The Mountain of the Lord

It shall come to pass (A)in the latter days
    that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
    and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
    and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
    and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,[a]
    and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples,
    and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away;
and they shall (B)beat their swords into plowshares,
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
    neither shall they learn war anymore;
(C)but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,
    (D)and no one shall make them afraid,
    (E)for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
For (F)all the peoples walk
    each in the name of its god,
but (G)we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
    forever and ever.

The Lord Shall Rescue Zion

(H)In that day, declares the Lord,
    (I)I will assemble the (J)lame
and gather those who have been driven away
    and those whom I have afflicted;
and the lame I will make (K)the remnant,
    and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and (L)the Lord will reign over them (M)in Mount Zion
    from this time forth and forevermore.

And you, O tower of the flock,
    hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you shall it come,
    the former dominion shall come,
    kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.

Now why do you cry aloud?
    (N)Is there no king in you?
(O)Has your counselor perished,
    that (P)pain seized you like a woman in labor?
10 (Q)Writhe and groan,[b] O daughter of Zion,
    like a woman in labor,
for (R)now you shall go out from the city
    and dwell in the open country;
    you (S)shall go to Babylon.
There you shall be rescued;
    (T)there the Lord will redeem you
    from the hand of your enemies.

11 Now (U)many nations
    are assembled against you,
saying, “Let her be defiled,
    and (V)let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”
12 But (W)they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
    that (X)he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 Arise and thresh,
    O daughter of Zion,
for I will make your horn iron,
    and I will make your hoofs bronze;
you shall beat in pieces many peoples;
    and (Y)shall devote[c] (Z)their gain to the Lord,
    their wealth to (AA)the Lord of the whole earth.

The Ruler to Be Born in Bethlehem

[d] Now muster your troops, O daughter[e] of troops;
    siege is laid against us;
with a rod (AB)they strike the judge of Israel
    on the cheek.
[f] (AC)But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    who are too little to be among the clans of (AD)Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
    one who is to be (AE)ruler in Israel,
(AF)whose coming forth is (AG)from of old,
    from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up (AH)until the time
    when she who is in labor has given birth;
then (AI)the rest of his brothers shall return
    to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand (AJ)and shepherd his flock (AK)in the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now (AL)he shall be great
    to the ends of the earth.
And he shall be (AM)their peace.

(AN)When the Assyrian comes into our land
    and treads in our palaces,
then we will raise against him seven (AO)shepherds
    and eight princes of men;
they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
    and the land of (AP)Nimrod at its entrances;
and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian
    (AQ)when he comes into our land
    and treads within our border.

A Remnant Shall Be Delivered

Then (AR)the remnant of Jacob shall be
    in the midst of many peoples
like dew from the Lord,
    like showers on the grass,
which delay not for a man
    nor wait for the children of man.
And (AS)the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations,
    in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
    like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
(AT)which, when it goes through, treads down
    and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
Your hand shall (AU)be lifted up over your adversaries,
    and all your enemies shall be cut off.

10 And (AV)in that day, declares the Lord,
    (AW)I will cut off your horses from among you
    and will destroy your chariots;
11 (AX)and I will cut off the cities of your land
    and throw down all your strongholds;
12 and I will cut off (AY)sorceries from your hand,
    and (AZ)you shall have no more tellers of fortunes;
13 and (BA)I will cut off your carved images
    and (BB)your pillars from among you,
(BC)and you shall bow down no more
    to the work of your hands;
14 and I will root out your (BD)Asherah images from among you
    (BE)and destroy your cities.
15 And in anger and wrath (BF)I will execute vengeance
    on the nations that did not obey.

Footnotes

  1. Micah 4:2 Or teaching
  2. Micah 4:10 Or push
  3. Micah 4:13 Hebrew devote to destruction
  4. Micah 5:1 Ch 4:14 in Hebrew
  5. Micah 5:1 That is, city
  6. Micah 5:2 Ch 5:1 in Hebrew

18 On the following day Paul went in with us to (A)James, and all (B)the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, (C)he related one by one (D)the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his (E)ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they (F)glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all (G)zealous for the law, 21 and they have been told about you that you teach all (H)the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, (I)telling them (J)not to circumcise their children or (K)walk according to (L)our customs. 22 What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men (M)who are under a vow; 24 take these men and (N)purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, (O)so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law. 25 But as for the Gentiles who have believed, (P)we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled,[a] and from sexual immorality.” 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day (Q)he purified himself along with them and (R)went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and (S)the offering presented for each one of them.

Paul Arrested in the Temple

27 When (T)the seven days were almost completed, (U)the Jews from Asia, (V)seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, 28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who (W)is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and (X)the law and (Y)this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and (Z)has defiled (AA)this holy place.” 29 For they had previously seen (AB)Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30 Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and (AC)dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. 31 (AD)And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of (AE)the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. 32 (AF)He at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him (AG)to be bound (AH)with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done. 34 (AI)Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into (AJ)the barracks. 35 And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, 36 for the mob of the people followed, crying out, (AK)“Away with him!”

Paul Speaks to the People

37 As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? 38 Are you not (AL)the Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out (AM)into the wilderness?” 39 Paul replied, (AN)“I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.” 40 And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, (AO)motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in (AP)the Hebrew language,[b] saying:

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 21:25 Some manuscripts omit and from what has been strangled
  2. Acts 21:40 Or the Hebrew dialect (probably Aramaic)

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