Micah 7 - Nahum 2

New King James Version

³ That they may successfully do evil with both hands—
The prince asks for gifts,
The judge seeks a ^(E)bribe,
And the great man utters his evil desire;
So they scheme together.
⁴ The best of them is ^(F)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 (G)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 ^(H)bosom.
⁶ For ^(I)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.
⁷ Therefore I will look to the Lord;
I will ^(J)wait for the God of my salvation;
My God will hear me.

¹¹ In the day when your ^(Q)walls are to be built,
In that day ^[b]the decree shall go far and wide.
¹² In that day ^(R)they^[c] shall come to you
From Assyria and the ^[d]fortified cities,
From the ^[e]fortress to ^[f]the River,
From sea to sea,
And mountain to mountain.
¹³ Yet the land shall be desolate
Because of those who dwell in it,
And ^(S)for the fruit of their deeds.

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

¹⁶ The nations ^(W)shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
^(X)They shall put their hand over their mouth;
Their ears shall be deaf.
¹⁷ They shall lick the ^(Y)dust like a serpent;
^(Z)They shall crawl from their holes like ^[i]snakes of the earth.
^(AA)They shall be afraid of the Lord our God,
And shall fear because of You.
^18 (AB)Who is a God like You,
^(AC)Pardoning iniquity
And passing over the transgression of ^(AD)the remnant of His heritage?

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

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

^(AM)The Lord has His way
In the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust of His feet.
^4 (AN)He rebukes the sea and makes it dry,
And dries up all the rivers.
^(AO)Bashan and Carmel wither,
And the flower of Lebanon wilts.
⁵ The mountains quake before Him,
The hills melt,
And the earth ^[n]heaves at His presence,
Yes, the world and all who dwell in it.

⁶ Who can stand before His indignation?
And ^(AP)who can endure the fierceness of His anger?
His fury is poured out like fire,
And the rocks are thrown down by Him.

^7 (AQ)The Lord is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble;
And ^(AR)He knows those who trust in Him.
⁸ But with an overflowing flood
He will make an utter end of its place,
And darkness will pursue His enemies.

^9 (AS)What do you ^[o]conspire against the Lord?
^(AT)He will make an utter end of it.
Affliction will not rise up a second time.
¹⁰ For while tangled ^(AU)like thorns,
^(AV)And while drunken like drunkards,
^(AW)They shall be devoured like stubble fully dried.
¹¹ From you comes forth one
Who plots evil against the Lord,
A ^[p]wicked counselor.

“Though they are ^[q]safe, and likewise many,
Yet in this manner they will be ^(AX)cut down
When he passes through.
Though I have afflicted you,
I will afflict you no more;
¹³ For now I will break off his yoke from you,
And burst your bonds apart.”

¹⁴ The Lord has given a command concerning you:
^[r]“Your name shall be perpetuated no longer.
Out of the house of your gods
I will cut off the carved image and the molded image.
I will dig your ^(AY)grave,
For you are ^(AZ)vile.”^[s]

¹⁵ Behold, on the mountains
The ^(BA)feet of him who brings good tidings,
Who proclaims peace!
O Judah, keep your appointed feasts,
Perform your vows.
For the ^[t]wicked one shall no more pass through you;
He is ^(BB)utterly cut off.

² For the Lord will restore the excellence of Jacob
Like the excellence of Israel,
For the emptiers have emptied them out
And ruined their vine branches.

³ The shields of his mighty men are made red,
The valiant men are in scarlet.
The chariots come with flaming torches
In the day of his preparation,
And ^[v]the spears are brandished.
⁴ The chariots rage in the streets,
They jostle one another in the broad roads;
They seem like torches,
They run like lightning.

⁵ He remembers his nobles;
They stumble in their walk;
They make haste to her walls,
And the defense is prepared.
⁶ The gates of the rivers are opened,
And the palace is dissolved.
^7 [w]It is decreed:
She shall be led away captive,
She shall be brought up;
And her maidservants shall lead her as with the voice of doves,
Beating their breasts.

⁸ Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water,
Now they flee away.
^[x]“Halt! Halt!” they cry;
But no one turns back.
^9 [y]Take spoil of silver!
Take spoil of ^(BC)gold!
There is no end of treasure,
Or wealth of every desirable prize.
¹⁰ She is empty, desolate, and waste!
The heart melts, and the knees shake;
Much pain is in every side,
And all their faces ^[z]are drained of color.

¹¹ Where is the dwelling of the ^(BD)lions,
And the feeding place of the young lions,
Where the lion walked, the lioness and lion’s cub,
And no one made them afraid?
¹² The lion tore in pieces enough for his cubs,
^[aa]Killed for his lionesses,
^(BE)Filled his caves with prey,
And his dens with ^[ab]flesh.