MICAH 1-3

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Destruction in Israel and Judah  1:1 The word of the LORD which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

2 Hear, O peoples, all of you;

Listen, O earth and all it contains,

And let the Lord GOD be a witness against you,

The Lord from His holy temple.

3 For behold, the LORD is coming forth from His place.

He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.

4 The mountains will melt under Him

And the valleys will be split,

Like wax before the fire,

Like water poured down a steep place.

5 All this is for the rebellion of Jacob

And for the sins of the house of Israel.

What is the rebellion of Jacob?

Is it not Samaria?

What is the high place of Judah?

Is it not Jerusalem?

6 For I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country,

Planting places for a vineyard.

I will pour her stones down into the valley

And will lay bare her foundations.

7 All of her idols will be smashed,

All of her earnings will be burned with fire

And all of her images I will make desolate,

For she collected them from a harlot’s earnings,

And to the earnings of a harlot they will return.

8 Because of this I must lament and wail,

I must go barefoot and naked;

I must make a lament like the jackals

And a mourning like the ostriches.

9 For her wound is incurable,

For it has come to Judah;

It has reached the gate of my people,

Even to Jerusalem.

10 Tell it not in Gath,

Weep not at all.

At Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust.

11 Go on your way, inhabitant of Shaphir, in shameful nakedness.

The inhabitant of Zaanan does not escape.

The lamentation of Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its support.”

12 For the inhabitant of Maroth

Becomes weak waiting for good,

Because a calamity has come down from the LORD

To the gate of Jerusalem.

13 Harness the chariot to the team of horses,

O inhabitant of Lachish--

She was the beginning of sin

To the daughter of Zion--

Because in you were found

The rebellious acts of Israel.

14 Therefore you will give parting gifts

On behalf of Moresheth-gath;

The houses of Achzib will become a deception

To the kings of Israel.

15 Moreover, I will bring on you

The one who takes possession,

O inhabitant of Mareshah.

The glory of Israel will enter Adullam.

16 Make yourself bald and cut off your hair,

Because of the children of your delight;

Extend your baldness like the eagle,

For they will go from you into exile.

Woe to Oppressors2:1 Woe to those who scheme iniquity,

Who work out evil on their beds!

When morning comes, they do it,

For it is in the power of their hands.

2 They covet fields and then seize them,

And houses, and take them away.

They rob a man and his house,

A man and his inheritance.

3 Therefore thus says the LORD,

“Behold, I am planning against this family a calamity

From which you cannot remove your necks;

And you will not walk haughtily,

For it will be an evil time.

4 “On that day they will take up against you a taunt

And utter a bitter lamentation and say,

‘We are completely destroyed!

He exchanges the portion of my people;

How He removes it from me!

To the apostate He apportions our fields.’

5 “Therefore you will have no one stretching a measuring line

For you by lot in the assembly of the LORD.

6 ‘Do not speak out,’ so they speak out.

But if they do not speak out concerning these things,

Reproaches will not be turned back.

7 “Is it being said, O house of Jacob:

‘Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient?

Are these His doings?’

Do not My words do good

To the one walking uprightly?

8 “Recently My people have arisen as an enemy--

You strip the robe off the garment

From unsuspecting passers-by,

From those returned from war.

9 “The women of My people you evict,

Each one from her pleasant house.

From her children you take My splendor forever.

10 “Arise and go,

For this is no place of rest

Because of the uncleanness that brings on destruction,

A painful destruction.

11 “If a man walking after wind and falsehood

Had told lies and said,

‘I will speak out to you concerning wine and liquor,’

He would be spokesman to this people.

12 “I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob,

I will surely gather the remnant of Israel.

I will put them together like sheep in the fold;

Like a flock in the midst of its pasture

They will be noisy with men.

13 “The breaker goes up before them;

They break out, pass through the gate and go out by it.

So their king goes on before them,

And the LORD at their head.”

Rulers Denounced  3:1 And I said,

“Hear now, heads of Jacob

And rulers of the house of Israel.

Is it not for you to know justice?

2 “You who hate good and love evil,

Who tear off their skin from them

And their flesh from their bones,

3 Who eat the flesh of my people,

Strip off their skin from them,

Break their bones

And chop them up as for the pot

And as meat in a kettle.”

