Now many nations have assembled against you, that say, “Let her be defiled, and let our eye gloat over Zion.”
Parallel translations
- KJV Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.
- BSB But now many nations have assembled against you, saying, “Let her be defiled, and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”
- NKJV Now also many nations have gathered against you, Who say, “Let her be defiled, And let our eye look upon Zion.”
- NASB “And now many nations have been assembled against you Who say, ‘Let her be defiled, And let our eyes gloat over Zion!’
- NLT Now many nations have gathered against you. “Let her be desecrated,” they say. “Let us see the destruction of Jerusalem.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Many nations gather against Zion, gloating and hoping to see her defiled. It sets the stage of hostile opposition against God's people.
Overview
The enemies assemble with malicious intent, eager to defile and triumph over Zion. Their confidence seems unstoppable from a human viewpoint. Yet, as the next verse shows, they fail to grasp that they are unwittingly serving God's larger purpose.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Obad 1:12But don’t look down on your brother in the day of his disaster, and don’t rejoice over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction. Don’t speak proudly in the day of distress.
- Mic 7:10Then my enemy will see it, and shame will cover her who said to me, where is Yahweh your God? Then my enemy will see me and will cover her shame. Now she will be trodden down like the mire of the streets.
- Isa 5:25–30Therefore Yahweh’s anger burns against his people, and he has stretched out his hand against them, and has struck them. The mountains tremble, and their dead bodies are as refuse in the middle of the streets. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is still stretched out.
- Isa 8:7–8now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the mighty flood waters of the River: the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks.
- Lam 2:15–16All that pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that men called ‘The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth’?”
- Joel 3:2–15I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment on them there for my people, and for my heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have divided my land,
- Jer 52:4In the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it round about.
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Christ at the center
Micah names the town — 'But you, Bethlehem... from you shall come forth one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origins are from of old' — the birthplace of the eternal King.
How Micah 4:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.