The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth(A) during the reigns of Jotham,(B) Ahaz(C) and Hezekiah,(D) kings of Judah(E)—the vision(F) he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

Hear,(G) you peoples, all of you,(H)
    listen, earth(I) and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness(J) against you,
    the Lord from his holy temple.(K)

Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem

Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling(L) place;
    he comes down(M) and treads on the heights of the earth.(N)
The mountains melt(O) beneath him(P)
    and the valleys split apart,(Q)
like wax before the fire,
    like water rushing down a slope.
All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,
    because of the sins of the people of Israel.
What is Jacob’s transgression?
    Is it not Samaria?(R)
What is Judah’s high place?
    Is it not Jerusalem?

“Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,
    a place for planting vineyards.(S)
I will pour her stones(T) into the valley
    and lay bare her foundations.(U)
All her idols(V) will be broken to pieces;(W)
    all her temple gifts will be burned with fire;
    I will destroy all her images.(X)
Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,(Y)
    as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”

Weeping and Mourning

Because of this I will weep(Z) and wail;
    I will go about barefoot(AA) and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
    and moan like an owl.
For Samaria’s plague(AB) is incurable;(AC)
    it has spread to Judah.(AD)
It has reached the very gate(AE) of my people,
    even to Jerusalem itself.
10 Tell it not in Gath[a];
    weep not at all.
In Beth Ophrah[b]
    roll in the dust.
11 Pass by naked(AF) and in shame,
    you who live in Shaphir.[c]
Those who live in Zaanan[d]
    will not come out.
Beth Ezel is in mourning;
    it no longer protects you.
12 Those who live in Maroth[e] writhe in pain,
    waiting for relief,(AG)
because disaster(AH) has come from the Lord,
    even to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 You who live in Lachish,(AI)
    harness fast horses to the chariot.
You are where the sin of Daughter Zion(AJ) began,
    for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
14 Therefore you will give parting gifts(AK)
    to Moresheth(AL) Gath.
The town of Akzib[f](AM) will prove deceptive(AN)
    to the kings of Israel.
15 I will bring a conqueror against you
    who live in Mareshah.[g](AO)
The nobles of Israel
    will flee to Adullam.(AP)
16 Shave(AQ) your head in mourning
    for the children in whom you delight;
make yourself as bald as the vulture,
    for they will go from you into exile.(AR)

Human Plans and God’s Plans

Woe to those who plan iniquity,
    to those who plot evil(AS) on their beds!(AT)
At morning’s light they carry it out
    because it is in their power to do it.
They covet fields(AU) and seize them,(AV)
    and houses, and take them.
They defraud(AW) people of their homes,
    they rob them of their inheritance.(AX)

Therefore, the Lord says:

“I am planning disaster(AY) against this people,
    from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,(AZ)
    for it will be a time of calamity.
In that day people will ridicule you;
    they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;(BA)
    my people’s possession is divided up.(BB)
He takes it from me!
    He assigns our fields to traitors.’”

Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord
    to divide the land(BC) by lot.(BD)

False Prophets

“Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
    “Do not prophesy about these things;
    disgrace(BE) will not overtake us.(BF)
You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
    “Does the Lord become[h] impatient?
    Does he do such things?”

“Do not my words do good(BG)
    to the one whose ways are upright?(BH)
Lately my people have risen up
    like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
    from those who pass by without a care,
    like men returning from battle.
You drive the women of my people
    from their pleasant homes.(BI)
You take away my blessing
    from their children forever.
10 Get up, go away!
    For this is not your resting place,(BJ)
because it is defiled,(BK)
    it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
11 If a liar and deceiver(BL) comes and says,
    ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’(BM)
    that would be just the prophet for this people!(BN)

Deliverance Promised

12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
    I will surely bring together the remnant(BO) of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
    like a flock in its pasture;
    the place will throng with people.(BP)
13 The One who breaks open the way will go up before(BQ) them;
    they will break through the gate(BR) and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
    the Lord at their head.”

Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

Then I said,

“Listen, you leaders(BS) of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
    you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
    and the flesh from their bones;(BT)
who eat my people’s flesh,(BU)
    strip off their skin
    and break their bones in pieces;(BV)
who chop(BW) them up like meat for the pan,
    like flesh for the pot?(BX)

Then they will cry out to the Lord,
    but he will not answer them.(BY)
At that time he will hide his face(BZ) from them
    because of the evil they have done.(CA)

This is what the Lord says:

“As for the prophets
    who lead my people astray,(CB)
they proclaim ‘peace’(CC)
    if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
    who refuses to feed them.
Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
    and darkness, without divination.(CD)
The sun will set for the prophets,(CE)
    and the day will go dark for them.(CF)
The seers will be ashamed(CG)
    and the diviners disgraced.(CH)
They will all cover(CI) their faces(CJ)
    because there is no answer from God.(CK)
But as for me, I am filled with power,
    with the Spirit of the Lord,
    and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
    to Israel his sin.(CL)

Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
    and distort all that is right;(CM)
10 who build(CN) Zion with bloodshed,(CO)
    and Jerusalem with wickedness.(CP)
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,(CQ)
    her priests teach for a price,(CR)
    and her prophets tell fortunes for money.(CS)
Yet they look(CT) for the Lord’s support and say,
    “Is not the Lord among us?
    No disaster will come upon us.”(CU)
12 Therefore because of you,
    Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,(CV)
    the temple(CW) hill a mound overgrown with thickets.(CX)

