Micah 4

1 And it hath come to pass, In the latter end of the days, The mount of the house of Jehovah Is established above the top of the mounts, And it hath been lifted up above the hills, And flowed unto it have peoples.

In the last days, the mountain where the Lord's Temple stands will be recognized as the highest of all mountains, rising above other hills. Crowds of people from many places will travel to it.

2 And gone have many nations and said, Come and we go up to the mount of Jehovah, And unto the house of the God of Jacob, And He doth teach us of His ways, And we do walk in His paths, For from Zion doth go forth a law, And a word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.

Many nations will come and say, “Let's go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Jacob. There God will teach us his ways and we will follow his directions.” God's teachings will spread out from Zion, his word from Jerusalem.

3 And He hath judged between many peoples, And given a decision to mighty nations afar off, They have beaten their swords to ploughshares, And their spears to pruning-hooks, Nation lifteth not up sword unto nation, Nor do they learn war any more.

The Lord will decide the cases of the nations, he will settle arguments between distant powerful nations. They will hammer their swords and turn them into plough blades, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not fight against each other anymore; they will no longer learn methods of warfare.

4 And they have sat each under his vine, And under his fig-tree, And there is none troubling, For the mouth of Jehovah of Hosts hath spoken.

Everyone will be able to sit under their own vine and their own fig tree, for there will be no one to make them afraid. I the Lord Almighty has spoken!

5 For all the peoples do walk, Each in the name of its god — and we, We do walk in the name of Jehovah our God, To the age and for ever.

Even though all the other nations follow their gods, we will follow the Lord our God forever and ever.

6 In that day — an affirmation of Jehovah, I do gather the halting one, And the driven away one I bring together, And she whom I have afflicted.

On that day, declares the Lord, I will gather those who are lame, I will bring together those who have been scattered in exile, those whom I punished.

7 And I have set the halting for a remnant, And the far-off for a mighty nation, And reigned hath Jehovah over them in mount Zion, From henceforth, and unto the age.

I will make those who remain, crippled and driven far away, into a strong nation, and the Lord will rule them from Mount Zion forever and ever.

8 And thou, O tower of Eder, Fort of the daughter of Zion, unto thee it cometh, Yea, come in hath the former rule, The kingdom to the daughter of Jerusalem.

And as for you, Jerusalem, watchtower of the flock, your former royal rule and power will be returned to you: the kingdom will be given back to Jerusalem.

9 Now, why dost thou shout aloud? A king — is there none in thee? Hath thy counsellor perished, That taken hold of thee hath pain as a travailing woman?

So why are you screaming aloud? Don't you have a king? Has the king who advises you died so that pain has gripped you like a woman in childbirth?

10 Be pained, and bring forth, O daughter of Zion, As a travailing woman, For now, thou goest forth from the city, And thou hast dwelt in the field, And thou hast gone unto Babylon, There thou art delivered, There redeem thee doth Jehovah from the hand of thine enemies.

Thrash around in agony like a woman giving birth, people of Zion—for you will be expelled from the city, forced to camp out in the open, and exiled to Babylon. But the Lord will bring you back, and rescue you from the power of your enemies.

11 And now, gathered against thee have been many nations, who are saying: 'Let her be defiled, and our eyes look on Zion.'

Right now many enemies are gathered against you, saying, “Let us attack and violate her, so we can look with gloating over Zion!”

12 They have not known the thoughts of Jehovah, Nor have they understood His counsel, For He hath gathered them as a sheaf [into] a threshing-floor.

But they don't know what the Lord is thinking, and don't understand what he is planning. He has brought them together like bundles of grain to the threshing floor.

13 Arise, and thresh, O daughter of Zion, For thy horn I make iron, And thy hoofs I make brass, And thou hast beaten small many peoples, And I have devoted to Jehovah their gain, And their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth!

People of Zion, get up and start threshing, for I will make for you iron horns and bronze hooves so you can break many nations into pieces. You will present their stolen plunder to the Lord, their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.