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Micah
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The
word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of
Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah--the vision he saw concerning
Samaria and Jerusalem. {2} Hear, O peoples, all of you, listen, O
earth and all who are in it, that the Sovereign LORD may witness against
you, the Lord from his holy temple. {3} Look! The LORD is coming
from his dwelling place; he comes down and treads the high places of the
earth. {4} The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split
apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope. {5}
All this is because of Jacob's transgression, because of the sins of
the house of Israel. What is Jacob's transgression? Is it not Samaria?
What is Judah's high place? Is it not Jerusalem? {6} "Therefore I
will make Samaria a heap of rubble, a place for planting vineyards. I
will pour her stones into the valley and lay bare her foundations.
{7} All her idols will be broken to pieces; all her temple gifts
will be burned with fire; I will destroy all her images. Since she
gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes, as the wages of
prostitutes they will again be used." {8} Because of this I will
weep and wail; I will go about barefoot and naked. I will howl like a
jackal and moan like an owl. {9} For her wound is incurable; it
has come to Judah. It has reached the very gate of my people, even to
Jerusalem itself. {10} Tell it not in Gath ; weep not at all. In
Beth Ophrah roll in the dust. {11} Pass on in nakedness and
shame, you who live in Shaphir. Those who live in Zaanan will not come
out. Beth Ezel is in mourning; its protection is taken from you. {12}
Those who live in Maroth writhe in pain, waiting for relief, because
disaster has come from the LORD, even to the gate of Jerusalem. {13}
You who live in Lachish, harness the team to the chariot. You were
the beginning of sin to the Daughter of Zion, for the transgressions of
Israel were found in you. {14} Therefore you will give parting
gifts to Moresheth Gath. The town of Aczib will prove deceptive to the
kings of Israel. {15} I will bring a conqueror against you who
live in Mareshah. He who is the glory of Israel will come to Adullam.
{16} Shave your heads in mourning for the children in whom you
delight; make yourselves as bald as the vulture, for they will go from
you into exile. |
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Micah
2 |
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Woe
to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At
morning's light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.
{2} They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them.
They defraud a man of his home, a fellowman of his inheritance. {3}
Therefore, the LORD says: "I am planning disaster against this
people, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk
proudly, for it will be a time of calamity. {4} In that day men
will ridicule you; they will taunt you with this mournful song: 'We are
utterly ruined; my people's possession is divided up. He takes it from
me! He assigns our fields to traitors.'" {5} Therefore you will
have no one in the assembly of the LORD to divide the land by lot.
{6} "Do not prophesy," their prophets say. "Do not prophesy about
these things; disgrace will not overtake us." {7} Should it be
said, O house of Jacob: "Is the Spirit of the LORD angry? Does he do
such things?" "Do not my words do good to him whose ways are upright?
{8} 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. {9} You drive the women of my people from their pleasant
homes. You take away my blessing from their children forever. {10}
Get up, go away! For this is not your resting place, because it is
defiled, it is ruined, beyond all remedy. {11} If a liar and
deceiver comes and says, 'I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and
beer,' he would be just the prophet for this people! {12} "I will
surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely bring together the
remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like
a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people. {13}
One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break
through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them,
the LORD at their head." |
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Micah 3 |
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Then
I said, "Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of
Israel. Should you not know justice, {2} you who hate good and
love evil; who tear the skin from my people and the flesh from their
bones; {3} who eat my people's flesh, strip off their skin and
break their bones in pieces; who chop them up like meat for the pan,
like flesh for the pot?" {4} Then they will cry out to the LORD,
but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from
them because of the evil they have done. {5} This is what the
LORD says: "As for the prophets who lead my people astray, if one feeds
them, they proclaim 'peace'; if he does not, they prepare to wage war
against him. {6} Therefore night will come over you, without
visions, and darkness, without divination. The sun will set for the
prophets, and the day will go dark for them. {7} The seers will
be ashamed and the diviners disgraced. They will all cover their faces
because there is no answer from God." {8} 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. {9}
Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the
house of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right;
{10} who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness.
{11} Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price,
and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD
and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us."
{12} Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound
overgrown with thickets. |
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Micah 4 |
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In
the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as
chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and
peoples will stream to it. {2} Many nations will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God
of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths."
The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
{3} He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for
strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword
against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. {4} Every
man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one
will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken. {5} All
the nations may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name
of the LORD our God for ever and ever. {6} "In that day,"
declares the LORD, "I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles
and those I have brought to grief. {7} I will make the lame a
remnant, those driven away a strong nation. The LORD will rule over them
in Mount Zion from that day and forever. {8} As for you, O
watchtower of the flock, O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion, the
former dominion will be restored to you; kingship will come to the
Daughter of Jerusalem." {9} Why do you now cry aloud-- have you
no king? Has your counselor perished, that pain seizes you like that of
a woman in labour? {10} Writhe in agony, O Daughter of Zion, like
a woman in labour, for now you must leave the city to camp in the open
field. You will go to Babylon; there you will be rescued. There the LORD
will redeem 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 over Zion!" {12} But they do not know the
thoughts of the LORD; they do not understand his plan, he who gathers
them like sheaves to the threshing floor. {13} "Rise and thresh,
O Daughter of Zion, for I will give you horns of iron; I will give you
hoofs of bronze and you will break to pieces many nations." You will
devote their ill-gotten gains to the LORD, their wealth to the Lord of
all the earth. |
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Micah 5 |
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Marshal your troops, O city of troops, for a siege is laid against us.
