Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/masters/texts/ylt.lzh/MIC.LZH/MIC

Text File | 1992-12-26 | 17KB | 310 lines

1:1 A word of Jehovah that hath been unto Micah the Morashite in
 the days of Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah, that he
 hath seen concerning Samaria and Jerusalem:
1:2 Hear, O peoples, all of them! Attend, O earth, and its
 fulness, And the Lord Jehovah is against you for a witness, The
 Lord from His holy temple.
1:3 For lo, Jehovah is going out from His place, And He hath
 come down, And hath trodden on high places of earth.
1:4 Melted have been the mountains under Him, And the valleys do
 rend themselves, As wax from the presence of fire, As waters
 cast down by a slope.
1:5 For the transgression of Jacob [is] all this, And for the
 sins of the house of Israel. What [is] the transgression of
 Jacob? Is it not Samaria? And what the high places of Judah? Is
 it not Jerusalem?
1:6 And I have set Samaria for a heap of the field, For
 plantations of a vineyard, And poured out into a valley her
 stones, And her foundations I uncover.
1:7 And all her graven images are beaten down, And all her gifts
 are burnt with fire, And all her idols I make a desolation,
 For, from the hire of a harlot she gathered, and unto the hire
 of a harlot they return.
1:8 For this I lament and howl, I go spoiled and naked, I make a
 lamentation like dragons, And a mourning like daughters of an
 ostrich.
1:9 For mortal [are] her wounds, For it hath come unto Judah, It
 hath come to a gate of My people -- to Jerusalem.
1:10 In Gath tell ye not -- in Acco weep not, In Beth-Aphrah, in
 dust roll thyself.
1:11 Pass over for thee, O inhabitant of Shaphir, Naked one of
 shame. Not gone out hath the inhabitant of Zaanan, The
 lamentation of Beth-Ezel doth take from you its standing.
1:12 For stayed for good hath the inhabitant of Maroth, For evil
 hath come down from Jehovah to the gate of Jerusalem.
1:13 Bind the chariot to a swift beast, O inhabitant of Lachish,
 The beginning of sin [is] she to the daughter of Zion, For in
 thee have been found the transgressions of Israel.
1:14 Therefore thou givest presents to Moresheth-Gath, The
 houses of Achzib become a lying thing to the kings of Israel.
1:15 Yet the possessor I do bring in to thee, O inhabitant of
 Mareshah, To Adullam come in doth the honour of Israel.
1:16 Make bald and shave, for thy delightful sons, Enlarge thy
 baldness as an eagle, For they have removed from thee!
2:1 Woe [to] those devising iniquity, And working evil on their
 beds, In the light of the morning they do it, For their hand is
 -- to God.
2:2 And they have desired fields, And they have taken violently,
 And houses, and they have taken away, And have oppressed a man
 and his house, Even a man and his inheritance.
2:3 Therefore, thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am devising against this
 family evil, From which ye do not remove your necks, Nor walk
 loftily, for a time of evil it [is].
2:4 In that day doth [one] take up for you a simile, And he hath
 wailed a wailing of woe, He hath said, We have been utterly
 spoiled, The portion of my people He doth change, How doth He
 move toward me! To the backslider our fields He apportioneth.
2:5 Therefore, thou hast no caster of a line by lot In the
 assembly of Jehovah.
2:6 Ye do not prophesy -- they do prophesy, They do not prophesy
 to these, It doth not remove shame.
2:7 Doth the house of Jacob say, `Hath the Spirit of Jehovah
 been shortened? Are these His doings?' Do not My words benefit
 the people that is walking uprightly?
2:8 And yesterday My people for an enemy doth raise himself up,
 From the outer garment the honourable ornament ye strip off,
 From the confident passers by, Ye who are turning back from
 war.
2:9 The women of My people ye cast out from its delightful
 house, From its sucklings ye take away My honour to the age.
2:10 Rise and go, for this [is] not the rest, Because of
 uncleanness it doth corrupt, And corruption is powerful.
2:11 If one is going [with] the wind, And [with] falsehood hath
 lied: `I prophesy to thee of wine, and of strong drink,' He
 hath been the prophet of this people!
