Micah 1-4

New American Standard Bible

Destruction in Israel and Judah

1 The ^(A)word of the Lord which came to ^(B)Micah of Moresheth in the days of ^(C)Jotham, ^(D)Ahaz, and ^(E)Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and which he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem.

²Hear, you peoples, all of ^[a]you;
^(F)Listen carefully, earth and ^[b]all it contains,
And may the Lord ^[c]God be a ^(G)witness against you,
The Lord from His holy temple.
³For behold, the Lord is ^(H)coming forth from His place.
He will come down and ^(I)tread on the high places of the ^[d]earth.
⁴^(J)The mountains will melt under Him
And the valleys will be split,
Like wax before the fire,
Like water poured down a steep place.
⁵All this is due to the ^[e]wrongdoing of Jacob
And the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the ^[f]^(K)wrongdoing of Jacob?
Is it not ^(L)Samaria?
What is the ^(M)high ^[g]place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
⁶For I will make Samaria a ^(N)heap of ruins ^[h]in the open country,
^(O)Planting places for a vineyard.
I will ^(P)hurl her stones down into the valley,
And ^(Q)lay bare her foundations.
⁷All of her ^(R)idols will be crushed,
All of her earnings will be burned with fire,
And all of her images I will make desolate;
For she collected them from a ^(S)prostitute’s earnings,
And to the earnings of a prostitute they will return.

⁸Because of this I must mourn and wail,
I must go ^(T)barefoot and naked;
I must do mourning like the ^(U)jackals,
And a mourning like the ostriches.
⁹For her ^(V)wound is incurable,
For ^(W)it has come to Judah;
It has reached the ^(X)gate of my people,
Even to Jerusalem.
¹⁰^(Y)Do not tell it in Gath,
Do not weep at all.
At ^[i]Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust in mourning.
¹¹^[j]Go on your way, inhabitant of ^[k]Shaphir, in ^(Z)shameful nakedness.
The inhabitant of ^[l]^(AA)Zaanan does not ^[m]escape.
The mourning of ^[n]Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its ^[o]support.”
¹²For the inhabitant of ^[p]Maroth
^[q]^(AB)Waits for something good,
Because a disaster has come down from the Lord
To the ^(AC)gate of Jerusalem.
¹³Harness the chariot to the team of horses,
You inhabitant of ^(AD)Lachish—
She was the beginning of sin
To the daughter of Zion—
Because in you were found
The ^(AE)rebellious acts of Israel.
¹⁴Therefore you will give parting ^(AF)gifts
In behalf of Moresheth-gath;
The houses of ^(AG)Achzib will become a ^[r]^(AH)deception
To the kings of Israel.
¹⁵Moreover, I will bring on you
The one who takes possession,
You inhabitant of ^[s]^(AI)Mareshah.
The glory of Israel will enter ^(AJ)Adullam.
¹⁶Shave yourself ^(AK)bald, yes, cut off your hair,
Because of the children of your delight;
Extend your baldness like the eagle,
For they will ^(AL)go from you into exile.

Woe to Oppressors

2 Woe to those who ^(AM)devise wrongdoing,
Who practice evil on their beds!
^[t]^(AN)When morning comes, they do it,
Because it is in the ^(AO)power of their hands.
²They ^(AP)covet fields, so they ^(AQ)seize them;
And houses, so they take them.
They ^[u]^(AR)exploit a man and his house,
A person and his inheritance.

³Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“Behold, I am ^(AS)planning against this ^(AT)family a catastrophe
From which you ^(AU)cannot remove your necks;
And you will not walk ^(AV)haughtily,
For it will be an ^(AW)evil time.
⁴On that day they will ^(AX)take up against you a ^[v]song of mocking
And ^[w]^(AY)utter a song of mourning and say,
‘We are completely ^(AZ)destroyed!
He exchanges the share of my people;
How He removes it from me!
To the apostate He ^(BA)apportions our fields.’
⁵Therefore you will have no one ^[x]^(BB)applying a measuring line
For you by lot in the assembly of the Lord.

⁶‘^(BC)Do not prophesy,’ so they prophesy.
But if ^[y]they do ^(BD)not prophesy about these things,
^(BE)Insults will not be turned back.
⁷Is it being said, house of Jacob:
‘Is the Spirit of the Lord ^(BF)impatient?
Are these His works?’
Do My words not ^(BG)do good
For the one ^(BH)walking rightly?
⁸^[z]Recently My people have arisen as an ^(BI)enemy—
You ^(BJ)strip the robe off the garment
From ^(BK)unsuspecting passers-by,
From those returned from war.
⁹You ^(BL)evict the women of My people,
Each one from her pleasant house.
From her children you take My ^(BM)splendor forever.
¹⁰Arise and go,
For this is no place ^(BN)of rest
Because of the ^(BO)uncleanness that brings on destruction,
A painful destruction.
¹¹If someone walking after wind and ^(BP)falsehood
Had lied and said,
‘I will prophesy to you about ^(BQ)wine and liquor,’
He would become a prophet to ^(BR)this people.

