The Ruler to Be Born in Bethlehem

[a] Now muster your troops, O daughter[b] of troops;
    siege is laid against us;
with a rod (A)they strike the judge of Israel
    on the cheek.
[c] (B)But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    who are too little to be among the clans of (C)Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
    one who is to be (D)ruler in Israel,
(E)whose coming forth is (F)from of old,
    from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up (G)until the time
    when she who is in labor has given birth;
then (H)the rest of his brothers shall return
    to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand (I)and shepherd his flock (J)in the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now (K)he shall be great
    to the ends of the earth.
And he shall be (L)their peace.

(M)When the Assyrian comes into our land
    and treads in our palaces,
then we will raise against him seven (N)shepherds
    and eight princes of men;
they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
    and the land of (O)Nimrod at its entrances;
and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian
    (P)when he comes into our land
    and treads within our border.

A Remnant Shall Be Delivered

Then (Q)the remnant of Jacob shall be
    in the midst of many peoples
like dew from the Lord,
    like showers on the grass,
which delay not for a man
    nor wait for the children of man.
And (R)the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations,
    in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
    like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
(S)which, when it goes through, treads down
    and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
Your hand shall (T)be lifted up over your adversaries,
    and all your enemies shall be cut off.

10 And (U)in that day, declares the Lord,
    (V)I will cut off your horses from among you
    and will destroy your chariots;
11 (W)and I will cut off the cities of your land
    and throw down all your strongholds;
12 and I will cut off (X)sorceries from your hand,
    and (Y)you shall have no more tellers of fortunes;
13 and (Z)I will cut off your carved images
    and (AA)your pillars from among you,
(AB)and you shall bow down no more
    to the work of your hands;
14 and I will root out your (AC)Asherah images from among you
    (AD)and destroy your cities.
15 And in anger and wrath (AE)I will execute vengeance
    on the nations that did not obey.

The Indictment of the Lord

(AF)Hear what the Lord says:
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
    and let the hills hear your voice.
(AG)Hear, you mountains, (AH)the indictment of the Lord,
    and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the Lord has an indictment against his people,
    and he will contend with Israel.

“O my people, (AI)what have I done to you?
    (AJ)How have I wearied you? Answer me!
For (AK)I brought you up from the land of Egypt
    and (AL)redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
    Aaron, and (AM)Miriam.
O my people, remember (AN)what Balak king of Moab devised,
    and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from (AO)Shittim to Gilgal,
    that you may know (AP)the righteous acts of the Lord.”

What Does the Lord Require?

(AQ)“With what shall I come before the Lord,
    and bow myself before (AR)God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?
(AS)Will the Lord be pleased with[d] thousands of rams,
    with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
(AT)Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and (AU)what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,[e]
    and to (AV)walk humbly with your God?

Destruction of the Wicked

The voice of the Lord cries to the city—
    and it is sound wisdom to fear (AW)your name:
“Hear of (AX)the rod and of him who appointed it![f]
10     Can I forget any longer the treasures[g] of wickedness in the house of the wicked,
    and the scant measure that is accursed?
11 Shall I acquit the man (AY)with wicked scales
    and with a bag of deceitful weights?
12 Your[h] rich men are (AZ)full of violence;
    your inhabitants (BA)speak lies,
    and (BB)their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow,
    (BC)making you desolate because of your sins.
14 (BD)You shall eat, but not be satisfied,
    and there shall be hunger within you;
you shall put away, but not preserve,
    and what you preserve I will give to the sword.
15 (BE)You shall sow, but not reap;
    you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
    you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.
16 For you have kept the statutes of (BF)Omri,[i]
    and all the works of the house of (BG)Ahab;
    and you have walked in their counsels,
that I may make you (BH)a desolation, and your[j] inhabitants (BI)a hissing;
    so you shall bear (BJ)the scorn of my people.”

Wait for the God of Salvation

Woe is me! For I have become
    (BK)as when the summer fruit has been gathered,
    as when the grapes have been gleaned:
there is no cluster to eat,
    no (BL)first-ripe fig that my soul desires.
(BM)The godly has perished from the earth,
    and (BN)there is no one upright among mankind;
(BO)they all lie in wait for blood,
    and (BP)each hunts the other with a net.
(BQ)Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well;
    (BR)the prince and (BS)the judge ask for a bribe,
and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;
    thus they weave it together.
The best of them is (BT)like a brier,
    the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
The day of (BU)your watchmen, of your punishment, has come;
    (BV)now their confusion is at hand.
(BW)Put no trust in a neighbor;
    have no confidence in a friend;
guard (BX)the doors of your mouth
    from her who lies in your arms;[k]
for (BY)the son treats the father with contempt,
    the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
    (BZ)a man's enemies are the men of his own house.
But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
    (CA)I will wait for the God of my salvation;
    my God will hear me.

