Micah 5-7

New King James Version

The Messiah Will Be Born at Bethlehem

5 Now gather yourself in troops,
O daughter of troops;
He has laid siege against us;
They will ^(A)strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.

The Coming Messiah

²“But you, ^(B)Bethlehem ^(C)Ephrathah,
Though you are little ^(D)among the ^(E)thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be ^(F)Ruler in Israel,
^(G)Whose goings forth are from of old,
From ^[a]everlasting.”

³Therefore He shall give them up,
Until the time that ^(H)she who is in labor has given birth;
Then ^(I)the remnant of His brethren
Shall return to the children of Israel.
⁴And He shall stand and ^(J)feed^[b] His flock
In the strength of the Lord,
In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God;
And they shall abide,
For now He ^(K)shall be great
To the ends of the earth;
⁵And this One ^(L)shall be peace.

Judgment on Israel’s Enemies

When the Assyrian comes into our land,
And when he treads in our palaces,
Then we will raise against him
Seven shepherds and eight princely men.
⁶They shall ^[c]waste with the sword the land of Assyria,
And the land of ^(M)Nimrod at its entrances;
Thus He shall ^(N)deliver us from the Assyrian,
When he comes into our land
And when he treads within our borders.

⁷Then ^(O)the remnant of Jacob
Shall be in the midst of many peoples,
^(P)Like dew from the Lord,
Like showers on the grass,
That ^[d]tarry for no man
Nor ^[e]wait for the sons of men.
⁸And the remnant of Jacob
Shall be among the Gentiles,
In the midst of many peoples,
Like a ^(Q)lion among the beasts of the forest,
Like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
Who, if he passes through,
Both treads down and tears in pieces,
And none can deliver.
⁹Your hand shall be lifted against your adversaries,
And all your enemies shall be ^[f]cut off.

¹⁰“And it shall be in that day,” says the Lord,
“That I will ^(R)cut^[g] off your ^(S)horses from your midst
And destroy your ^(T)chariots.
¹¹I will cut off the cities of your land
And throw down all your strongholds.
¹²I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
And you shall have no ^(U)soothsayers.
¹³^(V)Your carved images I will also cut off,
And your sacred pillars from your midst;
You shall ^(W)no more worship the work of your hands;
¹⁴I will pluck your ^[h]wooden images from your midst;
Thus I will destroy your cities.
¹⁵And I will ^(X)execute vengeance in anger and fury
On the nations that have not ^[i]heard.”

God Pleads with Israel

6 Hear now what the Lord says:

“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
And let the hills hear your voice.
²^(Y)Hear, O you mountains, ^(Z)the Lord’s complaint,
And you strong foundations of the earth;
For ^(AA)the Lord has a complaint against His people,
And He will ^[j]contend with Israel.

³“O My people, what ^(AB)have I done to you?
And how have I ^(AC)wearied you?
Testify against Me.
⁴^(AD)For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
I redeemed you from the house of bondage;
And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
⁵O My people, remember now
What ^(AE)Balak king of Moab counseled,
And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
From ^[k]Acacia Grove to Gilgal,
That you may know ^(AF)the righteousness of the Lord.”

⁶With what shall I come before the Lord,
And bow myself before the High God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
With calves a year old?
⁷^(AG)Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
Ten thousand ^(AH)rivers of oil?
^(AI)Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
^[l]The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

⁸He has ^(AJ)shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But ^(AK)to do justly,
To love ^[m]mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

Punishment of Israel’s Injustice

⁹The Lord’s voice cries to the city—
Wisdom shall see Your name:

“Hear the rod!
Who has appointed it?
¹⁰Are there yet the treasures of wickedness
In the house of the wicked,
And the short measure that is an abomination?
¹¹Shall I count pure those with ^(AL)the wicked scales,
And with the bag of deceitful weights?
¹²For her rich men are full of ^(AM)violence,
Her inhabitants have spoken lies,
And ^(AN)their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

¹³“Therefore I will also ^(AO)make you sick by striking you,
By making you desolate because of your sins.
¹⁴^(AP)You shall eat, but not be satisfied;
^[n]Hunger shall be in your midst.
You may carry some away,^[o] but shall not save them;
And what you do rescue I will give over to the sword.

¹⁵“You shall ^(AQ)sow, but not reap;
You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
And make sweet wine, but not drink wine.
¹⁶For the statutes of ^(AR)Omri are ^(AS)kept;
All the works of Ahab’s house are done;
And you walk in their counsels,
That I may make you a ^[p]desolation,
And your inhabitants a hissing.
Therefore you shall bear the ^(AT)reproach of ^[q]My people.”

Sorrow for Israel’s Sins

7 Woe is me!
For I am like those who gather summer fruits,
Like those who ^(AU)glean vintage grapes;
There is no cluster to eat
Of the first-ripe fruit which ^(AV)my soul desires.
²The ^(AW)faithful^[r] man has perished from the earth,
And there is no one upright among men.
They all lie in wait for blood;
^(AX)Every man hunts his brother with a net.

