Friday, 20 December

1.   The word of the LORD that 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, all you peoples! Listen, O earth, and all that is in it! Let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, The Lord from His holy temple. 3.   For behold, the LORD is coming out of 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 split Like wax before the fire, Like waters poured down a steep place. 5.   All this is for the transgression of Jacob And for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what are the high places of Judah? Are they not Jerusalem? 6.   "Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field, Places for planting a vineyard; I will pour down her stones into the valley, And I will uncover her foundations. 7.   All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, And all her pay as a harlot shall be burned with the fire; All her idols I will lay desolate, For she gathered it from the pay of a harlot, And they shall return to the pay of a harlot." 8.   Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked; I will make a wailing like the jackals And a mourning like the ostriches, 9.   For her wounds are incurable. For it has come to Judah; It has come to the gate of My people––To Jerusalem. 10.   Tell it not in Gath, Weep not at all; In Beth Aphrah Roll yourself in the dust. 11.   Pass by in naked shame, you inhabitant of Shaphir; The inhabitant of Zaanan does not go out. Beth Ezel mourns; Its place to stand is taken away from you. 12.   For the inhabitant of Maroth pined for good, But disaster came down from the LORD To the gate of Jerusalem. 13.   O inhabitant of Lachish, Harness the chariot to the swift steeds (She was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion), For the transgressions of Israel were found in you. 14.   Therefore you shall give presents to Moresheth Gath; The houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel. 15.   I will yet bring an heir to you, O inhabitant of Mareshah; The glory of Israel shall come to Adullam. 16.   Make yourself bald and cut off your hair, Because of your precious children; Enlarge your baldness like an eagle, For they shall go from you into captivity.

1.   Woe to those who devise iniquity, And work out evil on their beds! At morning light they practice it, Because it is in the power of their hand. 2.   They covet fields and take them by violence, Also houses, and seize them . So they oppress a man and his house, A man and his inheritance. 3.   Therefore thus says the LORD: "Behold, against this family I am devising disaster, From which you cannot remove your necks; Nor shall you walk haughtily, For this is an evil time. 4.   In that day one shall take up a proverb against you, And lament with a bitter lamentation, saying: ‘We are utterly destroyed! He has changed the heritage of my people; How He has removed it from me! To a turncoat He has divided our fields.’" 5.   Therefore you will have no one to determine boundaries by lot In the assembly of the LORD. 6.   "Do not prattle," you say to those who prophesy. So they shall not prophesy to you; They shall not return insult for insult. 7.   You who are named the house of Jacob: "Is the Spirit of the LORD restricted? Are these His doings? Do not My words do good To him who walks uprightly? 8.   "Lately My people have risen up as an enemy––You pull off the robe with the garment From those who trust you , as they pass by, Like men returned from war. 9.   The women of My people you cast out From their pleasant houses; From their children You have taken away My glory forever. 10.   "Arise and depart, For this is not your rest; Because it is defiled, it shall destroy, Yes, with utter destruction. 11.   If a man should walk in a false spirit And speak a lie, saying , ‘I will prophesy to you of wine and drink,’ Even he would be the prattler of this people. 12.   "I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob, I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together like sheep of the fold, Like a flock in the midst of their pasture; They shall make a loud noise because of so many people. 13.   The one who breaks open will come up before them; They will break out, Pass through the gate, And go out by it; Their king will pass before them, With the LORD at their head."

1.   And I said: "Hear now, O heads of Jacob, And you rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to know justice? 2.   You who hate good and love evil; Who strip the skin from My people, And the flesh from their bones; 3.   Who also eat the flesh of My people, Flay their skin from them, Break their bones, And chop them in pieces Like meat for the pot, Like flesh in the caldron." 4.   Then they will cry to the LORD, But He will not hear them; He will even hide His face from them at that time, Because they have been evil in their deeds. 5.   Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets Who make my people stray; Who chant "Peace" While they chew with their teeth, But who prepare war against him Who puts nothing into their mouths: 6.   "Therefore you shall have night without vision, And you shall have darkness without divination; The sun shall go down on the prophets, And the day shall be dark for them. 7.   So the seers shall be ashamed, And the diviners abashed; Indeed they shall all cover their lips; For there is no answer from God." 8.   But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the LORD, And of justice and might, To declare to Jacob his transgression And to Israel his sin. 9.   Now hear this, You heads of the house of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel, Who abhor justice And pervert all equity, 10.   Who build up Zion with bloodshed And Jerusalem with iniquity: 11.   Her heads judge for a bribe, Her priests teach for pay, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the LORD, and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No harm can come upon us." 12.   Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple Like the bare hills of the forest.

1.   Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, "Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2.   "But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty–two months. 3.   "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." 4.   These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. 5.   And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. 6.   These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. 7.   When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. 8.   And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9.   Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three–and–a–half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. 10.   And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. 11.   Now after the three–and–a–half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12.   And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13.   In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14.   The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. 15.   Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" 16.   And the twenty–four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17.   saying: "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned. 18.   The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth." 19.   Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.