They will strike Israel's ruler on the cheek with a rod. {2} "But
you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose
origins are from of old, from ancient times." {3} Therefore
Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labour gives
birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. {4}
He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in
the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live
securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.
{5} And he will be their peace. When the Assyrian invades our land
and marches through our fortresses, we will raise against him seven
shepherds, even eight leaders of men. {6} They will rule the land
of Assyria with the sword, the land of Nimrod with drawn sword. He will
deliver us from the Assyrian when he invades our land and marches into
our borders. {7} The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of
many peoples like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass, which do
not wait for man or linger for mankind. {8} The remnant of Jacob
will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion
among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
which mauls and mangles as it goes, and no one can rescue. {9}
Your hand will be lifted up in triumph over your enemies, and all your
foes will be destroyed. {10} "In that day," declares the LORD, "I
will destroy your horses from among you and demolish your chariots.
{11} I will destroy the cities of your land and tear down all your
strongholds. {12} I will destroy your witchcraft and you will no
longer cast spells. {13} I will destroy your carved images and
your sacred stones from among you; you will no longer bow down to the
work of your hands. {14} I will uproot from among you your
Asherah poles and demolish your cities. {15} I will take
vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations that have not obeyed me." |
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Micah 6 |
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Listen to what the LORD says: "Stand up, plead your case before the
mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say. {2} Hear, O
mountains, the Lord's accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of
the earth. For the LORD has a case against his people; he is lodging a
charge against Israel. {3} "My people, what have I done to you?
How have I burdened you? Answer me. {4} I brought you up out of
Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead
you, also Aaron and Miriam. {5} My people, remember what Balak
king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember
your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous
acts of the LORD." {6} With what shall I come before the LORD and
bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt
offerings, with calves a year old? {7} Will the LORD be pleased
with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer
my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of
my soul? {8} He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what
does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to
walk humbly with your God. {9} Listen! The LORD is calling to the
city-- and to fear your name is wisdom-- "Heed the rod and the One who
appointed it. {10} Am I still to forget, O wicked house, your
ill-gotten treasures and the short ephah, which is accursed? {11}
Shall I acquit a man with dishonest scales, with a bag of false weights?
{12} Her rich men are violent; her people are liars and their
tongues speak deceitfully. {13} Therefore, I have begun to
destroy you, to ruin you because of your sins. {14} You will eat
but not be satisfied; your stomach will still be empty. You will store
up but save nothing, because what you save I will give to the sword.
{15} You will plant but not harvest; you will press olives but not
use the oil on yourselves, you will crush grapes but not drink the wine.
{16} You have observed the statutes of Omri and all the practices of
Ahab's house, and you have followed their traditions. Therefore I will
give you over to ruin and your people to derision; you will bear the
scorn of the nations." |
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Micah 7 |
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What
misery is mine! I am like one who gathers summer fruit at the gleaning
of the vineyard; there is no cluster of grapes to eat, none of the early
figs that I crave. {2} The godly have been swept from the land;
not one upright man remains. All men lie in wait to shed blood; each
hunts his brother with a net. {3} Both hands are skilled in doing
evil; the ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful
dictate what they desire-- they all conspire together. {4} The
best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchmen has come, the day God visits you. Now is the
time of their confusion. {5} Do not trust a neighbor; put no
confidence in a friend. Even with her who lies in your embrace be
careful of your words. {6} For a son dishonors his father, a
daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law-- a man's enemies are the members of his own household.
{7} But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my
Savior; my God will hear me. {8} Do not gloat over me, my enemy!
Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD
will be my light. {9} Because I have sinned against him, I will
bear the Lord's wrath, until he pleads my case and establishes my right.
He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.
{10} Then my enemy will see it and will be covered with shame, she
who said to me, "Where is the LORD your God?" My eyes will see her
downfall; even now she will be trampled underfoot like mire in the
streets. {11} The day for building your walls will come, the day
for extending your boundaries. {12} In that day people will come
to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the
Euphrates and from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain. {13}
The earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the result
of their deeds. {14} Shepherd your people with your staff, the
flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest, in fertile
pasturelands. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in days long ago.
{15} "As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show them my
wonders." {16} Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all
their power. They will lay their hands on their mouths and their ears
will become deaf. {17} They will lick dust like a snake, like
creatures that crawl on the ground. They will come trembling out of
their dens; they will turn in fear to the LORD our God and will be
afraid of you. {18} Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and
forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not
stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. {19} You will again
have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all
our iniquities into the depths of the sea. {20} You will be true
to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our
fathers in days long ago. |
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