Micah 5-7

1Now, O daughter of troops, mobilize your troops; for a siege is laid against us! With a rod they will strike the cheek of the judge of Israel.

2But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel — One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.

3Therefore Israel will be abandoned until she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of His brothers will return to the children of Israel.

4He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majestic name of the LORD His God. And they will dwell securely, for then His greatness will extend to the ends of the earth.

5And He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land and tramples our citadels. We will raise against it seven shepherds, even eight leaders of men.

6And they will rule the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod with the blade drawn. So He will deliver us when Assyria invades our land and marches into our borders.

7Then the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for man or linger for mankind.

8Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which tramples and tears as it passes through, with no one to rescue them.

9Your hand will be lifted over your foes, and all your enemies will be cut off.

10“In that day,” declares the LORD, “I will remove your horses from among you and wreck your chariots.

11I will remove the cities of your land and tear down all your strongholds.

12I will cut the sorceries from your hand, and you will have no fortune-tellers.

13I will also cut off the carved images and sacred pillars from among you, so that you will no longer bow down to the work of your own hands.

14I will root out the Asherah poles from your midst and demolish your cities.

15I will take vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations that have not obeyed Me.”

1Hear now what the LORD says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.

2Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel:

3‘My people, what have I done to you? Testify against Me how I have wearied you!

4For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery. I sent Moses before you, as well as Aaron and Miriam.

5My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”

6With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves?

7Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

9The voice of the LORD calls out to the city (and it is sound wisdom to fear Your name): “Heed the rod and the One who ordained it.

10Can I forget any longer, O house of the wicked, the treasures of wickedness and the short ephah, which is accursed?

11Can I excuse dishonest scales or bags of false weights?

12For the wealthy of the city are full of violence, and its residents speak lies; their tongues are deceitful in their mouths.

13Therefore I am striking you severely, to ruin you because of your sins.

14You will eat but not be satisfied, and your hunger will remain with you. What you acquire, you will not preserve; and what you save, I will give to the sword.

15You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.

16You have kept the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their counsel. Therefore I will make you a desolation, and your inhabitants an object of contempt; you will bear the scorn of the nations.”

1Woe is me! For I am like one gathering summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster to eat, no early fig that I crave.

2The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.

3Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.

4The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns. The day for your watchmen has come, the day of your visitation. Now is the time of their confusion.

5Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.

6For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the members of his own household.

7But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.

8Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.

9Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the rage of the LORD, until He argues my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His righteousness.

10Then my enemy will see and will be covered with shame— she who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her; at that time she will be trampled like mud in the streets.

11The day for rebuilding your walls will come— the day for extending your boundary.

12On that day they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates, from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

13Then the earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the fruit of their deeds.

14Shepherd with Your staff Your people, the flock of Your inheritance. They live alone in a woodland, surrounded by pastures. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

15As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show My wonders.

16Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their might. They will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will become deaf.

17They will lick the dust like a snake, like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will come trembling from their strongholds in the presence of the LORD our God; they will tremble in fear of You.

18Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance— who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?

19He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.

20You will show faithfulness to Jacob and loving devotion to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers from the days of old.