2:12 I do surely gather thee, O Jacob, all of thee, I surely
 bring together the remnant of Israel, Together I do set it as
 the flock of Bozrah, As a drove in the midst of its pasture, It
 maketh a noise because of man.
2:13 Gone up hath the breaker before them, They have broken
 through, Yea, they pass through the gate, Yea, they go out
 through it, And pass on doth their king before them, And
 Jehovah at their head!
3:1 And I say, `Hear, I pray you, heads of Jacob, And ye judges
 of the house of Israel, Is it not for you to know the
 judgment?
3:2 Ye who are hating good, and loving evil, Taking violently
 their skin from off them, And their flesh from off their bones,
3:3 And who have eaten the flesh of My people, And their skin
 from off them have stript, And their bones they have broken,
 And they have spread [them] out as in a pot, And as flesh in
 the midst of a caldron.
3:4 Then do they cry unto Jehovah, And He doth not answer them,
 And hideth His face from them at that time, As they have made
 evil their doings.
3:5 Thus said Jehovah concerning the prophets Who are causing My
 people to err, Who are biting with their teeth, And have cried
 `Peace,' And he who doth not give unto their mouth, They have
 sanctified against him war.
3:6 Therefore a night ye have without vision, And darkness ye
 have without divination, And gone in hath the sun on the
 prophets, And black over them hath been the day.
3:7 And ashamed have been the seers, And confounded have been
 the diviners, And covered their lip have all of them, For their
 is no answer, O God.
3:8 And yet I have been full of power by the Spirit of Jehovah,
 And of judgment, and of might, To declare to Jacob his
 transgression, And to Israel his sin.
3:9 Hear this, I pray you, heads of the house of Jacob, And ye
 judges of the house of Israel, Who are making judgment
 abominable, And all uprightness do pervert.
3:10 Building up Zion with blood, And Jerusalem with iniquity.
3:11 Her heads for a bribe do judge, And her priests for hire do
 teach, And her prophets for silver divine, And on Jehovah they
 lean, saying, `Is not Jehovah in our midst? Evil doth not come
 in upon us.'
3:12 Therefore, for your sake, Zion is ploughed a field, and
 Jerusalem is heaps, And the mount of the house [is] for high
 places of a forest!
4:1 And it hath come to pass, In the latter end of the days, The
 mount of the house of Jehovah Is established above the top of
 the mounts, And it hath been lifted up above the hills, And
 flowed unto it have peoples.
4:2 And gone have many nations and said, Come and we go up to
 the mount of Jehovah, And unto the house of the God of Jacob,
 And He doth teach us of His ways, And we do walk in His paths,
 For from Zion doth go forth a law, And a word of Jehovah from
 Jerusalem.
4:3 And He hath judged between many peoples, And given a
 decision to mighty nations afar off, They have beaten their
 swords to ploughshares, And their spears to pruning-hooks,
 Nation lifteth not up sword unto nation, Nor do they learn war
 any more.
4:4 And they have sat each under his vine, And under his
 fig-tree, And there is none troubling, For the mouth of Jehovah
 of Hosts hath spoken.
4:5 For all the peoples do walk, Each in the name of its god --
 and we, We do walk in the name of Jehovah our God, To the age
 and for ever.
4:6 In that day -- an affirmation of Jehovah, I do gather the
 halting one, And the driven away one I bring together, And she
 whom I have afflicted.
4:7 And I have set the halting for a remnant, And the far-off
 for a mighty nation, And reigned hath Jehovah over them in
 mount Zion, From henceforth, and unto the age.
4:8 And thou, O tower of Eder, Fort of the daughter of Zion,
 unto thee it cometh, Yea, come in hath the former rule, The
 kingdom to the daughter of Jerusalem.
4:9 Now, why dost thou shout aloud? A king -- is there none in
 thee? Hath thy counsellor perished, That taken hold of thee
 hath pain as a travailing woman?
4:10 Be pained, and bring forth, O daughter of Zion, As a
 travailing woman, For now, thou goest forth from the city, And
 thou hast dwelt in the field, And thou hast gone unto Babylon,
 There thou art delivered, There redeem thee doth Jehovah from
 the hand of thine enemies.
