Micah 5

New American Standard Bible

Birth of the King in Bethlehem

5 “^[a]Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops;
^[b]They have laid siege against us;
With a rod they will ^(A)strike the judge of Israel on the cheek.
²^[c]But as for ^(B)you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From ^(C)you One will come forth for Me to be ^(D)ruler in Israel.
His times of coming forth are ^(E)from long ago,
From the days of eternity.”
³Therefore He will ^(F)give them up until the time
When she ^(G)who is in labor has given birth.
Then the ^(H)remainder of His kinsmen
Will return to the sons of Israel.
⁴And He will arise and ^(I)shepherd His flock
In the strength of the Lord,
In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God.
And they will ^[d]remain,
Because ^[e]at that time He will be great
To the ^(J)ends of the earth.
⁵This One ^(K)will be our peace.
When the ^(L)Assyrian invades our land,
When he tramples on our ^[f]citadels,
Then we will raise against him
Seven shepherds and eight leaders of people.
⁶They will ^(M)shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
The land of ^(N)Nimrod at its entrances;
And He will ^(O)rescue us from the Assyrian
When he invades our land,
And when he tramples our territory.

⁷Then the ^(P)remnant of Jacob
Will be among many peoples
Like ^(Q)dew from the Lord,
Like ^(R)showers on vegetation
That do not wait for man,
Or delay for ^[g]mankind.
⁸The remnant of Jacob
Will be among the nations,
Among many peoples
^(S)Like a lion among the animals of the forest,
Like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
Which, if he passes through,
^(T)Tramples and ^(U)tears,
And there is ^(V)no one who can rescue.
⁹Your hand will be ^(W)lifted up against your adversaries,
And all your enemies will be eliminated.

¹⁰“And it will be on that day,” declares the Lord,
“^(X)That I will eliminate your ^(Y)horses from among you,
And destroy your chariots.
¹¹I will also eliminate the ^(Z)cities of your land,
And tear down all your ^(AA)fortifications.
¹²I will eliminate ^(AB)sorceries from your hand,
And you will have no fortune-tellers.
¹³^(AC)I will eliminate your carved images
And your memorial stones from among you,
So that you will no longer bow down
To the work of your hands.
¹⁴I will uproot your ^[h]^(AD)Asherim from among you,
And destroy your cities.
¹⁵And I will ^(AE)execute vengeance in anger and wrath
On the nations which have not obeyed.”

Footnotes

Micah 5:1 Ch 4:14 in Heb
Micah 5:1 Lit He has
Micah 5:2 Ch 5:1 in Heb
Micah 5:4 Or live in safety
Micah 5:4 Lit now
Micah 5:5 Or palaces
Micah 5:7 Lit sons of mankind
Micah 5:14 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)

Micah 6

New American Standard Bible

God’s Indictment of His People

6 Hear now what the Lord is saying,
“Arise, plead your case ^[a]before the mountains,
And let the hills hear your voice.
²Listen, you mountains, to the indictment by the Lord,
And you enduring ^(A)foundations of the earth,
Because the ^(B)Lord has a case against His people;
And He will dispute with Israel.
³^(C)My people, ^(D)what have I done to you,
And ^(E)how have I wearied you? Answer Me.
⁴Indeed, I ^(F)brought you up from the land of Egypt,
I ^(G)redeemed you from the house of slavery,
And I sent before you ^(H)Moses, Aaron, and ^(I)Miriam.
⁵My people, remember now
What ^(J)Balak king of Moab planned
And what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
And what happened from ^(K)Shittim to ^(L)Gilgal,
^[b]So that you might know the ^(M)righteous acts of the Lord.”

What God Requires of Mankind

⁶^(N)With what shall I come to the Lord
And bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come to Him with ^(O)burnt offerings,
With yearling calves?
⁷Does the Lord take pleasure in ^(P)thousands of rams,
In ten thousand rivers of ^[c]oil?
Shall I give Him my ^(Q)firstborn for my wrongdoings,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
⁸He has ^(R)told you, mortal one, what is good;
And ^(S)what does the Lord require of you
But to ^(T)do justice, to ^(U)love ^[d]kindness,
And to walk ^[e]^(V)humbly with your God?

