Micah 4:1-6

Context

Better Days Ahead for Jerusalem

4:1 In the future¹ the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all;²

it will be more prominent than other hills.³

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 temple⁴ of Jacob’s God,

so he can teach us his commands⁵

and we can live by his laws.”⁶

For Zion will be the source of instruction;

the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem.⁷

4:3 He will arbitrate⁸ between many peoples

and settle disputes between many⁹ distant nations.¹⁰

They will beat their swords into plowshares,¹¹

and their spears into pruning hooks.¹²

Nations will not use weapons¹³ against other nations,

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.¹⁴

The Lord who commands armies has decreed it.¹⁵

4:5 Though all the nations follow their respective gods,¹⁶

we will follow¹⁷ the Lord our God forever.

Restoration Will Follow Crisis

4:6 “In that day,” says the Lord, “I will gather the lame,

and assemble the outcasts whom I injured.¹⁸

[4:1] ¹tn Heb “at the end of days.”

[4:1] ²tn Heb “will be established as the head of the mountains.”

[4:1] ³tn Heb “it will be lifted up above the hills.”

[4:2] ⁴tn Heb “house.”

[4:2] ⁵tn Heb “ways.”

[4:2] ⁶tn Heb “and we can walk in his paths.”

[4:2] ⁷tn Heb “instruction [or, “law”] will go out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

[4:3] ⁸tn Or “judge.”

[4:3] ⁹tn Or “mighty” (NASB); KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “strong”; TEV “among the great powers.”

[4:3] ¹⁰tn Heb “[for many nations] to a distance.”

[4:3] ¹¹sn Instead of referring to the large plow as a whole, the plowshare is simply the metal tip which actually breaks the earth and cuts the furrow.

[4:3] ¹²sn This implement was used to prune the vines, i.e., to cut off extra leaves and young shoots (M. Klingbeil, NIDOTTE 1:1117-18). It was a short knife with a curved hook at the end sharpened on the inside like a sickle.

[4:3] ¹³tn Heb “take up the sword.”

[4:4] ¹⁴tn Heb “and there will be no one making [him] afraid.”

[4:4] ¹⁵tn Heb “for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.”

[4:5] ¹⁶tn Heb “walk each in the name of his god.” The term “name” here has the idea of “authority.” To “walk in the name” of a god is to recognize the god’s authority as binding over one’s life.

[4:5] ¹⁷tn Heb “walk in the name of.”

[4:6] ¹⁸sn The exiles of the nation are compared to lame and injured sheep.