4:11 And now, gathered against thee have been many nations, who
 are saying: `Let her be defiled, and our eyes look on Zion.'
4:12 They have not known the thoughts of Jehovah, Nor have they
 understood His counsel, For He hath gathered them as a sheaf
 [into] a threshing-floor.
4:13 Arise, and thresh, O daughter of Zion, For thy horn I make
 iron, And thy hoofs I make brass, And thou hast beaten small
 many peoples, And I have devoted to Jehovah their gain, And
 their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth!
5:1 Now gather thyself together, O daughter of troops, A siege
 he hath laid against us, With a rod they smite on the cheek the
 judge of Israel.
5:2 And thou, Beth-Lehem Ephratah, Little to be among the chiefs
 of Judah! From thee to Me he cometh forth -- to be ruler in
 Israel, And his comings forth [are] of old, From the days of
 antiquity.
5:3 Therefore he doth give them out till the time She who
 bringeth forth hath brought forth, And the remnant of his
 brethren return to the sons of Israel.
5:4 And he hath stood and delighted in the strength of Jehovah,
 In the excellency of the name of Jehovah his God, And they have
 remained, For now he is great unto the ends of earth.
5:5 And this [one] hath been peace, Asshur! when he doth come
 into our land, And when he doth tread in our palaces, We have
 raised against him seven shepherds, And eight anointed of man.
5:6 And they have afflicted the land of Asshur with the sword,
 And the land of Nimrod at its openings, And he hath delivered
 from Asshur when he doth come into our land, And when he
 treadeth in our borders.
5:7 And the remnant of Jacob hath been in the midst of many
 peoples, As dew from Jehovah -- as showers on the herb, That
 waiteth not for man, nor stayeth for the sons of men.
5:8 Yea, the remnant of Jacob hath been among nations, In the
 midst of many peoples, As a lion among beasts of a forest, As a
 young lion among ranks of a flock, Which if it hath passed
 through, Hath both trodden down and hath torn, And there is no
 deliverer.
5:9 High is thy hand above thine adversaries, And all thine
 enemies are cut off.
5:10 And it hath come to pass in that day, An affirmation of
 Jehovah, I have cut off thy horses from thy midst, And I have
 destroyed thy chariots,
5:11 And I have cut off the cities of thy land, And I have
 thrown down all thy fortresses,
5:12 And have cut off sorcerers out of thy hand, And observers
 of clouds thou hast none.
5:13 And I have cut off thy graven images, And thy
 standing-pillars out of thy midst, And thou dost not bow
 thyself any more To the work of thy hands.
5:14 And I have plucked up thy shrines out of thy midst, And I
 have destroyed thine enemies.
5:15 And I have done vengeance in anger and in fury, With the
 nations who have not hearkened!
6:1 Hear, I pray you, that which Jehovah is saying: `Rise --
 strive thou with the mountains, And cause thou the hills to
 hear thy voice.'
6:2 Hear, O mountains, the strife of Jehovah, Ye strong ones --
 foundations of earth! For a strife [is] to Jehovah, with His
 people, And with Israel He doth reason.
6:3 O My people, what have I done to thee? And what -- have I
 wearied thee? Testify against Me.
6:4 For I brought thee up from the land of Egypt, And from the
 house of servants I have ransomed thee, And I send before thee
 Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
6:5 O My people, remember, I pray you, What counsel did Balak
 king of Moab, What answer him did Balaam son of Beor, (From
 Shittim unto Gilgal,) In order to know the righteous acts of
 Jehovah.'
6:6 With what do I come before Jehovah? Do I bow to God Most
 High? Do I come before Him with burnt-offerings? With calves --
 sons of a year?
6:7 Is Jehovah pleased with thousands of rams? With myriads of
 streams of oil? Do I give my first-born [for] my transgression?
 The fruit of my body [for] the sin of my soul?
6:8 He hath declared to thee, O man, what [is] good; Yea, what
 is Jehovah requiring of thee, Except -- to do judgment, and
 love kindness, And lowly to walk with thy God?