(CB)Rejoice not over me, O (CC)my enemy;
    (CD)when I fall, I shall rise;
(CE)when I sit in darkness,
    the Lord will be a light to me.
(CF)I will bear the indignation of the Lord
    because I have sinned against him,
until (CG)he pleads my cause
    and executes judgment for me.
(CH)He will bring me out to the light;
    I shall look upon his vindication.
10 Then (CI)my enemy will see,
    and shame will cover her who (CJ)said to me,
    “Where is the Lord your God?”
(CK)My eyes will look upon her;
    now she will be trampled down
    (CL)like the mire of the streets.

11 (CM)A day for the building of your walls!
    In that day the boundary shall be far extended.
12 In that day they[l] will come to you,
    (CN)from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to (CO)the River,[m]
    (CP)from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.
13 But (CQ)the earth will be desolate
    because of its inhabitants,
    for the fruit of their deeds.

14 (CR)Shepherd your people (CS)with your staff,
    the flock of your inheritance,
who dwell alone in a forest
    (CT)in the midst of (CU)a garden land;[n]
let them graze in Bashan and Gilead
    as in the days of old.
15 (CV)As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
    I will show them[o] marvelous things.
16 (CW)The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
(CX)they shall lay their hands on their mouths;
    their ears shall be deaf;
17 (CY)they shall lick the dust like a serpent,
    like the crawling things of the earth;
(CZ)they shall come trembling out of their strongholds;
    (DA)they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God,
    and they shall be in fear of you.

God's Steadfast Love and Compassion

18 (DB)Who is a God like you, (DC)pardoning iniquity
    and passing over transgression
    (DD)for the remnant of his inheritance?
(DE)He does not retain his anger forever,
    because he delights in steadfast love.
19 He will (DF)again have compassion on us;
    (DG)he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
(DH)You will cast all our[p] sins
    into the depths of the sea.
20 (DI)You will show faithfulness to Jacob
    and steadfast love to Abraham,
(DJ)as you have sworn to our fathers
    from the days of old.

Footnotes

  1. Micah 5:1 Ch 4:14 in Hebrew
  2. Micah 5:1 That is, city
  3. Micah 5:2 Ch 5:1 in Hebrew
  4. Micah 6:7 Or Will the Lord accept
  5. Micah 6:8 Or steadfast love
  6. Micah 6:9 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
  7. Micah 6:10 Or Are there still treasures
  8. Micah 6:12 Hebrew whose
  9. Micah 6:16 Hebrew For the statutes of Omri are kept
  10. Micah 6:16 Hebrew its
  11. Micah 7:5 Hebrew bosom
  12. Micah 7:12 Hebrew he
  13. Micah 7:12 That is, the Euphrates
  14. Micah 7:14 Hebrew of Carmel
  15. Micah 7:15 Hebrew him
  16. Micah 7:19 Hebrew their

The Priestly Order of Melchizedek

For this (A)Melchizedek, king of (B)Salem, priest of (C)the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother (D)or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.

See how great this man was to whom Abraham (E)the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! And (F)those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers,[a] though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man (G)who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed (H)him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one (I)of whom it is testified that (J)he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

Jesus Compared to Melchizedek

11 (K)Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13 For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended (L)from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.

15 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is witnessed of him,

(M)“You are a priest forever,
    after the order of Melchizedek.”

18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside (N)because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for (O)the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, (P)a better hope is introduced, through which (Q)we draw near to God.

20 And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, 21 but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:

(R)“The Lord has sworn
    and will not change his mind,
‘You are a priest forever.’”

22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of (S)a better covenant.

23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues (T)forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost[b] (U)those who draw near to God (V)through him, since he always lives (W)to make intercession for them.

26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, (X)holy, innocent, unstained, (Y)separated from sinners, and (Z)exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, (AA)first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this (AB)once for all when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men (AC)in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made (AD)perfect forever.

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 7:5 Or brothers and sisters
  2. Hebrews 7:25 That is, completely; or at all times

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