4:1 In the future
it will be more prominent than other hills.
People will stream to it.
4:2 Many nations will come, saying,
“Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the temple
so he can teach us his commands
and we can live by his laws.”
For Zion will be the source of instruction;
the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem.
4:3 He will arbitrate
and settle disputes between many
They will beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nations will not use weapons
and they will no longer train for war.
4:4 Each will sit under his own grapevine
or under his own fig tree without any fear.
The Lord who commands armies has decreed it.
4:5 Though all the nations follow their respective gods,
we will follow
4:6 “In that day,” says the Lord, “I will gather the lame,
and assemble the outcasts whom I injured.
4:7 I will transform the lame into the nucleus of a new nation,
and those far off
The Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion,
from that day forward and forevermore.”
4:8 As for you, watchtower for the flock,
fortress of Daughter Zion
your former dominion will be restored,
the sovereignty that belongs to Daughter Jerusalem.
4:9 Jerusalem, why are you
Has your king disappeared?
Has your wise leader
Is this why
4:10 Twist and strain,
For you will leave the city
and live in the open field.
You will go to Babylon,
but there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will deliver
from the power
4:11 Many nations have now assembled against you.
They say, “Jerusalem must be desecrated,
so we can gloat over Zion!”
4:12 But they do not know what the Lord is planning;
they do not understand his strategy.
He has gathered them like stalks of grain to be threshed
4:13 “Get up and thresh, Daughter Zion!
For I will give you iron horns;
I will give you bronze hooves,
and you will crush many nations.”
You will devote to the Lord the spoils you take from them,
and dedicate their wealth to the sovereign Ruler
5:1 (4:14)
We are besieged!
With a scepter
on the side of his face.
5:2 (5:1) As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
seemingly insignificant
from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf,
one whose origins
5:3 So the Lord
until the time when the woman in labor
Then the rest of the king’s
to be reunited with the people of Israel.
5:4 He will assume his post
by the sovereign authority of the Lord his God.
They will live securely,
even in the distant regions of
5:5 He will give us peace.
Should the Assyrians try to invade our land
and attempt to set foot in our fortresses,
we will send
make that eight commanders.
5:6 They will rule
the land of Nimrod
Our king
should they attempt to invade our land
and try to set foot in our territory.
5:7 Those survivors from
in the midst of many nations.
They will be like the dew the Lord sends,
like the rain on the grass,
that does not hope for men to come
or wait around for humans to arrive.
5:8 Those survivors from Jacob will live among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples.
They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest,
like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
which attacks when it passes through;
it rips its prey
5:9 Lift your hand triumphantly against your adversaries;
may all your enemies be destroyed!
5:10 “In that day,” says the Lord,
“I will destroy
and smash your chariots.
5:11 I will destroy the cities of your land,
and tear down all your fortresses.
5:12 I will remove the sorcery
and you will no longer have omen readers living among you.
5:13 I will remove your idols and sacred pillars from your midst;
you will no longer worship what your own hands made.
5:14 I will uproot your images of Asherah
and destroy your idols.
5:15 I will angrily seek vengeance
on the nations that do not obey me.”
6:1 Listen to what the Lord says:
“Get up! Defend yourself
Present your case before the hills!”
6:2 Hear the Lord’s accusation, you mountains,
you enduring foundations of the earth!
For the Lord has a case against his people;
he has a dispute with Israel!
6:3 “My people, how have I wronged you?
How have I wearied you? Answer me!
6:4 In fact, I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
I delivered you from that place of slavery.
I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you.
6:5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you,
how Balaam son of Beor responded to him.
Recall how you journeyed from Shittim to Gilgal,
so you might acknowledge that the Lord has treated you fairly.”
6:6 With what should I
With what
Should I enter his presence with burnt offerings,
with year-old calves?
6:7 Will the Lord accept a thousand rams,
or ten thousand streams of olive oil?
Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion,
my offspring – my own flesh and blood – for my sin?
6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,
and what the Lord really wants from you:
He wants you to
and to live obediently before
6:9 Listen! The Lord is calling
It is wise to respect your authority, O Lord!
Listen, O nation, and those assembled in the city!
6:10 “I will not overlook,
or the smaller-than-standard measure I hate so much.
6:11 I do not condone the use of rigged scales,
or a bag of deceptive weights.
6:12 The city’s rich men think nothing of resorting to violence;
her inhabitants lie,
their tongues speak deceptive words.
6:13 I will strike you brutally
and destroy you because of your sin.
6:14 You will eat, but not be satisfied.
Even if you have the strength
you will not be able to carry it away;
if you do happen to carry away something,
I will deliver it over to the sword.
6:15 You will plant crops, but will not harvest them;
you will squeeze oil from the olives,
you will squeeze juice from the grapes, but you will have no wine to drink.
6:16 You implement the regulations of Omri,
and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty;
you follow their policies.
Therefore I will make you an appalling sight,
the city’s
and nations will mock all of you.”
7:1 I am depressed!
Indeed,
and the grapes have been harvested.
There is no grape cluster to eat,
no fresh figs that I crave so much.
7:2 Faithful men have disappeared
there are no godly men left.
They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood;
they hunt their own brother with a net.
7:3 They are determined to be experts at doing evil;
government officials and judges take bribes,
prominent men make demands,
and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them.
7:4 The best of them is like a thorn;
the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes.
The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen –
your appointed time of punishment – is on the way,
and then you will experience confusion.
7:5 Do not rely on a friend;
do not trust a companion!
Don’t even share secrets with the one who lies in your arms!
7:6 For a son thinks his father is a fool,
a daughter challenges
and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law;
a man’s enemies are his own servants.
7:7 But I will keep watching for the Lord;
I will wait for the God who delivers me.
My God will hear my lament.
7:8 My enemies,
Though I have fallen, I will get up.
Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.
7:9 I must endure
for I have sinned against him.
But then
and accomplish justice on my behalf.
He will lead me out into the light;
I will experience firsthand
7:10 When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame.
They say
I will gloat over them.
Then they will be trampled down
like mud in the streets.
7:11 It will be a day for rebuilding your walls;
in that day your boundary will be extended.
7:12 In that day people
from Assyria as far as
from Egypt as far as the Euphrates River,
from the seacoasts
7:13 The earth will become desolate
because of what its inhabitants have done.
7:14 Shepherd your people with your shepherd’s rod,
the flock that belongs to you,
the one that lives alone in a thicket,
in the midst of a pastureland.
Allow them to graze in Bashan and Gilead,
as they did in the old days.
7:15 “As in the days when you departed from the land of Egypt,
I will show you
7:16 Nations will see this and be disappointed by
they will put their hands over their mouths,
and act as if they were deaf.
7:17 They will lick the dust like a snake,
like serpents crawling on the ground.
They will come trembling from their strongholds
to the Lord our God;
they will be terrified
7:18 There is no other God like you!
You
and pardon
of those who remain among your people.
You do not remain angry forever,
but delight in showing loyal love.
7:19 You will once again
you will conquer
you will hurl our
7:20 You will be loyal to Jacob
and extend your loyal love to Abraham,
which you promised on oath to our ancestors
in ancient times.