³That they may successfully do evil with both hands—
The prince asks for gifts,
The judge seeks a ^(AY)bribe,
And the great man utters his evil desire;
So they scheme together.
⁴The best of them is ^(AZ)like a brier;
The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge;
The day of your watchman and your punishment comes;
Now shall be their perplexity.

⁵^(BA)Do not trust in a friend;
Do not put your confidence in a companion;
Guard the doors of your mouth
From her who lies in your ^(BB)bosom.
⁶For ^(BC)son dishonors father,
Daughter rises against her mother,
Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.
⁷Therefore I will look to the Lord;
I will ^(BD)wait for the God of my salvation;
My God will hear me.

Israel’s Confession and Comfort

⁸^(BE)Do not rejoice over me, my enemy;
^(BF)When I fall, I will arise;
When I sit in darkness,
The Lord will be a light to me.
⁹^(BG)I will bear the indignation of the Lord,
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my ^(BH)case
And executes justice for me.
He will bring me forth to the light;
I will see His righteousness.
¹⁰Then she who is my enemy will see,
And ^(BI)shame will cover her who said to me,
^(BJ)“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will see her;
Now she will be trampled down
Like mud in the streets.

¹¹In the day when your ^(BK)walls are to be built,
In that day ^[s]the decree shall go far and wide.
¹²In that day ^(BL)they^[t] shall come to you
From Assyria and the ^[u]fortified cities,
From the ^[v]fortress to ^[w]the River,
From sea to sea,
And mountain to mountain.
¹³Yet the land shall be desolate
Because of those who dwell in it,
And ^(BM)for the fruit of their deeds.

God Will Forgive Israel

¹⁴Shepherd Your people with Your staff,
The flock of Your heritage,
Who dwell ^[x]solitarily in a ^(BN)woodland,
In the midst of Carmel;
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
As in days of old.

¹⁵“As^(BO) in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
I will show ^[y]them ^(BP)wonders.”

¹⁶The nations ^(BQ)shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
^(BR)They shall put their hand over their mouth;
Their ears shall be deaf.
¹⁷They shall lick the ^(BS)dust like a serpent;
^(BT)They shall crawl from their holes like ^[z]snakes of the earth.
^(BU)They shall be afraid of the Lord our God,
And shall fear because of You.
¹⁸^(BV)Who is a God like You,
^(BW)Pardoning iniquity
And passing over the transgression of ^(BX)the remnant of His heritage?

^(BY)He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in ^(BZ)mercy.^[aa]
¹⁹He will again have compassion on us,
And will subdue our iniquities.

You will cast all ^[ab]our sins
Into the depths of the sea.
²⁰^(CA)You will give truth to Jacob
And ^[ac]mercy to Abraham,
^(CB)Which You have sworn to our fathers
From days of old.

Footnotes

Micah 5:2 Lit. the days of eternity
Micah 5:4 shepherd
Micah 5:6 devastate
Micah 5:7 wait
Micah 5:7 delay
Micah 5:9 destroyed
Micah 5:10 destroy
Micah 5:14 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities
Micah 5:15 obeyed
Micah 6:2 bring charges against
Micah 6:5 Heb. Shittim, Num. 25:1; Josh. 2:1; 3:1
Micah 6:7 My own child
Micah 6:8 Or lovingkindness
Micah 6:14 Or Emptiness or Humiliation
Micah 6:14 Tg., Vg. You shall take hold
Micah 6:16 Or object of horror
Micah 6:16 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX nations
Micah 7:2 Or loyal
Micah 7:11 Or the boundary shall be extended
Micah 7:12 Lit. he, collective of the captives
Micah 7:12 Heb. arey mazor, possibly cities of Egypt
Micah 7:12 Heb. mazor, possibly Egypt
Micah 7:12 The Euphrates
Micah 7:14 Alone
Micah 7:15 Lit. him, collective for the captives
Micah 7:17 Lit. crawlers
Micah 7:18 Or lovingkindness
Micah 7:19 Lit. their
Micah 7:20 Or lovingkindness

2 Peter 1-3

New King James Version

Greeting the Faithful

1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and ^(A)apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have ^[a]obtained ^(B)like^[b] precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

²^(C)Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, ³as His ^(D)divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him ^(E)who called us by glory and virtue, ⁴^(F)by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be ^(G)partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the ^[c]corruption that is in the world through lust.

Fruitful Growth in the Faith

⁵But also for this very reason, ^(H)giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue ^(I)knowledge, ⁶to knowledge self-control, to self-control ^[d]perseverance, to perseverance godliness, ⁷to godliness brotherly kindness, and ^(J)to brotherly kindness love. ⁸For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither ^[e]barren ^(K)nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹For he who lacks these things is ^(L)shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

¹⁰Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent ^(M)to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; ¹¹for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Peter’s Approaching Death

¹²For this reason ^(N)I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, ^(O)though you know and are established in the present truth. ¹³Yes, I think it is right, ^(P)as long as I am in this ^[f]tent, ^(Q)to stir you up by reminding you, ¹⁴^(R)knowing that shortly I must ^[g]put off my tent, just as ^(S)our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. ¹⁵Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my ^[h]decease.

