.

The kingship will be restored

to my precious Jerusalem.

9But 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.

10Writhe and groan like a woman in labor,

you people of Jerusalem,*4:10 Hebrew O daughter of Zion.

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.

11Now many nations have gathered against you.

“Let her be desecrated,” they say.

“Let us see the destruction of Jerusalem.*4:11 Hebrew of Zion.”

12But 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!”*4:13 Hebrew “Rise up and thresh, O daughter of Zion.”

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.”

Micah 5

1*5:1 Verse 5:1 is numbered 4:14 in Hebrew text.Mobilize! Marshal your troops!

The enemy is laying siege to Jerusalem.

They will strike Israel’s leader

in the face with a rod.

A Ruler from Bethlehem

2*5:2 Verses 5:2-15 are numbered 5:1-14 in Hebrew text.But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

are only a small village among all the people of Judah.

Yet a ruler of Israel,

whose origins are in the distant past,

will come from you on my behalf.

3The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies

until the woman in labor gives birth.

Then at last his fellow countrymen

will return from exile to their own land.

4And he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord’s strength,

in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.

Then his people will live there undisturbed,

for he will be highly honored around the world.

5And he will be the source of peace.

When the Assyrians invade our land

and break through our defenses,

we will appoint seven rulers to watch over us,

eight princes to lead us.

6They will rule Assyria with drawn swords

and enter the gates of the land of Nimrod.

He will rescue us from the Assyrians

when they pour over the borders to invade our land.

The Remnant Purified

7Then the remnant left in Israel*5:7 Hebrew in Jacob; also in 5:8. See note on 1:5a.

will take their place among the nations.

They will be like dew sent by the Lord

or like rain falling on the grass,

which no one can hold back

and no one can restrain.

8The remnant left in Israel

will take their place among the nations.

They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest,

like a strong young lion among flocks of sheep and goats,

pouncing and tearing as they go

with no rescuer in sight.

9The people of Israel will stand up to their foes,

and all their enemies will be wiped out.

10“In that day,” says the Lord,

“I will slaughter your horses

and destroy your chariots.

11I will tear down your walls

and demolish your defenses.

12I will put an end to all witchcraft,

and there will be no more fortune-tellers.

13I will destroy all your idols and sacred pillars,

so you will never again worship the work of your own hands.

14I will abolish your idol shrines with their Asherah poles

and destroy your pagan cities.

15I will pour out my vengeance

on all the nations that refuse to obey me.”