Micah 4

But in the last days this will happen: the mountain where the LORD's house stands will be set up as the highest of the mountains. It will be lifted up above the hills, and peoples will stream to it.

1But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

Note"The last days" renders a Hebrew phrase meaning "in the days to come" or "at the end of the days", the far future, with no fixed date attached to it. "LORD" in capitals stands in for the personal name of Israel's God (the four Hebrew letters YHWH), which readers of the Hebrew traditionally did not say aloud. The mountain where his house stands is Mount Zion in Jerusalem, the ridge the temple was built on; temples and shrines in this world were normally placed on high ground, so being highest of the mountains is a claim about rank, not geology.

2Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths." For the teaching will go out from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

2And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

NoteJacob was the ancestor from whom the twelve tribes of Israel traced their descent, so "the God of Jacob" identifies whose God is meant. "The teaching" translates torah, a word covering instruction and direction generally as well as written law. Zion was first the name of a fortified hill in Jerusalem, then came to stand for the temple hill and for the city as a whole.

3He will judge between many peoples and settle disputes for strong nations far away. They will hammer their swords into plow blades and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not take up the sword against nation, and they will not train for war anymore.

3And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

NoteA plow blade and a pruning knife were both iron farm tools, and sword blades and spearheads were made of the same metal, so a smith could genuinely reforge one into the other. The picture is of weapons being reworked into gear for planting fields and trimming vines.

4Each man will sit under his own grapevine and his own fig tree, and no one will make him afraid. The mouth of the LORD of Hosts has said it.

4But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.

NoteSitting under your own vine and fig tree was a stock phrase for a settled and prosperous life at peace. Both plants take years to come into full bearing, so owning mature ones implies nobody has driven you off your land or burned your crops in the meantime. "LORD of Hosts" means LORD of armies, heavenly armies.

5Every one of the peoples may walk in the name of his own god, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.

5For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

NoteTo "walk in the name of" a god is to live under its authority and claim its protection. The phrase is about allegiance, not about pronouncing a name.

6"On that day," says the LORD, "I will gather those who cannot walk well, and I will bring together those who were driven away, and those I have brought trouble on.

6In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;

NoteThe King James "her that halteth" uses "halt" in its older sense of limping, not of stopping. The imagery here is of a flock: animals gone lame, scattered, and driven off are gathered back in by the shepherd. "On that day" is a standard prophetic way of pointing to the time being described, not a datable day.

7I will make those who could not walk well into a remnant that is left, and those who were thrown far away into a strong nation. And the LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that time on, and forever.

7And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.

NoteA "remnant" is what is left of a people after a catastrophe, the survivors of war, deportation, or exile. It is a recurring term in the prophets for the part of Israel that comes through the disaster alive.

8And you, watchtower of the flock, you fortified hill of the Daughter of Zion: the rule you had before will come back to you. Kingly power will come to the Daughter of Jerusalem."

8And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.

Note"Watchtower of the flock" translates Migdal Eder, a tower of the sort shepherds built to keep watch over grazing animals; it may also be a place name. "Fortified hill" translates Ophel, the name of a fortified spur of the ridge in Jerusalem. "Daughter of Zion" and "Daughter of Jerusalem" are ways of speaking of a city and its people as though they were a single woman; no individual is meant.

9Now why are you crying out so loudly? Is there no king among you? Has your adviser died, so that pain grips you like a woman giving birth?

9Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.

NoteThe adviser (King James "counsellor") was a royal official, a standing post at court. Naming king and counselor together is a way of naming the whole government, so the question is whether the leadership has been wiped out.

10Twist in pain and strain to give birth, Daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor. For now you must leave the city and live out in the open fields, and you will go all the way to Babylon. There you will be rescued. There the LORD will buy you back out of your enemies' grip.

10Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

NoteMicah spoke in the eighth century BC, when Assyria was the empire pressing on Judah; Babylon, which actually took Jerusalem and deported its people in 586 BC, was then still a lesser power. "Buy you back" translates a term from family law: the duty of a relative to pay off a kinsman's debt, buy him out of slavery, or recover land he had been forced to sell.

11But right now many nations have gathered against you. They say, "Let her be made unclean, and let us stare at Zion and enjoy the sight."

11Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.

Note"Made unclean" means stripped of the set-apart status that marked off the temple and the city, treated as ordinary ground that anyone may walk into and handle. The staring is gloating: the enemies want to watch the humiliation with their own eyes.

12But they do not know what the LORD is thinking, and they do not understand his plan: he has gathered them like bundles of cut grain brought to the threshing floor.

12But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.

NoteA threshing floor was a flat, hard, open area, often on a windy rise, where harvested grain was hauled in bundles and then beaten or trampled to knock the kernels loose from the stalks. Grain brought there has been gathered in only to be broken up.

13Get up and thresh, Daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron and your hooves bronze, and you will crush many peoples to pieces. Then I will set apart what they gained for the LORD, and their wealth for the Lord of all the earth.

13Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.

NoteThreshing was done by driving oxen over the piled grain, sometimes dragging a weighted sledge behind them; iron horns and bronze hooves make such an animal unstoppable. "Set apart" translates a term for devoting the spoils of a battle to the deity rather than keeping them, a recognized war practice in which captured goods were handed over to the sanctuary or destroyed instead of taken as private profit. "Lord of all the earth" here uses an ordinary word for master or owner, not the divine name that lies behind "LORD."