MICAH 6

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God’s Indictment of His People6:1 Hear now what the LORD is saying,

“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,

And let the hills hear your voice.

2 “Listen, you mountains, to the indictment of the LORD,

And you enduring foundations of the earth,

Because the LORD has a case against His people;

Even with Israel He will dispute.

3 “My people, what have I done to you,

And how have I wearied you? Answer Me.

4 “Indeed, I brought you up from the land of Egypt

And ransomed you from the house of slavery,

And I sent before you Moses, Aaron and Miriam.

5 “My people, remember now

What Balak king of Moab counseled

And what Balaam son of Beor answered him,

And from Shittim to Gilgal,

So that you might know the righteous acts of the LORD.”

What God Requires of Man6 With what shall I come to the LORD

And bow myself before the God on high?

Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,

With yearling calves?

7 Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams,

In ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,

The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 He has told you, O man, what is good;

And what does the LORD require of you

But to do justice, to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God?

9 The voice of the LORD will call to the city--

And it is sound wisdom to fear Your name:

“Hear, O tribe. Who has appointed its time?

10 “Is there yet a man in the wicked house,

Along with treasures of wickedness

And a short measure that is cursed?

11 “Can I justify wicked scales

And a bag of deceptive weights?

12 “For the rich men of the city are full of violence,

Her residents speak lies,

And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

13 “So also I will make you sick, striking you down,

Desolating you because of your sins.

14 “You will eat, but you will not be satisfied,

And your vileness will be in your midst.

You will try to remove for safekeeping,

But you will not preserve anything,

And what you do preserve I will give to the sword.

15 “You will sow but you will not reap.

You will tread the olive but will not anoint yourself with oil;

And the grapes, but you will not drink wine.

16 “The statutes of Omri

And all the works of the house of Ahab are observed;

And in their devices you walk.

Therefore I will give you up for destruction

And your inhabitants for derision,

And you will bear the reproach of My people.”

MICAH 7

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The Prophet Acknowledges7:1 Woe is me! For I am

Like the fruit pickers, like the grape gatherers.

There is not a cluster of grapes to eat,

Or a first-ripe fig which I crave.

2 The godly person has perished from the land,

And there is no upright person among men.

All of them lie in wait for bloodshed;

Each of them hunts the other with a net.

3 Concerning evil, both hands do it well.

The prince asks, also the judge, for a bribe,

And a great man speaks the desire of his soul;

So they weave it together.

4 The best of them is like a briar,

The most upright like a thorn hedge.

The day when you post your watchmen,

Your punishment will come.

Then their confusion will occur.

5 Do not trust in a neighbor;

Do not have confidence in a friend.

From her who lies in your bosom

Guard your lips.

6 For son treats father contemptuously,

Daughter rises up against her mother,

Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.

God Is the Source of Salvation and Light7 But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD;

I will wait for the God of my salvation.

My God will hear me.

8 Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.

Though I fall I will rise;

Though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me.

9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD

Because I have sinned against Him,

Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me.

He will bring me out to the light,

And I will see His righteousness.

10 Then my enemy will see,

And shame will cover her who said to me,

“Where is the LORD your God?”

My eyes will look on her;

At that time she will be trampled down

Like mire of the streets.

11 It will be a day for building your walls.

On that day will your boundary be extended.

12 It will be a day when they will come to you

From Assyria and the cities of Egypt,

From Egypt even to the Euphrates,

Even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

13 And the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants,

On account of the fruit of their deeds.

14 Shepherd Your people with Your scepter,

The flock of Your possession

Which dwells by itself in the woodland,

In the midst of a fruitful field.

Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead

As in the days of old.

15 “As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt,

I will show you miracles.”

16 Nations will see and be ashamed

Of all their might.

They will put their hand on their mouth,

Their ears will be deaf.

17 They will lick the dust like a serpent,

Like reptiles of the earth.

They will come trembling out of their fortresses;

To the LORD our God they will come in dread

And they will be afraid before You.

18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity

And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?

He does not retain His anger forever,

Because He delights in unchanging love.

19 He will again have compassion on us;

He will tread our iniquities under foot.

Yes, You will cast all their sins

Into the depths of the sea.

20 You will give truth to Jacob

And unchanging love to Abraham,

Which You swore to our forefathers

From the days of old.

PROVERBS 17

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Contrast the Upright and the Wicked17:1 Better is a dry morsel and quietness with it

Than a house full of feasting with strife.

2 A servant who acts wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully,

And will share in the inheritance among brothers.

3 The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,

But the LORD tests hearts.

4 An evildoer listens to wicked lips;

A liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.

5 He who mocks the poor taunts his Maker;

He who rejoices at calamity will not go unpunished.

6 Grandchildren are the crown of old men,

And the glory of sons is their fathers.

7 Excellent speech is not fitting for a fool,

Much less are lying lips to a prince.

8 A bribe is a charm in the sight of its owner;

Wherever he turns, he prospers.

9 He who conceals a transgression seeks love,

But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.

10 A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding

Than a hundred blows into a fool.

11 A rebellious man seeks only evil,

So a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

12 Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs,

Rather than a fool in his folly.

13 He who returns evil for good,

Evil will not depart from his house.

14 The beginning of strife is like letting out water,

So abandon the quarrel before it breaks out.

15 He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous,

Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.

16 Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom,

When he has no sense?

17 A friend loves at all times,

And a brother is born for adversity.

18 A man lacking in sense pledges

And becomes guarantor in the presence of his neighbor.

19 He who loves transgression loves strife;

He who raises his door seeks destruction.

20 He who has a crooked mind finds no good,

And he who is perverted in his language falls into evil.

21 He who sires a fool does so to his sorrow,

And the father of a fool has no joy.

22 A joyful heart is good medicine,

But a broken spirit dries up the bones.

23 A wicked man receives a bribe from the bosom

To pervert the ways of justice.

24 Wisdom is in the presence of the one who has understanding,

But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

25 A foolish son is a grief to his father

And bitterness to her who bore him.

26 It is also not good to fine the righteous,

Nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.

27 He who restrains his words has knowledge,

And he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

28 Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise;

When he closes his lips, he is considered prudent.

REVELATION 13

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The Beast from the Sea  13:1 And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore.
    Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. 2 And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. 3 I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; 4 they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” 5 There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
    7 It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.
The Beast from the Earth    11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. 12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. 14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. 15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.