MICAH 4

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Peaceful Latter Days4:1 And it will come about in the last days

That the mountain of the house of the LORD

Will be established as the chief of the mountains.

It will be raised above the hills,

And the peoples will stream to it.

2 Many nations will come and say,

“Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD

And to the house of the God of Jacob,

That He may teach us about His ways

And that we may walk in His paths.”

For from Zion will go forth the law,

Even the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

3 And He will judge between many peoples

And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.

Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares

And their spears into pruning hooks;

Nation will not lift up sword against nation,

And never again will they train for war.

4 Each of them will sit under his vine

And under his fig tree,

With no one to make them afraid,

For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.

5 Though all the peoples walk

Each in the name of his god,

As for us, we will walk

In the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.

6 “In that day,” declares the LORD,

“I will assemble the lame

And gather the outcasts,

Even those whom I have afflicted.

7 “I will make the lame a remnant

And the outcasts a strong nation,

And the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion

From now on and forever.

8 “As for you, tower of the flock,

Hill of the daughter of Zion,

To you it will come--

Even the former dominion will come,

The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.

9 “Now, why do you cry out loudly?

Is there no king among you,

Or has your counselor perished,

That agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth?

10 “Writhe and labor to give birth,

Daughter of Zion,

Like a woman in childbirth;

For now you will go out of the city,

Dwell in the field,

And go to Babylon.

There you will be rescued;

There the LORD will redeem you

From the hand of your enemies.

11 “And now many nations have been assembled against you

Who say, ‘Let her be polluted,

And let our eyes gloat over Zion.’

12 “But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD,

And they do not understand His purpose;

For He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.

13 “Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion,

For your horn I will make iron

And your hoofs I will make bronze,

That you may pulverize many peoples,

That you may devote to the LORD their unjust gain

And their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

MICAH 5

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Birth of the King in Bethlehem5:1 “Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops;

They have laid siege against us;

With a rod they will smite the judge of Israel on the cheek.

2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Too little to be among the clans of Judah,

From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.

His goings forth are from long ago,

From the days of eternity.”

3 Therefore He will give them up until the time

When she who is in labor has borne a child.

Then the remainder of His brethren

Will return to the sons of Israel.

4 And He will arise and shepherd His flock

In the strength of the LORD,

In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God.

And they will remain,

Because at that time He will be great

To the ends of the earth.

5 This One will be our peace.

When the Assyrian invades our land,

When he tramples on our citadels,

Then we will raise against him

Seven shepherds and eight leaders of men.

6 They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,

The land of Nimrod at its entrances;

And He will deliver us from the Assyrian

When he attacks our land

And when he tramples our territory.

7 Then the remnant of Jacob

Will be among many peoples

Like dew from the LORD,

Like showers on vegetation

Which do not wait for man

Or delay for the sons of men.

8 The remnant of Jacob

Will be among the nations,

Among many peoples

Like a lion among the beasts of the forest,

Like a young lion among flocks of sheep,

Which, if he passes through,

Tramples down and tears,

And there is none to rescue.

9 Your hand will be lifted up against your adversaries,

And all your enemies will be cut off.

10 “It will be in that day,” declares the LORD,

“That I will cut off your horses from among you

And destroy your chariots.

11 “I will also cut off the cities of your land

And tear down all your fortifications.

12 “I will cut off sorceries from your hand,

And you will have fortune-tellers no more.

13 “I will cut off your carved images

And your sacred pillars from among you,

So that you will no longer bow down

To the work of your hands.

14 “I will root out your Asherim from among you

And destroy your cities.

15 “And I will execute vengeance in anger and wrath

On the nations which have not obeyed.”

PROVERBS 13

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Contrast the Upright and the Wicked13:1 A wise son accepts his father’s discipline,

But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

2 From the fruit of a man’s mouth he enjoys good,

But the desire of the treacherous is violence.

3 The one who guards his mouth preserves his life;

The one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

4 The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,

But the soul of the diligent is made fat.

5 A righteous man hates falsehood,

But a wicked man acts disgustingly and shamefully.

6 Righteousness guards the one whose way is blameless,

But wickedness subverts the sinner.

7 There is one who pretends to be rich, but has nothing;

Another pretends to be poor, but has great wealth.

8 The ransom of a man’s life is his wealth,

But the poor hears no rebuke.

9 The light of the righteous rejoices,

But the lamp of the wicked goes out.

10 Through insolence comes nothing but strife,

But wisdom is with those who receive counsel.

11 Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles,

But the one who gathers by labor increases it.

12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

13 The one who despises the word will be in debt to it,

But the one who fears the commandment will be rewarded.

14 The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,

To turn aside from the snares of death.

15 Good understanding produces favor,

But the way of the treacherous is hard.

16 Every prudent man acts with knowledge,

But a fool displays folly.

17 A wicked messenger falls into adversity,

But a faithful envoy brings healing.

18 Poverty and shame will come to him who neglects discipline,

But he who regards reproof will be honored.

19 Desire realized is sweet to the soul,

But it is an abomination to fools to turn away from evil.

20 He who walks with wise men will be wise,

But the companion of fools will suffer harm.

21 Adversity pursues sinners,

But the righteous will be rewarded with prosperity.

22 A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,

And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.

23 Abundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor,

But it is swept away by injustice.

24 He who withholds his rod hates his son,

But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.

25 The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite,

But the stomach of the wicked is in need.

PSALM 146

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The LORD an Abundant Helper.146:1 Praise the LORD!

Praise the LORD, O my soul!

2 I will praise the LORD while I live;

I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

3 Do not trust in princes,

In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.

4 His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;

In that very day his thoughts perish.

5 How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

Whose hope is in the LORD his God,

6 Who made heaven and earth,

The sea and all that is in them;

Who keeps faith forever;

7 Who executes justice for the oppressed;

Who gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets the prisoners free.

8 The LORD opens the eyes of the blind;

The LORD raises up those who are bowed down;

The LORD loves the righteous;

9 The LORD protects the strangers;

He supports the fatherless and the widow,

But He thwarts the way of the wicked.

10 The LORD will reign forever,

Your God, O Zion, to all generations.

Praise the LORD!