Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

Then I said,

“Listen, you leaders(A) of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
    you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
    and the flesh from their bones;(B)
who eat my people’s flesh,(C)
    strip off their skin
    and break their bones in pieces;(D)
who chop(E) them up like meat for the pan,
    like flesh for the pot?(F)

Then they will cry out to the Lord,
    but he will not answer them.(G)
At that time he will hide his face(H) from them
    because of the evil they have done.(I)

This is what the Lord says:

“As for the prophets
    who lead my people astray,(J)
they proclaim ‘peace’(K)
    if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
    who refuses to feed them.
Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
    and darkness, without divination.(L)
The sun will set for the prophets,(M)
    and the day will go dark for them.(N)
The seers will be ashamed(O)
    and the diviners disgraced.(P)
They will all cover(Q) their faces(R)
    because there is no answer from God.(S)
But as for me, I am filled with power,
    with the Spirit of the Lord,
    and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
    to Israel his sin.(T)

Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
    and distort all that is right;(U)
10 who build(V) Zion with bloodshed,(W)
    and Jerusalem with wickedness.(X)
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,(Y)
    her priests teach for a price,(Z)
    and her prophets tell fortunes for money.(AA)
Yet they look(AB) for the Lord’s support and say,
    “Is not the Lord among us?
    No disaster will come upon us.”(AC)
12 Therefore because of you,
    Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,(AD)
    the temple(AE) hill a mound overgrown with thickets.(AF)

The Mountain of the Lord(AG)

In the last days

the mountain(AH) of the Lord’s temple will be established
    as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,(AI)
    and peoples will stream to it.(AJ)

Many nations will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,(AK)
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.(AL)
He will teach us(AM) his ways,(AN)
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law(AO) will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He will judge between many peoples
    and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.(AP)
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.(AQ)
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war(AR) anymore.(AS)
Everyone will sit under their own vine
    and under their own fig tree,(AT)
and no one will make them afraid,(AU)
    for the Lord Almighty has spoken.(AV)
All the nations may walk
    in the name of their gods,(AW)
but we will walk in the name of the Lord
    our God for ever and ever.(AX)

The Lord’s Plan

“In that day,” declares the Lord,

“I will gather the lame;(AY)
    I will assemble the exiles(AZ)
    and those I have brought to grief.(BA)
I will make the lame my remnant,(BB)
    those driven away a strong nation.(BC)
The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion(BD)
    from that day and forever.(BE)
As for you, watchtower of the flock,
    stronghold[a] of Daughter Zion,
the former dominion will be restored(BF) to you;
    kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.(BG)

Why do you now cry aloud—
    have you no king[b](BH)?
Has your ruler[c] perished,
    that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?(BI)
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;(BJ)
    there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will redeem(BK) 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(BL) over Zion!”
12 But they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,(BM)
    that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 “Rise and thresh,(BN) 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.”(BO)
You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,(BP)
    their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

A Promised Ruler From Bethlehem

[d]Marshal your troops now, city of troops,
    for a siege is laid against us.
They will strike Israel’s ruler
    on the cheek(BQ) with a rod.

“But you, Bethlehem(BR) Ephrathah,(BS)
    though you are small among the clans[e] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler(BT) over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,(BU)
    from ancient times.”(BV)

Therefore Israel will be abandoned(BW)
    until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
    to join the Israelites.

He will stand and shepherd his flock(BX)
    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(BY)
    will reach to the ends of the earth.

And he will be our peace(BZ)
    when the Assyrians invade(CA) our land
    and march through our fortresses.
We will raise against them seven shepherds,
    even eight commanders,(CB)
who will rule[f] the land of Assyria with the sword,
    the land of Nimrod(CC) with drawn sword.[g](CD)
He will deliver us from the Assyrians
    when they invade our land
    and march across our borders.(CE)

The remnant(CF) of Jacob will be
    in the midst of many peoples
like dew(CG) from the Lord,
    like showers on the grass,(CH)
which do not wait for anyone
    or depend on man.
The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
    in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,(CI)
    like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
which mauls and mangles(CJ) as it goes,
    and no one can rescue.(CK)
Your hand will be lifted up(CL) 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.(CM)
11 I will destroy the cities(CN) of your land
    and tear down all your strongholds.(CO)
12 I will destroy your witchcraft
    and you will no longer cast spells.(CP)
13 I will destroy your idols(CQ)
    and your sacred stones from among you;(CR)
you will no longer bow down
    to the work of your hands.(CS)
14 I will uproot from among you your Asherah poles[h](CT)
    when I demolish your cities.
15 I will take vengeance(CU) in anger and wrath
    on the nations that have not obeyed me.”

Footnotes

  1. Micah 4:8 Or hill
  2. Micah 4:9 Or King
  3. Micah 4:9 Or Ruler
  4. Micah 5:1 In Hebrew texts 5:1 is numbered 4:14, and 5:2-15 is numbered 5:1-14.
  5. Micah 5:2 Or rulers
  6. Micah 5:6 Or crush
  7. Micah 5:6 Or Nimrod in its gates
  8. Micah 5:14 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah

And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?

Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.

Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings.

Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.

Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.

But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.

Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.

10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.

11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us.

12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it.

For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.

In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;

And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.

And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.

Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.

10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

11 Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.

12 But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.

13 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.