The Mountain of the Lord(CY)

In the last days

the mountain(CZ) of the Lord’s temple will be established
    as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,(DA)
    and peoples will stream to it.(DB)

Many nations will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,(DC)
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.(DD)
He will teach us(DE) his ways,(DF)
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law(DG) will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He will judge between many peoples
    and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.(DH)
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.(DI)
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war(DJ) anymore.(DK)
Everyone will sit under their own vine
    and under their own fig tree,(DL)
and no one will make them afraid,(DM)
    for the Lord Almighty has spoken.(DN)
All the nations may walk
    in the name of their gods,(DO)
but we will walk in the name of the Lord
    our God for ever and ever.(DP)

The Lord’s Plan

“In that day,” declares the Lord,

“I will gather the lame;(DQ)
    I will assemble the exiles(DR)
    and those I have brought to grief.(DS)
I will make the lame my remnant,(DT)
    those driven away a strong nation.(DU)
The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion(DV)
    from that day and forever.(DW)
As for you, watchtower of the flock,
    stronghold[i] of Daughter Zion,
the former dominion will be restored(DX) to you;
    kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.(DY)

Why do you now cry aloud—
    have you no king[j](DZ)?
Has your ruler[k] perished,
    that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?(EA)
10 Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion,
    like a woman in labor,
for now you must leave the city
    to camp in the open field.
You will go to Babylon;(EB)
    there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will redeem(EC) you
    out of the hand of your enemies.

11 But now many nations
    are gathered against you.
They say, “Let her be defiled,
    let our eyes gloat(ED) over Zion!”
12 But they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,(EE)
    that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 “Rise and thresh,(EF) Daughter Zion,
    for I will give you horns of iron;
I will give you hooves of bronze,
    and you will break to pieces many nations.”(EG)
You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,(EH)
    their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

Footnotes

  1. Micah 1:10 Gath sounds like the Hebrew for tell.
  2. Micah 1:10 Beth Ophrah means house of dust.
  3. Micah 1:11 Shaphir means pleasant.
  4. Micah 1:11 Zaanan sounds like the Hebrew for come out.
  5. Micah 1:12 Maroth sounds like the Hebrew for bitter.
  6. Micah 1:14 Akzib means deception.
  7. Micah 1:15 Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew for conqueror.
  8. Micah 2:7 Or Is the Spirit of the Lord
  9. Micah 4:8 Or hill
  10. Micah 4:9 Or King
  11. Micah 4:9 Or Ruler

The Seals

I watched as the Lamb(A) opened the first of the seven seals.(B) Then I heard one of the four living creatures(C) say in a voice like thunder,(D) “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a white horse!(E) Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown,(F) and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.(G)

When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature(H) say, “Come!” Then another horse came out, a fiery red one.(I) Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth(J) and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.

When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature(K) say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse!(L) Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures,(M) saying, “Two pounds[a] of wheat for a day’s wages,[b] and six pounds[c] of barley for a day’s wages,[d](N) and do not damage(O) the oil and the wine!”

When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature(P) say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a pale horse!(Q) Its rider was named Death, and Hades(R) was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.(S)

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under(T) the altar(U) the souls of those who had been slain(V) because of the word of God(W) and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long,(X) Sovereign Lord,(Y) holy and true,(Z) until you judge the inhabitants of the earth(AA) and avenge our blood?”(AB) 11 Then each of them was given a white robe,(AC) and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters,[e] were killed just as they had been.(AD)

12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake.(AE) The sun turned black(AF) like sackcloth(AG) made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth,(AH) as figs drop from a fig tree(AI) when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up,(AJ) and every mountain and island was removed from its place.(AK)

15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free,(AL) hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.(AM) 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us(AN) and hide us[f] from the face of him who sits on the throne(AO) and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day(AP) of their[g] wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”(AQ)

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 6:6 Or about 1 kilogram
  2. Revelation 6:6 Greek a denarius
  3. Revelation 6:6 Or about 3 kilograms
  4. Revelation 6:6 Greek a denarius
  5. Revelation 6:11 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 12:10; 19:10.
  6. Revelation 6:16 See Hosea 10:8.
  7. Revelation 6:17 Some manuscripts his

Psalm 134

A song of ascents.

Praise the Lord, all you servants(A) of the Lord
    who minister(B) by night(C) in the house of the Lord.
Lift up your hands(D) in the sanctuary(E)
    and praise the Lord.(F)

May the Lord bless you from Zion,(G)
    he who is the Maker of heaven(H) and earth.

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Sayings of Agur

30 The sayings(A) of Agur son of Jakeh—an inspired utterance.

This man’s utterance to Ithiel:

“I am weary, God,
    but I can prevail.[a]
Surely I am only a brute, not a man;
    I do not have human understanding.
I have not learned wisdom,
    nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One.(B)
Who has gone up(C) to heaven and come down?
    Whose hands(D) have gathered up the wind?
Who has wrapped up the waters(E) in a cloak?(F)
    Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name,(G) and what is the name of his son?
    Surely you know!

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 30:1 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text utterance to Ithiel, / to Ithiel and Ukal:

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