Micah 6-7

New International Version

The Lord’s Case Against Israel

6 Listen to what the Lord says:

“Stand up, plead my case before the mountains;^(A)
let the hills hear what you have to say.

²“Hear,^(B) you mountains, the Lord’s accusation;^(C)
listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.
For the Lord has a case^(D) against his people;
he is lodging a charge^(E) against Israel.

³“My people, what have I done to you?
    How have I burdened^(F) you?^(G) Answer me.
⁴I brought you up out of Egypt^(H)
    and redeemed you from the land of slavery.^(I)
I sent Moses^(J) to lead you,
    also Aaron^(K) and Miriam.^(L)
⁵My people, remember
    what Balak^(M) king of Moab plotted
    and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
Remember your journey from Shittim^(N) to Gilgal,^(O)
    that you may know the righteous acts^(P) of the Lord.”

⁶With what shall I come before^(Q) the Lord
    and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?^(R)
⁷Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,^(S)
    with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?^(T)
Shall I offer my firstborn^(U) for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?^(V)
⁸He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly^(W) and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly^[a]^(X) with your God.^(Y)

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

⁹Listen! The Lord is calling to the city—
    and to fear your name is wisdom—
    “Heed the rod^(Z) and the One who appointed it.^[b]
¹⁰Am I still to forget your ill-gotten treasures, you wicked house,
    and the short ephah,^[c] which is accursed?^(AA)
¹¹Shall I acquit someone with dishonest scales,^(AB)
    with a bag of false weights?^(AC)
¹²Your rich people are violent;^(AD)
    your inhabitants are liars^(AE)
    and their tongues speak deceitfully.^(AF)
¹³Therefore, I have begun to destroy^(AG) you,
    to ruin^[d] you because of your sins.
¹⁴You will eat but not be satisfied;^(AH)
    your stomach will still be empty.^[e]
You will store up but save nothing,^(AI)
    because what you save^[f] I will give to the sword.
¹⁵You will plant but not harvest;^(AJ)
    you will press olives but not use the oil,
    you will crush grapes but not drink the wine.^(AK)
¹⁶You have observed the statutes of Omri^(AL)
    and all the practices of Ahab’s^(AM) house;
    you have followed their traditions.^(AN)
Therefore I will give you over to ruin^(AO)
    and your people to derision;
    you will bear the scorn^(AP) of the nations.^[g]”

Israel’s Misery

7 What misery is mine!
I am like one who gathers summer fruit
    at the gleaning of the vineyard;
there is no cluster of grapes to eat,
    none of the early figs^(AQ) that I crave.
²The faithful have been swept from the land;^(AR)
    not one^(AS) upright person remains.
Everyone lies in wait^(AT) to shed blood;^(AU)
    they hunt each other^(AV) with nets.^(AW)
³Both hands are skilled in doing evil;^(AX)
    the ruler demands gifts,
the judge accepts bribes,^(AY)
    the powerful dictate what they desire—
    they all conspire together.
⁴The best of them is like a brier,^(AZ)
    the most upright worse than a thorn^(BA) hedge.
The day God visits you has come,
    the day your watchmen sound the alarm.
    Now is the time of your confusion.^(BB)
⁵Do not trust a neighbor;
    put no confidence in a friend.^(BC)
Even with the woman who lies in your embrace
    guard the words of your lips.
⁶For a son dishonors his father,
    a daughter rises up against her mother,^(BD)
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
    a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.^(BE)

⁷But as for me, I watch^(BF) in hope^(BG) for the Lord,
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear^(BH) me.

Israel Will Rise

⁸Do not gloat over me,^(BI) my enemy!
    Though I have fallen, I will rise.^(BJ)
Though I sit in darkness,
    the Lord will be my light.^(BK)
⁹Because I have sinned against him,
    I will bear the Lord’s wrath,^(BL)
until he pleads my case^(BM)
    and upholds my cause.
He will bring me out into the light;^(BN)
    I will see his righteousness.^(BO)
¹⁰Then my enemy will see it
    and will be covered with shame,^(BP)
she who said to me,
    “Where is the Lord your God?”^(BQ)
My eyes will see her downfall;^(BR)
    even now she will be trampled^(BS) underfoot
    like mire in the streets.

