Mikha 4:1-3

Better Days Ahead for Jerusalem

4:1 In the future ¹  the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; ² 

it will be more prominent than other hills. ³ 

People will stream to it.

4:2 Many nations will come, saying,

“Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,

to the temple ⁴  of Jacob’s God,

so he can teach us his commands ⁵ 

and we can live by his laws.” ⁶ 

For Zion will be the source of instruction;

the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. ⁷ 

4:3 He will arbitrate ⁸  between many peoples

and settle disputes between many ⁹  distant nations. ¹⁰ 

They will beat their swords into plowshares, ¹¹ 

and their spears into pruning hooks. ¹² 

Nations will not use weapons ¹³  against other nations,

and they will no longer train for war.

[4:1]  ¹ tn Heb “at the end of days.”

[4:1]  ² tn Heb “will be established as the head of the mountains.”

[4:1]  ³ tn Heb “it will be lifted up above the hills.”

[4:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “house.”

[4:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “ways.”

[4:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “and we can walk in his paths.”

[4:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “instruction [or, “law”] will go out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

[4:2]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[4:3]  ⁸ tn Or “judge.”

[4:3]  ⁹ tn Or “mighty” (NASB); KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “strong”; TEV “among the great powers.”

[4:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[for many nations] to a distance.”

[4:3]  ¹¹ sn Instead of referring to the large plow as a whole, the plowshare is simply the metal tip which actually breaks the earth and cuts the furrow.

[4:3]  ¹² sn This implement was used to prune the vines, i.e., to cut off extra leaves and young shoots (M. Klingbeil, NIDOTTE 1:1117-18). It was a short knife with a curved hook at the end sharpened on the inside like a sickle.

[4:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “take up the sword.”