Micah 1-3

New International Version

1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth^(A) during the reigns of Jotham,^(B) Ahaz^(C) and Hezekiah,^(D) kings of Judah^(E)—the vision^(F) he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

²Hear,^(G) you peoples, all of you,^(H)
listen, earth^(I) and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness^(J) against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.^(K)

Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem

³Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling^(L) place;
    he comes down^(M) and treads on the heights of the earth.^(N)
⁴The mountains melt^(O) beneath him^(P)
    and the valleys split apart,^(Q)
like wax before the fire,
    like water rushing down a slope.
⁵All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,
    because of the sins of the people of Israel.
What is Jacob’s transgression?
    Is it not Samaria?^(R)
What is Judah’s high place?
    Is it not Jerusalem?

⁶“Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,
    a place for planting vineyards.^(S)
I will pour her stones^(T) into the valley
    and lay bare her foundations.^(U)
⁷All her idols^(V) will be broken to pieces;^(W)
    all her temple gifts will be burned with fire;
    I will destroy all her images.^(X)
Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,^(Y)
    as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”

Weeping and Mourning

⁸Because of this I will weep^(Z) and wail;
    I will go about barefoot^(AA) and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
    and moan like an owl.
⁹For Samaria’s plague^(AB) is incurable;^(AC)
    it has spread to Judah.^(AD)
It has reached the very gate^(AE) of my people,
    even to Jerusalem itself.
¹⁰Tell it not in Gath^[a];
    weep not at all.
In Beth Ophrah^[b]
    roll in the dust.
¹¹Pass by naked^(AF) and in shame,
    you who live in Shaphir.^[c]
Those who live in Zaanan^[d]
    will not come out.
Beth Ezel is in mourning;
    it no longer protects you.
¹²Those who live in Maroth^[e] writhe in pain,
    waiting for relief,^(AG)
because disaster^(AH) has come from the Lord,
    even to the gate of Jerusalem.
¹³You who live in Lachish,^(AI)
    harness fast horses to the chariot.
You are where the sin of Daughter Zion^(AJ) began,
    for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
¹⁴Therefore you will give parting gifts^(AK)
    to Moresheth^(AL) Gath.
The town of Akzib^[f]^(AM) will prove deceptive^(AN)
    to the kings of Israel.
¹⁵I will bring a conqueror against you
    who live in Mareshah.^[g]^(AO)
The nobles of Israel
    will flee to Adullam.^(AP)
¹⁶Shave^(AQ) your head in mourning
    for the children in whom you delight;
make yourself as bald as the vulture,
    for they will go from you into exile.^(AR)

Human Plans and God’s Plans

2 Woe to those who plan iniquity,
    to those who plot evil^(AS) on their beds!^(AT)
At morning’s light they carry it out
    because it is in their power to do it.
²They covet fields^(AU) and seize them,^(AV)
    and houses, and take them.
They defraud^(AW) people of their homes,
    they rob them of their inheritance.^(AX)

³Therefore, the Lord says:

“I am planning disaster^(AY) against this people,
    from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,^(AZ)
    for it will be a time of calamity.
⁴In that day people will ridicule you;
    they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;^(BA)
    my people’s possession is divided up.^(BB)
He takes it from me!
    He assigns our fields to traitors.’”

⁵Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord
to divide the land^(BC) by lot.^(BD)

False Prophets

⁶“Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
    “Do not prophesy about these things;
    disgrace^(BE) will not overtake us.^(BF)”
⁷You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
    “Does the Lord become^[h] impatient?
    Does he do such things?”

“Do not my words do good^(BG)
    to the one whose ways are upright?^(BH)
⁸Lately my people have risen up
    like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
    from those who pass by without a care,
    like men returning from battle.
⁹You drive the women of my people
    from their pleasant homes.^(BI)
You take away my blessing
    from their children forever.
¹⁰Get up, go away!
    For this is not your resting place,^(BJ)
because it is defiled,^(BK)
    it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
¹¹If a liar and deceiver^(BL) comes and says,
    ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’^(BM)
    that would be just the prophet for this people!^(BN)

Deliverance Promised

¹²“I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
    I will surely bring together the remnant^(BO) of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
    like a flock in its pasture;
    the place will throng with people.^(BP)
¹³The One who breaks open the way will go up before^(BQ) them;
    they will break through the gate^(BR) and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
    the Lord at their head.”

Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

3 Then I said,

“Listen, you leaders^(BS) of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
²    you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
    and the flesh from their bones;^(BT)
³who eat my people’s flesh,^(BU)
    strip off their skin
    and break their bones in pieces;^(BV)
who chop^(BW) them up like meat for the pan,
    like flesh for the pot?^(BX)”

⁴Then they will cry out to the Lord,
but he will not answer them.^(BY)
At that time he will hide his face^(BZ) from them
because of the evil they have done.^(CA)

⁵This is what the Lord says:

“As for the prophets
    who lead my people astray,^(CB)
they proclaim ‘peace’^(CC)
    if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
    who refuses to feed them.
⁶Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
    and darkness, without divination.^(CD)
The sun will set for the prophets,^(CE)
    and the day will go dark for them.^(CF)
⁷The seers will be ashamed^(CG)
    and the diviners disgraced.^(CH)
They will all cover^(CI) their faces^(CJ)
    because there is no answer from God.^(CK)”
⁸But as for me, I am filled with power,
    with the Spirit of the Lord,
    and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
    to Israel his sin.^(CL)

⁹Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
    and distort all that is right;^(CM)
¹⁰who build^(CN) Zion with bloodshed,^(CO)
    and Jerusalem with wickedness.^(CP)
¹¹Her leaders judge for a bribe,^(CQ)
    her priests teach for a price,^(CR)
    and her prophets tell fortunes for money.^(CS)
Yet they look^(CT) for the Lord’s support and say,
    “Is not the Lord among us?
    No disaster will come upon us.”^(CU)
¹²Therefore because of you,
    Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,^(CV)
    the temple^(CW) hill a mound overgrown with thickets.^(CX)

Footnotes

Micah 1:10 Gath sounds like the Hebrew for tell.
Micah 1:10 Beth Ophrah means house of dust.
Micah 1:11 Shaphir means pleasant.
Micah 1:11 Zaanan sounds like the Hebrew for come out.
Micah 1:12 Maroth sounds like the Hebrew for bitter.
Micah 1:14 Akzib means deception.
Micah 1:15 Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew for conqueror.
Micah 2:7 Or Is the Spirit of the Lord

1 Peter 1

New International Version

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,^(A)

To God’s elect,^(B) exiles^(C) scattered^(D) throughout the provinces of Pontus,^(E) Galatia,^(F) Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,^(G) ²who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge^(H) of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit,^(I) to be obedient^(J) to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:^(K)

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.^(L)

Praise to God for a Living Hope

³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!^(M) In his great mercy^(N) he has given us new birth^(O) into a living hope^(P) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,^(Q) ⁴and into an inheritance^(R) that can never perish, spoil or fade.^(S) This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,^(T) ⁵who through faith are shielded by God’s power^(U) until the coming of the salvation^(V) that is ready to be revealed^(W) in the last time. ⁶In all this you greatly rejoice,^(X) though now for a little while^(Y) you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.^(Z) ⁷These have come so that the proven genuineness^(AA) of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire^(AB)—may result in praise, glory and honor^(AC) when Jesus Christ is revealed.^(AD) ⁸Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him^(AE) and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.^(AF)

¹⁰Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke^(AG) of the grace that was to come to you,^(AH) searched intently and with the greatest care,^(AI) ¹¹trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ^(AJ) in them was pointing when he predicted^(AK) the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. ¹²It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you,^(AL) when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you^(AM) by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.^(AN) Even angels long to look into these things.

Be Holy

¹³Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober,^(AO) set your hope^(AP) on the grace to be brought to you^(AQ) when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.^(AR) ¹⁴As obedient^(AS) children, do not conform^(AT) to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.^(AU) ¹⁵But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;^(AV) ¹⁶for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”^[a]^(AW)

¹⁷Since you call on a Father^(AX) who judges each person’s work^(AY) impartially,^(AZ) live out your time as foreigners^(BA) here in reverent fear.^(BB) ¹⁸For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed^(BC) from the empty way of life^(BD) handed down to you from your ancestors, ¹⁹but with the precious blood^(BE) of Christ, a lamb^(BF) without blemish or defect.^(BG) ²⁰He was chosen before the creation of the world,^(BH) but was revealed in these last times^(BI) for your sake. ²¹Through him you believe in God,^(BJ) who raised him from the dead^(BK) and glorified him,^(BL) and so your faith and hope^(BM) are in God.

²²Now that you have purified^(BN) yourselves by obeying^(BO) the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply,^(BP) from the heart.^[b] ²³For you have been born again,^(BQ) not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,^(BR) through the living and enduring word of God.^(BS) ²⁴For,

“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
²⁵ but the word of the Lord endures forever.”^[c]^(BT)

And this is the word that was preached to you.