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Micah 4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Micah 4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
II. Oracles of Salvation
Chapter 4
1 [a]In days to come
the mount of the Lord’s house
Shall be established as the highest mountain;
it shall be raised above the hills,
And peoples shall stream to it:(A)
2 Many nations shall come, and say,
“Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
That he may instruct us in his ways,
that we may walk in his paths.”
For from Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He shall judge between many peoples
and set terms for strong and distant nations;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
One nation shall not raise the sword against another,
nor shall they train for war again.
4 They shall all sit under their own vines,
under their own fig trees, undisturbed;
for the Lord of hosts has spoken.(B)
5 Though all the peoples walk,
each in the name of its god,
We will walk in the name of the Lord,
our God, forever and ever.
6 [b]On that day—oracle of the Lord—
I will gather the lame,
And I will assemble the outcasts,
and those whom I have afflicted.
7 I will make of the lame a remnant,
and of the weak a strong nation;
The Lord shall be king over them on Mount Zion,
from now on and forever.(C)
8 And you, O tower of the flock,[c]
hill of daughter Zion!
To you it shall come:
the former dominion shall be restored,
the reign of daughter Jerusalem.
9 Now why do you cry out so?
Are you without a king?
Or has your adviser perished,
That you are seized with pains
like a woman in labor?
10 [d]Writhe, go into labor,
O daughter Zion,
like a woman giving birth;
For now you shall leave the city
and camp in the fields;
To Babylon you shall go,
there you shall be rescued.
There the Lord shall redeem you
from the hand of your enemies.
11 [e]And now many nations are gathered against you!
They say, “Let her be profaned,
let our eyes see Zion’s downfall!”
12 But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord,
nor understand his plan:
He has gathered them
like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 Arise and thresh, O daughter Zion;
your horn I will make iron
And your hoofs I will make bronze,
that you may crush many peoples;
You shall devote their spoils to the Lord,[f]
their riches to the Lord of the whole earth.(D)
14 Now grieve, O grieving daughter![g]
“They have laid siege against us!”
With the rod they strike on the cheek
the ruler of Israel.
Footnotes
- 4:1–4 This magnificent prophecy of salvation is almost identical to Is 2:2–5, with the exception of its last verse. See also Jl 4:9–10, which transforms the promise into a call to war. It is not known if Micah or an editor of the book picked up the announcement from his contemporary Isaiah or if Isaiah borrowed it from Micah. Perhaps both Isaiah and Micah depended upon another, more ancient tradition. The ground of the prophetic hope voiced here is the justice and grace of the God who has chosen Israel. The basis for peace shall be a just order where all are obedient to the divine will. While the vision is a universal one, including all peoples and nations (vv. 3–4), its center and wellspring is the Temple of the Lord of Israel on Mount Zion in Jerusalem.
- 4:6–8 An announcement of salvation proclaiming that the Lord will restore the lame and afflicted people of God as a nation on Mount Zion. Oracle of the Lord: a phrase used extensively in prophetic books to indicate divine speech.
- 4:8 Tower of the flock: in Hebrew migdal-eder, a place name in Gn 35:21.
- 4:10 Frequently the prophets personify the city of Jerusalem as a woman, and here as a woman in labor.
- 4:11–13 The nations who have ridiculed Zion (v. 11) will be threshed like grain (v. 13).
- 4:13 Devote their spoils to the Lord: the fulfillment of the ancient ordinance of the holy war in which all plunder taken in the war was “put under the ban,” i.e., belonged to the Lord.
- 4:14 Grieve, O grieving daughter!: the Hebrew actually reflects the ancient Near Eastern mourning practice of afflicting oneself with cuts and gashes, as evidence of grief. A literal rendering would be “gash yourself, O woman who gashes.”
Micah 4
New International Version
Micah 4
New International Version
The Mountain of the Lord(A)
4 In the last days
the mountain(B) of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,(C)
and peoples will stream to it.(D)
2 Many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,(E)
to the temple of the God of Jacob.(F)
He will teach us(G) his ways,(H)
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law(I) will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.(J)
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.(K)
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war(L) anymore.(M)
4 Everyone will sit under their own vine
and under their own fig tree,(N)
and no one will make them afraid,(O)
for the Lord Almighty has spoken.(P)
5 All the nations may walk
in the name of their gods,(Q)
but we will walk in the name of the Lord
our God for ever and ever.(R)
The Lord’s Plan
6 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“I will gather the lame;(S)
I will assemble the exiles(T)
and those I have brought to grief.(U)
7 I will make the lame my remnant,(V)
those driven away a strong nation.(W)
The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion(X)
from that day and forever.(Y)
8 As for you, watchtower of the flock,
stronghold[a] of Daughter Zion,
the former dominion will be restored(Z) to you;
kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.(AA)”
9 Why do you now cry aloud—
have you no king[b](AB)?
Has your ruler[c] perished,
that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?(AC)
10 Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion,
like a woman in labor,
for now you must leave the city
to camp in the open field.
You will go to Babylon;(AD)
there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will redeem(AE) you
out of the hand of your enemies.
11 But now many nations
are gathered against you.
They say, “Let her be defiled,
let our eyes gloat(AF) over Zion!”
12 But they do not know
the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,(AG)
that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 “Rise and thresh,(AH) Daughter Zion,
for I will give you horns of iron;
I will give you hooves of bronze,
and you will break to pieces many nations.”(AI)
You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,(AJ)
their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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