Micah 4
1 Yahweh [says that] some day his temple will be on top of a mountain, and that mountain will be the most important [MET] one on the earth; it will be [as though it is] higher than all the hills, and huge groups of people from all over the world will come there [to worship].
In the days to come the mountain of the Lord will be established, the house of our God on the top of the mountain, lifted above the hills. All the nations will flow to it,
2 [People from] many nations will say [to each other], “Let’s go to the mountain where Yahweh is, to the temple where we can worship the God whom Jacob [worshiped]. There God will teach us how he wants us to conduct our lives, and we will do what he wants us to do.” Zion [Hill] is the place where he will teach [people]; and [people will go] out from Jerusalem [to tell others] his messages.
and many peoples will go and say, “Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mount, to the house of the God of Jacob, so that he may instruct us in his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion proceeds instruction and the Lord’s word from Jerusalem.
3 Yahweh will settle disputes between many people, and he will [also] settle disputes between powerful nations that are far away. Then people will hammer their swords to cause them to become plow blades, and [hammer] their spears to cause them to become pruning knives. [Armies of] nations will no [longer] fight against [armies of other] nations, and they will no longer train [men how to fight] in wars.
He will arbitrate between many peoples, and render decisions for numerous nations, They will beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, they will learn war no more.
4 Everyone will sit [peacefully] under his own grapevines, and under his own fig trees; no one will cause them to be afraid. [That is what will surely happen] because the Commander of the armies of angels has said it.
They will live each under his vine, and under his fig tree, with none to terrify them. For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
5 Many [HYP] [of the people of other] nations will worship [IDM] their own gods, but we will worship Yahweh our God always, forever.
Each nation trusts in the names of their gods, but we will worship the Lord our God forever.
6 Yahweh says, “There will soon be a time when I will gather the people whom I have punished, who have been (exiled/forced to go to other countries), all those whom [I have caused to] suffer much.
“On that day,” says the Lord, “I will assemble the lame. I will gather exiles I punished.
7 My people who did not die while they were exiled will become a strong nation [again]. Then [I], Yahweh, will be their king, and I will rule from Jerusalem forever.
I will restore the lame as a remnant, the exiles into a great nation. The Lord will rule over them on Mount Zion from that time forever.”
8 As for you people of Jerusalem [MET], you who [guard all of my people] like [MET] [a shepherd guards his sheep] from a tower, you [who live on] Zion [Hill], will have great power again. You people who live in Jerusalem will again rule like you did previously.
But you, watchtower for the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you will return your former rule.
9 [So] why [RHQ] are you wailing now? Is it because you have no king? Have all your wise people died? You are groaning loudly like [SIM] a woman who is giving birth to a baby.
So why do you now cry aloud? Haven’t you any king? Or has your counselor perished, so you writhe in pain like a woman in labor?
10 [Well], you people of Jerusalem should writhe and groan like [SIM] a woman who is having birth pains, because now you must leave this city, and [while you are traveling], you will set up tents in open fields [at night]; you will go to [live in] Babylon. [But while you are] there, [I], Yahweh, will rescue you; I will free you from the power/control [MTY] of your enemies.
Writhe and scream, daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor! For now you must leave the city and camp in the open field. You will be taken to Babylon, but there will be rescued. There the Lord will save you from the hands of your foes.
11 Now [the armies of] many nations have gathered to attack you. They are saying, ‘Jerusalem must be destroyed! We want to see this city [when it becomes ruins]!’
But now many nations gather against you. They say, “Let her be defiled, we will gloat over Zion.”
12 But they do not know what [I], Yahweh, think, and they do not understand what I plan: I will gather them [and punish them] like [SIM] [farmers] thresh grain on the ground.
But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord. They do not understand his plan, for he has gathered them like sheaves for the threshing floor.
13 So, you people of Jerusalem, rise up and punish [MET] [the nations who oppose you]. I will cause you [to be very strong], [as if] [MET] you had horns made of iron, [as if] [MET] you had hoofs made of bronze; and you will crush many nations. And [then you will take] from your enemies the valuable things that they have taken [from other countries], and you will dedicate those things to [me, the one who is] the Lord of all [the people on] the earth.”
“Arise, thresh, daughter of Zion. I will make your horns iron, and your hoofs brass, so you might beat in pieces many peoples, and devote to the Lord their spoil, and their wealth to the ruler of all the earth.