6:9 A voice of Jehovah to the city calleth, And wisdom doth fear
 Thy name, Hear ye the rod, and Him who appointed it.
6:10 Are there yet [in] the house of the wicked Treasures of
 wickedness, And the abhorred scanty ephah?
6:11 Do I reckon [it] pure with balances of wickedness? And with
 a bag of deceitful stones?
6:12 Whose rich ones have been full of violence, And its
 inhabitants have spoken falsehood, And their tongue [is]
 deceitful in their mouth.
6:13 And I also, I have begun to smite thee, To make desolate,
 because of thy sins.
6:14 Thou -- thou eatest, and thou art not satisfied, And thy
 pit [is] in thy midst, And thou removest, and dost not deliver,
 And that which thou deliverest, to a sword I give.
6:15 Thou -- thou sowest, and thou dost not reap, Thou -- thou
 treadest the olive, And thou pourest not out oil, And new wine
 -- and thou drinkest not wine.
6:16 And kept habitually are the statutes of Omri, And all the
 work of the house of Ahab, And ye do walk in their counsels,
 For My giving thee for a desolation, And its inhabitants for a
 hissing, And the reproach of My people ye do bear!
7:1 My woe [is] to me, for I have been As gatherings of
 summer-fruit, As gleanings of harvest, There is no cluster to
 eat, The first-ripe fruit desired hath my soul.
7:2 Perished hath the kind out of the land, And upright among
 men -- there are none, All of them for blood lie in wait, Each
 his brother they hunt [with] a net.
7:3 On the evil [are] both hands to do [it] well, The prince is
 asking -- also the judge -- for recompence, And the great -- he
 is speaking the mischief of his soul, And they wrap it up.
7:4 Their best one [is] as a brier, The upright one -- than a
 thorn-hedge, The day of thy watchmen -- Thy visitation -- hath
 come. Now is their perplexity.
7:5 Believe not in a friend, trust not in a leader, From her who
 is lying in thy bosom keep the openings of thy mouth.
7:6 For a son is dishonouring a father, A daughter hath stood
 against her mother, A daughter-in-law against her
 mother-in-law, The enemies of each [are] the men of his house.
7:7 And I -- in Jehovah I do watch, I do wait for the God of my
 salvation, Hear me doth my God.
7:8 Thou dost not rejoice over me, O mine enemy, When I have
 fallen, I have risen, When I sit in darkness Jehovah is a light
 to me.
7:9 The indignation of Jehovah I do bear, For I have sinned
 against Him, Till that He doth plead my cause, And hath
 executed my judgment, He doth bring me forth to the light, I
 look on His righteousness.
7:10 And see doth mine enemy, And cover her doth shame, Who
 saith unto me, `Where [is] Jehovah thy God?' Mine eyes do look
 on her, Now she is for a treading-place, As mire of the
 out-places.
7:11 The day to build thy walls! That day -- removed is the
 limit.
7:12 That day -- even unto thee it doth come in, From Asshur and
 the cities of the fortress, And from the fortress even unto the
 river, And from sea to sea, and mount to mount.
7:13 And the land hath been for a desolation, Because of its
 inhabitants, Because of the fruit of their doings.
7:14 Rule Thou Thy people with Thy rod, The flock of Thine
 inheritance, Dwelling alone [in] a forest in the midst of
 Carmel, They enjoy Bashan and Gilead as in days of old.
7:15 According to the days of thy coming forth out of the land
 of Egypt, I do shew it wonderful things.
7:16 See do nations, and they are ashamed of all their might,
 They lay a hand on the mouth, their ears are deaf.
7:17 They lick dust as a serpent, as fearful things of earth,
 They tremble from their enclosures, Of Jehovah our God they are
 afraid, Yea, they are afraid of Thee.
7:18 Who [is] a God like Thee? taking away iniquity, And passing
 by the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance, He hath
 not retained for ever His anger, Because He -- He delighteth
 [in] kindness.
7:19 He doth turn back, He pitieth us, He doth subdue our
 iniquities, And Thou castest into the depths of the sea all
 their sins.
7:20 Thou givest truth to Jacob, kindness to Abraham, That thou
 hast sworn to our fathers, from the days of antiquity!