HABAKKUK 1-3

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Chaldeans Used to Punish Judah  1:1 The oracle which Habakkuk the prophet saw.
2 How long, O LORD, will I call for help,

And You will not hear?

I cry out to You, “Violence!”

Yet You do not save.

3 Why do You make me see iniquity,

And cause me to look on wickedness?

Yes, destruction and violence are before me;

Strife exists and contention arises.

4 Therefore the law is ignored

And justice is never upheld.

For the wicked surround the righteous;

Therefore justice comes out perverted.

5 “Look among the nations! Observe!

Be astonished! Wonder!

Because I am doing something in your days--

You would not believe if you were told.

6 “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans,

That fierce and impetuous people

Who march throughout the earth

To seize dwelling places which are not theirs.

7 “They are dreaded and feared;

Their justice and authority originate with themselves.

8 “Their horses are swifter than leopards

And keener than wolves in the evening.

Their horsemen come galloping,

Their horsemen come from afar;

They fly like an eagle swooping down to devour.

9 “All of them come for violence.

Their horde of faces moves forward.

They collect captives like sand.

10 “They mock at kings

And rulers are a laughing matter to them.

They laugh at every fortress

And heap up rubble to capture it.

11 “Then they will sweep through like the wind and pass on.

But they will be held guilty,

They whose strength is their god.”

12 Are You not from everlasting,

O LORD, my God, my Holy One?

We will not die.

You, O LORD, have appointed them to judge;

And You, O Rock, have established them to correct.

13 Your eyes are too pure to approve evil,

And You can not look on wickedness with favor.

Why do You look with favor

On those who deal treacherously?

Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up

Those more righteous than they?

14 Why have You made men like the fish of the sea,

Like creeping things without a ruler over them?

15 The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook,

Drag them away with their net,

And gather them together in their fishing net.

Therefore they rejoice and are glad.

16 Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net

And burn incense to their fishing net;

Because through these things their catch is large,

And their food is plentiful.

17 Will they therefore empty their net

And continually slay nations without sparing?

God Answers the Prophet2:1 I will stand on my guard post

And station myself on the rampart;

And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me,

And how I may reply when I am reproved.

2 Then the LORD answered me and said,

“Record the vision

And inscribe it on tablets,

That the one who reads it may run.

3 “For the vision is yet for the appointed time;

It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail.

Though it tarries, wait for it;

For it will certainly come, it will not delay.

4 “Behold, as for the proud one,

His soul is not right within him;

But the righteous will live by his faith.

5 “Furthermore, wine betrays the haughty man,

So that he does not stay at home.

He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,

And he is like death, never satisfied.

He also gathers to himself all nations

And collects to himself all peoples.

6 “Will not all of these take up a taunt-song against him,

Even mockery and insinuations against him

And say, ‘Woe to him who increases what is not his--

For how long--

And makes himself rich with loans?’

7 “Will not your creditors rise up suddenly,

And those who collect from you awaken?

Indeed, you will become plunder for them.

8 “Because you have looted many nations,

All the remainder of the peoples will loot you--

Because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land,

To the town and all its inhabitants.

9 “Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house

To put his nest on high,

To be delivered from the hand of calamity!

10 “You have devised a shameful thing for your house

By cutting off many peoples;

So you are sinning against yourself.

11 “Surely the stone will cry out from the wall,

And the rafter will answer it from the framework.

12 “Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed

And founds a town with violence!

13 “Is it not indeed from the LORD of hosts

That peoples toil for fire,

And nations grow weary for nothing?

14 “For the earth will be filled

With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,

As the waters cover the sea.

15 “Woe to you who make your neighbors drink,

Who mix in your venom even to make them drunk

So as to look on their nakedness!

16 “You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor.

Now you yourself drink and expose your own nakedness.

The cup in the LORD’S right hand will come around to you,

And utter disgrace will come upon your glory.

17 “For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,

And the devastation of its beasts by which you terrified them,

Because of human bloodshed and violence done to the land,

To the town and all its inhabitants.

18 “What profit is the idol when its maker has carved it,

Or an image, a teacher of falsehood?

For its maker trusts in his own handiwork

When he fashions speechless idols.

19 “Woe to him who says to a piece of wood, ‘Awake!’

To a mute stone, ‘Arise!’

And that is your teacher?

Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,

And there is no breath at all inside it.

20 “But the LORD is in His holy temple.

Let all the earth be silent before Him.”

God’s Deliverance of His People  3:1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth.
2 LORD, I have heard the report about You and I fear.

O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years,

In the midst of the years make it known;

In wrath remember mercy.

3 God comes from Teman,

And the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah.

