Mikha 4:2-4

4:2 Many nations will come, saying,

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

to the temple ¹  of Jacob’s God,

so he can teach us his commands ² 

and we can live by his laws.” ³ 

For Zion will be the source of instruction;

the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. ⁴ 

4:3 He will arbitrate ⁵  between many peoples

and settle disputes between many ⁶  distant nations. ⁷ 

They will beat their swords into plowshares, ⁸ 

and their spears into pruning hooks. ⁹ 

Nations will not use weapons ¹⁰  against other nations,

and they will no longer train for war.

4:4 Each will sit under his own grapevine

or under his own fig tree without any fear. ¹¹ 

The Lord who commands armies has decreed it. ¹² 

[4:2]  ¹ tn Heb “house.”

[4:2]  ² tn Heb “ways.”

[4:2]  ³ tn Heb “and we can walk in his paths.”

[4:2]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Or “judge.”

[4:3]  ⁶ tn Or “mighty” (NASB); KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “strong”; TEV “among the great powers.”

[4:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “[for many nations] to a distance.”

[4:3]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “take up the sword.”

[4:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and there will be no one making [him] afraid.”

[4:4]  ¹² tn Heb “for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.”