¹¹The day for building your walls^(BT) will come,
    the day for extending your boundaries.
¹²In that day people will come to you
    from Assyria^(BU) and the cities of Egypt,
even from Egypt to the Euphrates
    and from sea to sea
    and from mountain to mountain.^(BV)
¹³The earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants,
    as the result of their deeds.^(BW)

Prayer and Praise

¹⁴Shepherd^(BX) your people with your staff,^(BY)
    the flock of your inheritance,
which lives by itself in a forest,
    in fertile pasturelands.^[h]^(BZ)
Let them feed in Bashan^(CA) and Gilead^(CB)
    as in days long ago.^(CC)

¹⁵“As in the days when you came out of Egypt,
I will show them my wonders.^(CD)”

¹⁶Nations will see and be ashamed,^(CE)
    deprived of all their power.
They will put their hands over their mouths^(CF)
    and their ears will become deaf.
¹⁷They will lick dust^(CG) like a snake,
    like creatures that crawl on the ground.
They will come trembling^(CH) out of their dens;
    they will turn in fear^(CI) to the Lord our God
    and will be afraid of you.
¹⁸Who is a God^(CJ) like you,
    who pardons sin^(CK) and forgives^(CL) the transgression
    of the remnant^(CM) of his inheritance?^(CN)
You do not stay angry^(CO) forever
    but delight to show mercy.^(CP)
¹⁹You will again have compassion on us;
    you will tread our sins underfoot
    and hurl all our iniquities^(CQ) into the depths of the sea.^(CR)
²⁰You will be faithful to Jacob,
    and show love to Abraham,^(CS)
as you pledged on oath to our ancestors^(CT)
    in days long ago.^(CU)

Footnotes

Micah 6:8 Or prudently
Micah 6:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
Micah 6:10 An ephah was a dry measure.
Micah 6:13 Or Therefore, I will make you ill and destroy you; / I will ruin
Micah 6:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Micah 6:14 Or You will press toward birth but not give birth, / and what you bring to birth
Micah 6:16 Septuagint; Hebrew scorn due my people
Micah 7:14 Or in the middle of Carmel

Acts 22

New International Version

22 ¹“Brothers and fathers,^(A) listen now to my defense.”

²When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic,^(B) they became very quiet.

Then Paul said: ³“I am a Jew,^(C) born in Tarsus^(D) of Cilicia,^(E) but brought up in this city. I studied under^(F) Gamaliel^(G) and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors.^(H) I was just as zealous^(I) for God as any of you are today. ⁴I persecuted^(J) the followers of this Way^(K) to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,^(L) ⁵as the high priest and all the Council^(M) can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates^(N) in Damascus,^(O) and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶“About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.^(P) ⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’

⁸“‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,^(Q) whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ⁹My companions saw the light,^(R) but they did not understand the voice^(S) of him who was speaking to me.

¹⁰“‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’^(T) ¹¹My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.^(U)

¹²“A man named Ananias came to see me.^(V) He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.^(W) ¹³He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him.

¹⁴“Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors^(X) has chosen you to know his will and to see^(Y) the Righteous One^(Z) and to hear words from his mouth. ¹⁵You will be his witness^(AA) to all people of what you have seen^(AB) and heard. ¹⁶And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized^(AC) and wash your sins away,^(AD) calling on his name.’^(AE)

¹⁷“When I returned to Jerusalem^(AF) and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance^(AG) ¹⁸and saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me.’

¹⁹“‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison^(AH) and beat^(AI) those who believe in you. ²⁰And when the blood of your martyr^[a] Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’^(AJ)

²¹“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”^(AK)

Paul the Roman Citizen

²²The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him!^(AL) He’s not fit to live!”^(AM)

²³As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks^(AN) and flinging dust into the air,^(AO) ²⁴the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks.^(AP) He directed^(AQ) that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. ²⁵As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”^(AR)

²⁶When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.”

²⁷The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”

“Yes, I am,” he answered.

²⁸Then the commander said, “I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.”

“But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.

²⁹Those who were about to interrogate him^(AS) withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen,^(AT) in chains.^(AU)

Paul Before the Sanhedrin

³⁰The commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews.^(AV) So the next day he released him^(AW) and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin^(AX) to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.