4 Then they will cry out to the LORD,

But He will not answer them.

Instead, He will hide His face from them at that time

Because they have practiced evil deeds.

    5 Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who lead my people astray;

When they have something to bite with their teeth,

They cry, “Peace,”

But against him who puts nothing in their mouths

They declare holy war.

6 Therefore it will be night for you--without vision,

And darkness for you--without divination.

The sun will go down on the prophets,

And the day will become dark over them.

7 The seers will be ashamed

And the diviners will be embarrassed.

Indeed, they will all cover their mouths

Because there is no answer from God.

8 On the other hand I am filled with power--

With the Spirit of the LORD--

And with justice and courage

To make known to Jacob his rebellious act,

Even to Israel his sin.

9 Now hear this, heads of the house of Jacob

And rulers of the house of Israel,

Who abhor justice

And twist everything that is straight,

10 Who build Zion with bloodshed

And Jerusalem with violent injustice.

11 Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe,

Her priests instruct for a price

And her prophets divine for money.

Yet they lean on the LORD saying,

“Is not the LORD in our midst?

Calamity will not come upon us.”

12 Therefore, on account of you

Zion will be plowed as a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

And the mountain of the temple will become high places of a forest.

PROVERBS 11

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Contrast the Upright and the Wicked11:1 A false balance is an abomination to the LORD,

But a just weight is His delight.

2 When pride comes, then comes dishonor,

But with the humble is wisdom.

3 The integrity of the upright will guide them,

But the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them.

4 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,

But righteousness delivers from death.

5 The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way,

But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.

6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them,

But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed.

7 When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish,

And the hope of strong men perishes.

8 The righteous is delivered from trouble,

But the wicked takes his place.

9 With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor,

But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.

10 When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,

And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.

11 By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,

But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.

12 He who despises his neighbor lacks sense,

But a man of understanding keeps silent.

13 He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets,

But he who is trustworthy conceals a matter.

14 Where there is no guidance the people fall,

But in abundance of counselors there is victory.

15 He who is guarantor for a stranger will surely suffer for it,

But he who hates being a guarantor is secure.

16 A gracious woman attains honor,

And ruthless men attain riches.

17 The merciful man does himself good,

But the cruel man does himself harm.

18 The wicked earns deceptive wages,

But he who sows righteousness gets a true reward.

19 He who is steadfast in righteousness will attain to life,

And he who pursues evil will bring about his own death.

20 The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD,

But the blameless in their walk are His delight.

21 Assuredly, the evil man will not go unpunished,

But the descendants of the righteous will be delivered.

22 As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout

So is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.

23 The desire of the righteous is only good,

But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.

24 There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more,

And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want.

25 The generous man will be prosperous,

And he who waters will himself be watered.

26 He who withholds grain, the people will curse him,

But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.

27 He who diligently seeks good seeks favor,

But he who seeks evil, evil will come to him.

28 He who trusts in his riches will fall,

But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.

29 He who troubles his own house will inherit wind,

And the foolish will be servant to the wisehearted.

30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,

And he who is wise wins souls.

31 If the righteous will be rewarded in the earth,

How much more the wicked and the sinner!

PSALM 145

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The LORD Extolled for His Goodness.A Psalm of Praise, of David.
145:1 I will extol You, my God, O King,

And I will bless Your name forever and ever.

2 Every day I will bless You,

And I will praise Your name forever and ever.

3 Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised,

And His greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall praise Your works to another,

And shall declare Your mighty acts.

5 On the glorious splendor of Your majesty

And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.

6 Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,

And I will tell of Your greatness.

7 They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness

And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.

8 The LORD is gracious and merciful;

Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.

9 The LORD is good to all,

And His mercies are over all His works.

10 All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD,

And Your godly ones shall bless You.

11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom

And talk of Your power;

12 To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts

And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

14 The LORD sustains all who fall

And raises up all who are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all look to You,

And You give them their food in due time.

16 You open Your hand

And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways

And kind in all His deeds.

18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,

To all who call upon Him in truth.

19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;

He will also hear their cry and will save them.

20 The LORD keeps all who love Him,

But all the wicked He will destroy.

21 My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,

And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.