⁹The voice of the Lord will call to the city—
And it is sound wisdom to fear Your name:
“^[f]Hear, you tribe. Who has designated ^[g]its time?
¹⁰Is there still a person in the wicked house,
Along with treasures of ^(W)wickedness,
And a ^[h]^(X)short measure that is cursed?
¹¹Can I justify dishonest ^(Y)balances,
And a bag of fraudulent weights?
¹²For the rich people of ^[i]the city are full of ^(Z)violence,
Her residents speak ^(AA)lies,
And their ^(AB)tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
¹³So also I will make you ^(AC)sick, striking you down,
^(AD)Making you desolate because of your sins.
¹⁴You will eat, but you will ^(AE)not be satisfied,
And your filth will be in your midst.
You will try to remove valuables for safekeeping,
But you will ^(AF)not save it all,
And what you do save I will turn over to the sword.
¹⁵You will sow but you will ^(AG)not harvest.
You will tread the olive press but will not anoint yourself with oil;
And tread out sweet wine, but you will ^(AH)not drink any wine.
¹⁶The statutes of ^(AI)Omri
And every work of the house of ^(AJ)Ahab are maintained,
And you ^(AK)walk by their plans.
Therefore I will give you up for ^(AL)destruction,
And ^[j]your inhabitants for ^[k]^(AM)derision,
And you will suffer the ^(AN)taunting of My people.”

Footnotes

Micah 6:1 Lit with
Micah 6:5 Lit In order to know
Micah 6:7 I.e., olive oil
Micah 6:8 Or loyalty
Micah 6:8 Or circumspectly
Micah 6:9 Or Hear about the rod and who designated it
Micah 6:9 Lit it
Micah 6:10 Lit shrunken ephah
Micah 6:12 Lit her are
Micah 6:16 Lit her
Micah 6:16 Lit whistling (in mockery)

Micah 7

New American Standard Bible

The Prophet Acknowledges Injustice

7 Woe to me! For I am
Like harvests of summer fruit, like gleanings of ^(A)grapes.
There is not a cluster of grapes left to eat,
Nor an ^(B)early fig, which ^[a]I crave.
²The ^[b]godly person has ^(C)perished from the land,
And there is no upright person among mankind.
All of them lie in wait for ^(D)bloodshed;
Each of them hunts the other with a ^(E)net.
³As for evil, both hands do it ^(F)well.
The leader asks for a ^(G)bribe, also the judge,
And the great one speaks the capricious desire of his soul;
So they plot it together.
⁴The best of them is like a ^(H)thorn bush,
The most upright like a ^(I)thorn hedge.
The day ^[c]when you post your watchmen,
Your ^(J)punishment is coming.
Then their ^(K)confusion will occur.
⁵Do not ^(L)trust in a neighbor;
Do not have confidence in a close friend.
Guard ^[d]your lips
From her who lies ^[e]in your arms.
⁶For ^(M)son disavows father,
Daughter rises up against her mother,
Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
^(N)A person’s enemies are the people of his own household.

God Is the Source of Salvation and Light

⁷But as for me, I will ^(O)be on the watch for the Lord;
I will ^(P)wait for the God of my salvation.
My ^(Q)God will hear me.
⁸^(R)Do not rejoice over me, ^(S)enemy of mine.
Though I fall I will ^(T)rise;
Though I live in darkness, the Lord is a ^(U)light for me.

⁹I will endure the rage of the Lord
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He ^(V)pleads my case and executes justice for me.
He will bring me out to the ^(W)light,
And I will look at His ^[f]^(X)righteousness.
¹⁰Then my enemy will see,
And shame will cover her who ^(Y)said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will look at her;
^[g]At that time she will ^[h]be ^(Z)trampled down
Like mud of the streets.
¹¹It will be a day for ^(AA)building your walls.
On that day your boundary will be extended.
¹²It will be a day when ^[i]they will ^(AB)come to you
From Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
From Egypt even to the Euphrates River,
Even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
¹³And the earth will become a ^(AC)wasteland because of her inhabitants,
On account of the ^(AD)fruit of their deeds.

¹⁴^(AE)Shepherd Your people with Your ^(AF)scepter,
The flock of Your ^[j]possession
Which lives by itself in the woodland,
In the midst of ^[k]a fruitful field.
Let them feed in ^(AG)Bashan and Gilead
^(AH)As in the days of old.
¹⁵“As in the days when you went out from the land of Egypt,
I will show ^[l]^(AI)you miracles.”
¹⁶Nations ^(AJ)will see and be ashamed
Of all their might.
They will ^(AK)put their hand on their mouth,
Their ears will be deaf.
¹⁷They will ^(AL)lick up dust like a snake,
Like ^[m]^(AM)reptiles of the earth.
They will come ^(AN)trembling out of their ^[n]fortresses;
To the Lord our God they will come in ^(AO)trepidation,
And they will be afraid of You.
¹⁸Who is a God like You, who ^(AP)pardons wrongdoing
And passes over a rebellious act of the ^(AQ)remnant of His ^[o]possession?
He does not ^(AR)retain His anger forever,
Because He ^(AS)delights in mercy.
¹⁹He will again take pity on us;
^(AT)He will trample on our wrongdoings.
Yes, You will ^(AU)cast all ^[p]their sins
Into the depths of the sea.
²⁰You will give ^[q]^(AV)truth to Jacob
And favor to Abraham,
Which You ^(AW)swore to our forefathers
From the days of old.