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 16

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Contrast the Upright and the Wicked16:1 The plans of the heart belong to man,

But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight,

But the LORD weighs the motives.

3 Commit your works to the LORD

And your plans will be established.

4 The LORD has made everything for its own purpose,

Even the wicked for the day of evil.

5 Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD;

Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.

6 By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for,

And by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil.

7 When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD,

He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

8 Better is a little with righteousness

Than great income with injustice.

9 The mind of man plans his way,

But the LORD directs his steps.

10 A divine decision is in the lips of the king;

His mouth should not err in judgment.

11 A just balance and scales belong to the LORD;

All the weights of the bag are His concern.

12 It is an abomination for kings to commit wicked acts,

For a throne is established on righteousness.

13 Righteous lips are the delight of kings,

And he who speaks right is loved.

14 The fury of a king is like messengers of death,

But a wise man will appease it.

15 In the light of a king’s face is life,

And his favor is like a cloud with the spring rain.

16 How much better it is to get wisdom than gold!

And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.

17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil;

He who watches his way preserves his life.

18 Pride goes before destruction,

And a haughty spirit before stumbling.

19 It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly

Than to divide the spoil with the proud.

20 He who gives attention to the word will find good,

And blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.

21 The wise in heart will be called understanding,

And sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.

22 Understanding is a fountain of life to one who has it,

But the discipline of fools is folly.

23 The heart of the wise instructs his mouth

And adds persuasiveness to his lips.

24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb,

Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

25 There is a way which seems right to a man,

But its end is the way of death.

26 A worker’s appetite works for him,

For his hunger urges him on.

27 A worthless man digs up evil,

While his words are like scorching fire.

28 A perverse man spreads strife,

And a slanderer separates intimate friends.

29 A man of violence entices his neighbor

And leads him in a way that is not good.

30 He who winks his eyes does so to devise perverse things;

He who compresses his lips brings evil to pass.

31 A gray head is a crown of glory;

It is found in the way of righteousness.

32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,

And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.

33 The lot is cast into the lap,

But its every decision is from the LORD.

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.