Micah 4

₁In the last days

the mountain where the Lord's temple is

will be higher and greater

than the other mountains and hills.

Many people will come to this mountain.

₂The people of many nations

will come and they will say:

‘Let us go to the mountain of the Lord,

to the temple of the God_of_Jacob.

He will teach us what we must do

so that we can really live.

We must go to Jerusalem,

then we will know

what the Lord wants us to do

and what He wants to tell us.’

₃The Lord will judge the people

and He will make the strong nations,

those who are near

and those who are far away,

make peace with each other.

Then the people will melt

their swords and spears

and they will make

sharp irons to plough

and knives to cut branches off trees.

The people will never again

go to war_against each other

and they will not learn how to make war.

₄Every Israelite will sit under his own vine

or under his own fig tree.

The people of Israel will not be afraid.

This is what the Lord said.

He rules over everything.

₅Yes, every nation lives

as their gods want them to live

but we will always live as our God tells us.

‘On that day I will bring back the cripple people.

Their feet hurt, they can not walk,

and the enemies have chased them away,

because I have punished my people.

₇I will bring back my cripple people,

those sheep who are left over.

I have chased away my people

but I will bring them back

and I will make them a strong nation again.

I will rule over them on Mount_Zion forever.

₈And there will again

be a king in Jerusalem as before,

and he will be a good king.’

₉Jerusalem, why do you cry?

Why do you have pain

like a woman who is having a baby?

Don't you have a king?

Have your advisors died?

₁₀You must have pain,

and you must shout like a woman

who is having a baby

because your people must leave the city.

They must go and stay in the field

and then they must go to Babylon.

The Lord says:

‘There in Babylon I will save you.

I will set you free from your enemies.’

₁₁Many people have come

to make war_against you.

They say: ‘We will defeat the city,

and we will break down the walls.’

₁₂But they do not know

what the Lord wants to do with them.

They do not understand the Lord's plans.

The Lord has called the nations to come together

like a farmer who brings together

bundles of wheat on the threshing-floor.

₁₃People of Jerusalem,

you must trample the nations

like cattle trample wheat bundles.

The Lord says:

‘I will give you iron horns and bronze feet.

Then you can trample and destroy the nations

and take everything they have

and give it to Me as a gift.’

Everything that the nations had

will belong to the Lord of the earth.