Micah 1-4
The Prophet Micah
1 The Lord spoke his word to Micah, who was from Moresheth, when Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah. This is the vision that Micah saw about Samaria and Jerusalem.
The Capital Cities of Israel and Judah Destroyed
2 Listen, all you people!
Pay attention, earth and all who are on it.
The Almighty Lord will be a witness against you.
The Lord will be a witness from his holy temple.
3 The Lord is going to come from his place.
He is going to come down and step on the worship places of the earth.
4 Mountains will melt under him like wax near a fire.
Valleys will split apart like water pouring down a steep hill.
5 All this is because of Jacob’s crime and Israel’s sin.
What is Jacob’s crime? Isn’t it Samaria?
What is Judah’s worship place? Isn’t it Jerusalem?
6 So I will turn Samaria into a pile of rubble,
a place for planting vineyards.
I will roll its stones down into a valley and expose its foundations.
7 All its idols will be smashed to pieces.
All its wages for being a prostitute will be burned.
All its statues will be turned into a pile of rubble.
Samaria collected its wages for being a prostitute.
That money will again pay for prostitutes.
8 I will mourn and cry because of this.
I will walk around barefoot and naked.
I will cry like a jackal and mourn like an ostrich.
9 Samaria’s wounds are incurable.
The news about Samaria will come to Judah.
It will reach the gates of my people in Jerusalem.
10 Don’t report it in Gath. Don’t cry there.
Roll in the dust of Beth Leaphrah.[a]
11 Pass by, naked and ashamed, inhabitants of Shaphir.
Don’t come out, inhabitants of Zaanan.
Beth Ezel is in mourning.
It will take its support away from you.
12 Wait anxiously for good, inhabitants of Maroth.
From the Lord disaster will come on the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the horses to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish.
You were the first to lead the people of Zion into sin.
The rebellious acts of Israel are found in you.
14 That is why you will give farewell gifts to Moresheth Gath.
The town of Achzib will betray the kings of Israel.
15 I will again bring a conqueror against the inhabitants of Mareshah.
The glory of Israel will come to Adullam.
16 Shave your head in mourning for the children you love.
Make yourselves as bald as vultures
because your children will be taken from you into exile.
Israel’s Sins Are Condemned
How horrible it will be for those who invent trouble
and work out plans for disaster while in bed.
When the morning dawns, they carry out their plans
because they are able to.
2 They desire other people’s fields, so they seize them.
They desire people’s houses, so they take them.
They cheat a man and his family,
a man and his inheritance.
3 So this is what the Lord says:
I’m planning a disaster to punish your family.
You won’t be able to rescue yourselves.
You will no longer be able to walk proudly.
This will be a time of disaster.
4 When that day comes, people will make fun of you.
They will sing this sad song about you:
“We are completely ruined.
The Lord gives our people’s possessions to others.
He takes them from us.
He divides our fields among our captors.”
5 That is why none of you in the Lord’s assembly will draw lots
to divide your property.
6 Your prophets say, “Don’t prophesy!
Don’t prophesy such things!
Disgrace will never overtake us.”
7 Should the descendants of Jacob be asked:
Has the Spirit of the Lord become impatient with you?
Has he done these things?
Are his words good for those who live honestly?
8 Recently, my people have turned into enemies.
You take coats from those who pass by without a care
as they return from war.
9 You force the women among my people out of their pleasant homes
and take my glory away from their children forever.
10 Get up, and go away!
This is not a place to rest!
It will be destroyed, completely destroyed,
because it offends me.
11 Liars and frauds may go around and say,
“We will preach to you about wine and liquor.”
They would be just the type of preacher you want.
Israel Will Be Gathered Again by the Lord
12 I will surely gather all of you, Jacob.
I will surely bring together the few people left in Israel.
I will gather them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture.
They will make a lot of noise
because there will be so many people.
13 The Lord will open the way and lead them.
They will break out, go through the gate, and leave.
Their king will travel in front of them.
The Lord will lead the people.
Israel’s Sinful Leaders—Rulers, Prophets, and Priests
Then I said:
Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the nation of Israel.
You should know justice.
2 You hate good and love evil.
You strip the skin off my people and the flesh off their bones.
3 You eat my people’s flesh.
You strip off their skin.
You break their bones to pieces.
You chop them up like meat for a pot, like stew meat for a kettle.
4 Then you will cry to the Lord,
but he will not answer you.
He will hide his face from you at that time
because you have done evil things.
5 This is what the Lord says about the prophets who mislead my people:
When they have something to eat, they say, “All is well!”
But they declare a holy war against those who don’t feed them.
6 That is why you will have nights without visions.
You will have darkness without revelations.
The sun will set on the prophets,
and the day will turn dark for them.
7 Seers[b] will be put to shame.
Those who practice witchcraft will be disgraced.
All of them will cover their faces, because God won’t answer them.
8 But I am filled with the power of the Lord’s Spirit,
with justice, and with strength.
So I will tell the descendants of Jacob about their crimes
and the nation of Israel about its sins.
9 Listen to this, you leaders of the descendants of Jacob,
you rulers of the nation of Israel.
You despise justice and pervert everything that is right.