¹²“I will certainly ^(BS)assemble all of you, Jacob,
I will certainly gather the ^(BT)remnant of Israel.
I will put them together like sheep in the fold;
Like a flock in the midst of its pasture
They will be noisy with people.
¹³The one who breaks through goes up before them;
They break through, pass through the gate, and go out by it.
So their king passes on before them,
And the Lord at their head.”

Rulers Denounced

3 And I said,

“^(BU)Hear now, you ^[aa]leaders of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel:
Is it not for you to ^(BV)know justice?
²You who hate good and love evil,
Who ^(BW)tear off their skin from them
And their flesh from their bones,
³Who ^(BX)eat the flesh of my people,
Strip off their skin from them,
Smash their bones,
And ^(BY)chop them up as for the pot,
And as meat in a cauldron!”
⁴Then they will ^(BZ)cry out to the Lord,
But He will not answer them.
Instead, He will ^(CA)hide His face from them at that time
Because they have ^(CB)practiced evil deeds.

⁵This is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who ^(CC)lead my people astray:

When they have something to bite with their teeth,
They ^(CD)cry out, “Peace!”
But against him who puts nothing in their mouths
They declare holy war.
⁶Therefore it will be ^(CE)night for you—without vision,
And darkness for you—without divination.
The ^(CF)sun will go down on the prophets,
And the day will become dark over them.
⁷The seers will be ^(CG)put to shame,
And the ^(CH)diviners will be ashamed.
Indeed, they will all ^(CI)cover their ^[ab]lips
Because there is ^(CJ)no answer from God.
⁸On the other hand, ^(CK)I am filled with power—
With the Spirit of the Lord—
And with justice and courage
To ^(CL)make known to Jacob his rebellious act,
And to Israel his sin.
⁹Now hear this, you ^(CM)heads of the house of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel,
Who ^(CN)despise justice
And twist everything that is straight,
¹⁰Who ^(CO)build Zion with bloodshed,
And Jerusalem with malice.
¹¹Her leaders pronounce ^(CP)judgment for a bribe,
Her ^(CQ)priests teach for pay,
And her prophets divine for money.
Yet they lean on the Lord, saying,
“^(CR)Is the Lord not in our midst?
Catastrophe will not come upon us.”
¹²Therefore on account of you,
^(CS)Zion will be plowed like a field,
^(CT)Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,
And the ^(CU)mountain of the ^[ac]temple will become high places of a forest.

Peaceful Latter Days

4 And it will come about in the ^(CV)last days
That the ^(CW)mountain of the house of the Lord
Will be established ^[ad]as the chief of the mountains.
It will be raised above the hills,
And the ^(CX)peoples will stream to it.
²^(CY)Many nations will come and say,
“^(CZ)Come and let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord
And to the house of the God of Jacob,
So that ^(DA)He may teach us about His ways,
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For ^(DB)from Zion will go forth the law,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
³And He will ^(DC)judge between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, ^[ae]distant nations.
Then they will beat their swords ^(DD)into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation will not lift a sword against nation,
And never again will they ^[af]train for war.
⁴Instead, each of them will ^(DE)sit under his vine
And under his fig tree,
With ^(DF)no one to make them afraid,
Because the ^(DG)mouth of the Lord of armies has spoken.
⁵Though all the peoples walk,
Each in the ^(DH)name of his god,
As for us, ^(DI)we will walk
In the name of the ^(DJ)Lord our God forever and ever.

⁶“On that day,” declares the Lord,
“I will assemble those who ^(DK)limp
And ^(DL)gather the scattered,
Those whom I have afflicted.
⁷I will make those who limp a ^(DM)remnant,
And those who ^[ag]have strayed a mighty nation,
And the ^(DN)Lord will reign over them on Mount Zion
From now on and forever.
⁸As for you, ^[ah]^(DO)tower of the flock,
^[ai]Hill of the daughter of Zion,
To you it will come—
Yes, the ^(DP)former dominion will come,
The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.