The Trustworthy Prophetic Word^(T)

¹⁶For we did not follow ^(U)cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the ^(V)power and ^(W)coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were ^(X)eyewitnesses of His majesty. ¹⁷For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ^(Y)“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” ¹⁸And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on ^(Z)the holy mountain.

¹⁹^[i]And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a ^(AA)light that shines in a dark place, ^(AB)until ^(AC)the day dawns and the morning star rises in your ^(AD)hearts; ²⁰knowing this first, that ^(AE)no prophecy of Scripture is of any private ^[j]interpretation, ²¹for ^(AF)prophecy never came by the will of man, ^(AG)but ^[k]holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Destructive Doctrines

2 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be ^(AH)false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. ²And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. ³By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction ^[l]does not slumber.

Doom of False Teachers

⁴For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to ^[m]hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; ⁵and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; ⁶and turning the cities of ^(AI)Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; ⁷and ^(AJ)delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked ⁸(for that righteous man, dwelling among them, ^(AK)tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— ⁹then ^(AL)the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, ¹⁰and especially ^(AM)those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. ^(AN)They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of ^[n]dignitaries, ¹¹whereas ^(AO)angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.

Depravity of False Teachers

¹²But these, ^(AP)like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, ¹³^(AQ)and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure ^(AR)to ^[o]carouse in the daytime. ^(AS)They are spots and blemishes, ^[p]carousing in their own deceptions while ^(AT)they feast with you, ¹⁴having eyes full of ^[q]adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. ^(AU)They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. ¹⁵They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of ^(AV)Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; ¹⁶but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.

¹⁷^(AW)These are wells without water, ^[r]clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness ^[s]forever.

Deceptions of False Teachers

¹⁸For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who ^[t]have actually escaped from those who live in error. ¹⁹While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of ^[u]corruption; ^(AX)for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into ^[v]bondage. ²⁰For if, after they ^(AY)have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are ^(AZ)again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. ²¹For ^(BA)it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. ²²But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ^(BB)“A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

God’s Promise Is Not Slack^(BC)

3 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which ^(BD)I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), ²that you may be mindful of the words ^(BE)which were spoken before by the holy prophets, ^(BF)and of the commandment of ^[w]us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, ³knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, ^(BG)walking according to their own lusts, ⁴and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of ^(BH)creation.” ⁵For this they willfully forget: that ^(BI)by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth ^(BJ)standing out of water and in the water, ⁶^(BK)by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. ⁷But ^(BL)the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for ^(BM)fire until the day of judgment and ^[x]perdition of ungodly men.

⁸But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and ^(BN)a thousand years as one day. ⁹^(BO)The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but ^(BP)is longsuffering toward ^[y]us, ^(BQ)not willing that any should perish but ^(BR)that all should come to repentance.

The Day of the Lord

¹⁰But ^(BS)the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which ^(BT)the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be ^[z]burned up. ¹¹Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be ^(BU)in holy conduct and godliness, ¹²^(BV)looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will ^(BW)be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will ^(BX)melt with fervent heat? ¹³Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for ^(BY)new heavens and a ^(BZ)new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Be Steadfast

¹⁴Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent ^(CA)to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; ¹⁵and consider that ^(CB)the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, ¹⁶as also in all his ^(CC)epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the ^(CD)rest of the Scriptures.

¹⁷You therefore, beloved, ^(CE)since you know this beforehand, ^(CF)beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; ¹⁸^(CG)but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

^(CH)To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

Footnotes

2 Peter 1:1 received
2 Peter 1:1 faith of the same value
2 Peter 1:4 depravity
2 Peter 1:6 patience
2 Peter 1:8 useless
2 Peter 1:13 Body
2 Peter 1:14 Die and leave this body
2 Peter 1:15 Lit. exodus, departure
2 Peter 1:19 Or We also have the more sure prophetic word
2 Peter 1:20 Or origin
2 Peter 1:21 NU men spoke from God
2 Peter 2:3 M will not
2 Peter 2:4 Lit. Tartarus
2 Peter 2:10 glorious ones, lit. glories
2 Peter 2:13 revel
2 Peter 2:13 reveling
2 Peter 2:14 Lit. an adulteress
2 Peter 2:17 NU and mists
2 Peter 2:17 NU omits forever
2 Peter 2:18 NU are barely escaping
2 Peter 2:19 depravity
2 Peter 2:19 slavery
2 Peter 3:2 NU, M the apostles of your Lord and Savior or your apostles of the Lord and Savior
2 Peter 3:7 destruction
2 Peter 3:9 NU you
2 Peter 3:10 NU laid bare, lit. found