His splendor covers the heavens,

And the earth is full of His praise.

4 His radiance is like the sunlight;

He has rays flashing from His hand,

And there is the hiding of His power.

5 Before Him goes pestilence,

And plague comes after Him.

6 He stood and surveyed the earth;

He looked and startled the nations.

Yes, the perpetual mountains were shattered,

The ancient hills collapsed.

His ways are everlasting.

7 I saw the tents of Cushan under distress,

The tent curtains of the land of Midian were trembling.

8 Did the LORD rage against the rivers,

Or was Your anger against the rivers,

Or was Your wrath against the sea,

That You rode on Your horses,

On Your chariots of salvation?

9 Your bow was made bare,

The rods of chastisement were sworn. Selah.

You cleaved the earth with rivers.

10 The mountains saw You and quaked;

The downpour of waters swept by.

The deep uttered forth its voice,

It lifted high its hands.

11 Sun and moon stood in their places;

They went away at the light of Your arrows,

At the radiance of Your gleaming spear.

12 In indignation You marched through the earth;

In anger You trampled the nations.

13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people,

For the salvation of Your anointed.

You struck the head of the house of the evil

To lay him open from thigh to neck. Selah.

14 You pierced with his own spears

The head of his throngs.

They stormed in to scatter us;

Their exultation was like those

Who devour the oppressed in secret.

15 You trampled on the sea with Your horses,

On the surge of many waters.

16 I heard and my inward parts trembled,

At the sound my lips quivered.

Decay enters my bones,

And in my place I tremble.

Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress,

For the people to arise who will invade us.

17 Though the fig tree should not blossom

And there be no fruit on the vines,

Though the yield of the olive should fail

And the fields produce no food,

Though the flock should be cut off from the fold

And there be no cattle in the stalls,

18 Yet I will exult in the LORD,

I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

19 The Lord GOD is my strength,

And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,

And makes me walk on my high places.

For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.

PROVERBS 15

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Contrast the Upright and the Wicked15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath,

But a harsh word stirs up anger.

2 The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable,

But the mouth of fools spouts folly.

3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place,

Watching the evil and the good.

4 A soothing tongue is a tree of life,

But perversion in it crushes the spirit.

5 A fool rejects his father’s discipline,

But he who regards reproof is sensible.

6 Great wealth is in the house of the righteous,

But trouble is in the income of the wicked.

7 The lips of the wise spread knowledge,

But the hearts of fools are not so.

8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,

But the prayer of the upright is His delight.

9 The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,

But He loves one who pursues righteousness.

10 Grievous punishment is for him who forsakes the way;

He who hates reproof will die.

11 Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD,

How much more the hearts of men!

12 A scoffer does not love one who reproves him,

He will not go to the wise.

13 A joyful heart makes a cheerful face,

But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.

14 The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge,

But the mouth of fools feeds on folly.

15 All the days of the afflicted are bad,

But a cheerful heart has a continual feast.

16 Better is a little with the fear of the LORD

Than great treasure and turmoil with it.

17 Better is a dish of vegetables where love is

Than a fattened ox served with hatred.

18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,

But the slow to anger calms a dispute.

19 The way of the lazy is as a hedge of thorns,

But the path of the upright is a highway.

20 A wise son makes a father glad,

But a foolish man despises his mother.

21 Folly is joy to him who lacks sense,

But a man of understanding walks straight.

22 Without consultation, plans are frustrated,

But with many counselors they succeed.

23 A man has joy in an apt answer,

And how delightful is a timely word!

24 The path of life leads upward for the wise

That he may keep away from Sheol below.

25 The LORD will tear down the house of the proud,

But He will establish the boundary of the widow.

26 Evil plans are an abomination to the LORD,

But pleasant words are pure.

27 He who profits illicitly troubles his own house,

But he who hates bribes will live.

28 The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,

But the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

29 The LORD is far from the wicked,

But He hears the prayer of the righteous.

30 Bright eyes gladden the heart;

Good news puts fat on the bones.

31 He whose ear listens to the life-giving reproof

Will dwell among the wise.

32 He who neglects discipline despises himself,

But he who listens to reproof acquires understanding.

33 The fear of the LORD is the instruction for wisdom,

And before honor comes humility.

REVELATION 15

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A Scene of Heaven  15:1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.
    2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. 3 And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

“Great and marvelous are Your works,

O Lord God, the Almighty;

Righteous and true are Your ways,

King of the nations!

4 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?

For You alone are holy;

For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU,

FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.”

    5 After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened, 6 and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, clothed in linen, clean and bright, and girded around their chests with golden sashes. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.