⁹“Now, why do you ^(DQ)cry out loudly?
Is there no king among you,
Or has your ^(DR)counselor perished,
That agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth?
¹⁰^(DS)Writhe and scream,
Daughter of Zion,
Like a woman in childbirth;
For now you will ^(DT)go out of the city,
Live in the field,
And go to Babylon.
^(DU)There you will be rescued,
^(DV)There the Lord will redeem you
From the hand of your enemies.
¹¹And now ^(DW)many nations have been assembled against you
Who say, ‘Let her be defiled,
And let our eyes ^[aj]gloat over Zion!’
¹²But they do not ^(DX)know the thoughts of the Lord,
And they do not understand His plan;
For He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
¹³Arise and ^(DY)thresh, daughter of Zion,
For I will make your horn iron,
And I will make your hoofs bronze,
So that you may ^(DZ)pulverize many peoples,
And ^(EA)dedicate to the Lord their unjust profit,
And their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

Footnotes

Micah 1:2 Lit them
Micah 1:2 Lit its fullness
Micah 1:2 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Micah 1:3 Or land
Micah 1:5 Or rebellion
Micah 1:5 Or rebellion
Micah 1:5 Lit places
Micah 1:6 Lit of the field
Micah 1:10 I.e., house of dust
Micah 1:11 I.e., Go into captivity
Micah 1:11 I.e., pleasantness
Micah 1:11 I.e., going out
Micah 1:11 Lit go out
Micah 1:11 I.e., the house beside
Micah 1:11 Lit standing place
Micah 1:12 I.e., bitterness
Micah 1:12 Or possibly has been in agony for
Micah 1:14 Heb achzab, wordplay on Achzib
Micah 1:15 I.e., possession
Micah 2:1 Lit In the light of the morning
Micah 2:2 Or oppress
Micah 2:4 Or proverb
Micah 2:4 Lit lament
Micah 2:5 Lit casting
Micah 2:6 I.e., God’s prophets
Micah 2:8 Lit And yesterday
Micah 3:1 Lit heads
Micah 3:7 Lit mustache
Micah 3:12 Lit house
Micah 4:1 Lit on
Micah 4:3 Lit at a distance
Micah 4:3 Lit learn
Micah 4:7 Or are far removed
Micah 4:8 Heb Migdal-eder
Micah 4:8 Heb Ophel
Micah 4:11 Lit see with pleasure

Psalm 10

New American Standard Bible

A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked.

10 Why ^(A)do You stand far away, Lord?
Why ^(B)do You hide ^[a]Yourself in times of trouble?
²In ^(C)arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the needy;
^[b]Let them be ^(D)caught in the plots which they have devised.

³For the wicked ^(E)boasts of his ^(F)soul’s desire,
And ^[c]the greedy person curses and ^(G)shows disrespect to the Lord.
⁴The wicked, ^[d]in his haughtiness, ^(H)does not seek Him.
^(I)There is no God in all his schemes.

⁵His ways ^(J)succeed at all times;
Yet Your judgments are on high, ^(K)out of his sight;
As for all his enemies, he snorts at them.
⁶He says to himself, “^(L)I will not be moved;
^[e]Throughout the generations ^(M)I will not be in adversity.”
⁷His ^(N)mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and ^(O)oppression;
^(P)Under his tongue is harm and injustice.
⁸He sits in the ^(Q)lurking places of the villages;
He ^(R)kills the innocent in the secret places;
His eyes ^[f]surreptitiously watch for the ^[g]^(S)unfortunate.
⁹He lurks in secret like ^(T)a lion in his ^[h]lair;
He ^(U)lurks to catch ^(V)the needy;
He catches the needy when he pulls him into his ^(W)net.
¹⁰Then he crushes the needy one, who cowers;
And ^[i]unfortunate people fall by his mighty power.
¹¹He ^(X)says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”

¹²Arise, Lord; God, ^(Y)lift up Your hand.
^(Z)Do not forget the humble.
¹³Why has the wicked ^(AA)treated God disrespectfully?
He has said to himself, “^[j]You will not require an account.”
¹⁴You have seen it, for You have looked at ^(AB)harm and provocation to ^[k]take it into Your hand.
The ^[l]^(AC)unfortunate commits himself to You;
You have been the ^(AD)helper of the orphan.
¹⁵^(AE)Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
^[m]^(AF)Seek out his wickedness until You find none.

¹⁶The Lord is ^(AG)King forever and ever;
^(AH)Nations have perished from His land.
¹⁷Lord, You have heard the ^(AI)desire of the humble;
You will ^(AJ)strengthen their heart, ^(AK)You will make Your ear attentive
¹⁸To ^[n]vindicate the ^(AL)orphan and the ^(AM)oppressed,
So that mankind, which is of the earth, will no longer cause ^(AN)terror.