10 You build Zion on bloodshed and Jerusalem on wickedness.
11 Your leaders exchange justice for bribes.
Your priests teach for a price.
Your prophets tell the future for money.
But they rely on the Lord when they say,
“After all, the Lord is with us.
Nothing bad will happen to us.”
12 Because of you,
Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a pile of rubble,
and the temple mountain will become a worship site
covered with trees.
The Lord Will Teach the Nations(A)
In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house
will be established as the highest of the mountains
and raised above the hills.
People will stream to it.
2 Then many nations will come and say,
“Let’s go to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways so that we may live by them.”
The teachings will go out from Zion.
The Lord’s word will go out from Jerusalem.
3 Then he will judge disputes between many people
and settle arguments between many nations far and wide.
They will hammer their swords into plowblades
and their spears into pruning shears.
Nations will never fight against each other,
and they will never train for war again.
4 They will sit under their grapevines and their fig trees,
and no one will make them afraid.
The Lord of Armies has spoken.
5 All the nations live by the names of their gods,
but we will live by the name of the Lord our God forever.
6 “When that day comes,” declares the Lord,
“I will gather those who are lame.
I will bring together those who are scattered
and those whom I have injured.
7 I will change those who are lame into a faithful people.
I will change those who are forced away into a strong nation.”
The Lord will rule them on Mount Zion now and forever.
8 You, Jerusalem, watchtower of the flock,
stronghold of the people of Zion,
your former government will come back to you.
The kingdom will return to the people of Jerusalem.
9 Now why are you crying so loudly?
Don’t you have a king?
Has your counselor died?
Pain grips you like a woman in labor.
10 Daughter of Zion, writhe in pain and groan like a woman in labor.
Now you will leave the city,
live in the open fields,
and go to Babylon.
There you will be rescued.
There the Lord will reclaim you from your enemies.
11 But now many nations gather against you.
They say, “Let’s dishonor Zion and gloat over it.”
12 They don’t know the thoughts of the Lord or understand his plan.
He will bring them together
like cut grain on the threshing floor.[c]
13 Get up and thresh,[d] people of Zion.
I will make your horns as hard as iron
and your hoofs as hard as bronze.
You will smash many nations into small pieces.
You will claim their loot for the Lord,
their wealth for the Lord of the whole earth.
Footnotes:
- Micah 1:10 Or “I rolled in the dust of Beth Leaphrah.”
- Micah 3:7 A seer is a prophet.
- Micah 4:12 A threshing floor is an outdoor area where grain is separated from its husks.
- Micah 4:13 Threshing is the process of beating stalks to separate them from the grain.
Cross references:
Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of God's Word Mission Society.
Revelation 6
The Lamb Opens the First Six Seals
6 I watched as the lamb opened the first of the seven seals. I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Go!” 2 Then I looked, and there was a white horse, and its rider had a bow. He was given a crown and rode off as a warrior to win battles.
3 When the lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Go!” 4 A second horse went out. It was fiery red. Its rider was given the power to take peace away from the earth and to make people slaughter one another. So he was given a large sword.
5 When the lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Go!” I looked, and there was a black horse, and its rider held a scale. 6 I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s pay or three quarts of barley for a day’s pay. But do not damage the olive oil and the wine.”
7 When the lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Go!” 8 I looked, and there was a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death. Hell followed him. They were given power over one-fourth of the earth to kill people using wars, famines, plagues, and the wild animals on the earth.
9 When the lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of God’s word and the testimony they had given about him. 10 They cried out in a loud voice, “Holy and true Master, how long before you judge and take revenge on those living on earth who shed our blood?” 11 Each of the souls was given a white robe. They were told to rest a little longer until all their coworkers, the other Christians, would be killed as they had been killed.
12 I watched as the lamb opened the sixth seal. A powerful earthquake struck. The sun turned as black as sackcloth made of hair. The full moon turned as red as blood. 13 The stars fell from the sky to the earth like figs dropping from a fig tree when it is shaken by a strong wind. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll being rolled up. Every mountain and island was moved from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth, the important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and all the slaves and free people hid themselves in caves and among the rocks in the mountains. 16 They said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the anger of the lamb, 17 because the frightening day of their anger has come, and who is able to endure it?”
Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of God's Word Mission Society.
Psalm 134
1 Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
all who stand in the house of the Lord night after night.
2 Lift your hands toward the holy place, and praise the Lord.
3 May the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.
Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of God's Word Mission Society.
Proverbs 30:1-4
The words of Agur, son of Jakeh. Agur’s prophetic revelation.
Agur Speaks about God
[To God]
This man’s declaration:
“I’m weary, O God.
I’m weary and worn out, O God.
2 I’m more like a dumb animal than a human being.
I don’t even have human understanding.
3 I haven’t learned wisdom.
I don’t have knowledge of the Holy One.[a]
[To the audience]
4 “Who has gone up to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered the wind in the palm of his hand?
Who has wrapped water in a garment?
Who has set up the earth from one end to the other?
What is his name or the name of his son?
Certainly, you must know!
Footnotes:
- Proverbs 30:3 Or “holy ones.”
Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of God's Word Mission Society.