Footnotes

Psalm 10:1 Or Your eyes
Psalm 10:2 Or They will be caught
Psalm 10:3 Or blesses the greedy man
Psalm 10:4 Lit the height of his nose
Psalm 10:6 Lit To
Psalm 10:8 Lit lie in wait
Psalm 10:8 Or poor
Psalm 10:9 Or thicket
Psalm 10:10 Or unhappy
Psalm 10:13 I.e., as though God will ignore it
Psalm 10:14 Lit put, give
Psalm 10:14 Or poor
Psalm 10:15 Or May You seek
Psalm 10:18 Lit judge

Matthew 24

New American Standard Bible

Signs of Christ’s Return

24 ^(A)Jesus ^(B)left the temple area and was going on His way ^[a]when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. ²But He responded and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, ^(C)not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

³And as He was sitting on ^(D)the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of ^(E)Your coming, and of the ^[b]end of the age?”

⁴And Jesus answered and said to them, “^(F)See to it that no one ^[c]misleads you. ⁵For ^(G)many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the ^[d]Christ,’ and they will ^[e]mislead many people. ⁶And you will be hearing of ^(H)wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. ⁷For ^(I)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be ^(J)famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸^(K)But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.

⁹“^(L)Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and ^(M)you will be hated by all nations because of My name. ¹⁰And at that time many will ^[f]^(N)fall away, and they will ^[g]betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹And many ^(O)false prophets will rise up and ^[h]mislead many people. ¹²And because lawlessness is increased, ^[i]most people’s love will become cold. ¹³^(P)But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved. ¹⁴This ^(Q)gospel of the kingdom ^(R)shall be preached in the whole ^[j]^(S)world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Perilous Times

¹⁵“Therefore when you see the ^(T)abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in ^(U)the holy place—^[k]^(V)let the ^[l]reader understand— ¹⁶then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ¹⁷^[m]Whoever is on ^(W)the ^[n]housetop must not go down to get things out of his house. ¹⁸And ^[o]whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ¹⁹But ^(X)woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰Moreover, pray that ^[p]when you flee, it will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. ²¹For then there will be a ^(Y)great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again. ²²And if those days had not been cut short, no ^[q]life would have been saved; but for ^(Z)the sake of the ^[r]elect those days will be cut short. ²³^(AA)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the ^[s]Christ,’ or ‘He is over here,’ do not believe him. ²⁴For false christs and ^(AB)false prophets will arise and will provide great ^[t]^(AC)signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even ^(AD)the ^[u]elect. ²⁵Behold, I have told you in advance. ²⁶So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. ²⁷^(AE)For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will the ^(AF)coming of the ^(AG)Son of Man ^[v]be. ²⁸^(AH)Wherever the corpse is, there the ^[w]vultures will gather.

The Glorious Return

²⁹“But immediately after the ^(AI)tribulation of those days ^(AJ)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and ^(AK)the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰And then ^(AL)the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ^(AM)the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. ³¹And ^(AN)He will send forth His angels with ^(AO)a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His ^[x]^(AP)elect from ^(AQ)the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Parable of the Fig Tree

³²“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near; ³³so you too, when you see all these things, ^[y]recognize that ^[z]He is near, right ^(AR)at the ^[aa]door. ³⁴Truly I say to you, ^(AS)this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ³⁵^(AT)Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

³⁶“But ^(AU)about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. ³⁷For ^[ab]the ^(AV)coming of the Son of Man will be ^(AW)just like the days of Noah. ³⁸For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, ^(AX)marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that ^(AY)Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and they did not ^[ac]understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the ^(AZ)coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰At that time there will be two men in the field; one ^[ad]will be taken and one ^[ae]will be left. ⁴¹^(BA)Two women will be grinding at the ^[af]^(BB)mill; one ^[ag]will be taken and one ^[ah]will be left.

Be Ready for His Coming

⁴²“Therefore ^(BC)be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. ⁴³But ^[ai]be sure of this, that ^(BD)if the head of the house had known ^(BE)at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴For this reason ^(BF)you must be ready as well; for ^(BG)the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

⁴⁵“^(BH)Who then is the ^(BI)faithful and ^(BJ)sensible slave whom his ^[aj]master ^(BK)put in charge of his household slaves, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶Blessed is that slave whom his ^[ak]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷Truly I say to you that ^(BL)he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My ^[al]master ^[am]is not coming for a long time,’ ⁴⁹and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and he eats and drinks with those habitually drunk; ⁵⁰then the ^[an]master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, ⁵¹and he will ^[ao]cut him in two and assign ^[ap]him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be ^(BM)weeping and gnashing of teeth.