Micah 5-7
Christian Standard Bible
From Defeated Ruler to Conquering King
5 Now, daughter who is under attack,
you slash yourself in grief;
a siege is set against us!
They are striking the judge(A) of Israel
on the cheek with a rod.
2 Bethlehem Ephrathah,(B)
you are small among the clans of Judah;
one will come from you(C)
to be ruler over Israel for me.(D)
His origin[a] is from antiquity,(E)
from ancient times.
3 Therefore, Israel will be abandoned(F) until the time
when she who is in labor(G) has given birth;
then the rest of the ruler’s brothers(H) will return
to the people of Israel.(I)
4 He will stand and shepherd them(J)
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majestic name of the Lord his God.
They will live securely,
for then his greatness will extend
to the ends of the earth.(K)
5 He will be their peace.(L)
When Assyria invades our land,(M)
when it marches against our fortresses,
we will raise against it seven shepherds,
even eight leaders of men.
6 They will shepherd(N) the land of Assyria with the sword,
the land of Nimrod(O) with a drawn blade.[b]
So he will rescue us(P) from Assyria
when it invades our land,
when it marches against our territory.
The Glorious and Purified Remnant
7 Then the remnant of Jacob(Q)
will be among many peoples
like dew from the Lord,(R)
like showers on the grass,(S)
which do not wait for anyone
or linger for mankind.
8 Then the remnant of Jacob
will be among the nations, among many peoples,
like a lion among animals of the forest,(T)
like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
which tramples(U) and tears(V) as it passes through,
and there is no one to rescue them.(W)
9 Your hand will be lifted up against your adversaries,(X)
and all your enemies will be destroyed.
10 In that day—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
I will remove your horses from you(Y)
and wreck your chariots.
11 I will remove the cities of your land(Z)
and tear down all your fortresses.(AA)
12 I will remove sorceries from your hands,(AB)
and you will not have any more fortune-tellers.
13 I will remove your carved images(AC)
and sacred pillars from you
so that you will no longer worship
the work of your hands.
14 I will pull up the Asherah poles(AD) from among you(AE)
and demolish your cities.[c]
15 I will take vengeance in anger and wrath(AF)
against the nations that have not obeyed me.
God’s Lawsuit against Judah
6 Now listen to what the Lord is saying:
Rise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your complaint.[d]
2 Listen to the Lord’s lawsuit,(AG)
you mountains and enduring foundations of the earth,(AH)
because the Lord has a case against his people,(AI)
and he will argue it against Israel.
3 My people,(AJ) what have I done to you,(AK)
or how have I wearied you?(AL)
Testify against me!
4 Indeed, I brought you up(AM) from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you(AN) from that place of slavery.(AO)
I sent Moses,(AP) Aaron, and Miriam(AQ) ahead of you.
5 My people,
remember what King Balak of Moab(AR) proposed,
what Balaam son of Beor answered him,(AS)
and what happened from the Acacia Grove[e](AT) to Gilgal(AU)
so that you may acknowledge
the Lord’s righteous acts.(AV)
6 What should I bring before the Lord(AW)
when I come to bow before God on high?
Should I come before him with burnt offerings,(AX)
with year-old calves?
7 Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams(AY)
or with ten thousand streams of oil?
Should I give my firstborn for my transgression,(AZ)
the offspring of my body for my own sin?
8 Mankind, he has told each of you what is good(BA)
and what it is the Lord requires of you:(BB)
to act justly,(BC)
to love faithfulness,(BD)
and to walk humbly with your God.(BE)
Verdict of Judgment
9 The voice of the Lord calls out to the city[f]
(and it is wise to fear your name):
“Pay attention to the rod
and the one who ordained it.[g]
10 Are there still[h] the treasures of wickedness(BF)
and the accursed short measure(BG)
in the house of the wicked?
11 Can I excuse wicked scales
or bags of deceptive weights?(BH)
12 For the wealthy of the city are full of violence,(BI)
and its residents speak lies;(BJ)
the tongues in their mouths are deceitful.(BK)
13 “As a result, I have begun to strike you severely,[i](BL)
bringing desolation because of your sins.(BM)
14 You will eat but not be satisfied,(BN)
for there will be hunger within you.
What you acquire, you cannot save,(BO)
and what you do save,
I will give to the sword.[j]
15 You will sow but not reap;(BP)
you will press olives
but not anoint yourself with oil;
and you will tread grapes
but not drink the wine.(BQ)
16 The statutes of Omri
and all the practices of Ahab’s house
have been observed;
you have followed their policies.(BR)
Therefore, I will make you a desolate place(BS)
and the city’s[k] residents an object of contempt;[l](BT)
you will bear the scorn of my people.”[m](BU)
Israel’s Moral Decline
7 How sad for me!
For I am like one who—
when the summer fruit has been gathered
after the gleaning of the grape harvest(BV)—
finds no grape cluster to eat,
no early fig, which I crave.(BW)
2 Faithful people have vanished from the land;(BX)
there is no one upright among the people.(BY)
All of them wait in ambush to shed blood;(BZ)
they hunt each other with a net.(CA)
3 Both hands are good(CB) at accomplishing evil:
the official and the judge demand a bribe;(CC)
when the powerful man communicates his evil desire,
they plot it together.
4 The best of them is like a brier;(CD)
the most upright is worse than a hedge of thorns.(CE)
The day of your watchmen,
the day of your punishment, is coming;(CF)
at this time their panic is here.(CG)
5 Do not rely on a friend;(CH)
don’t trust in a close companion.
Seal your mouth
from the woman who lies in your arms.
6 Surely a son considers his father a fool,(CI)
a daughter opposes her mother,
and a daughter-in-law is against her mother-in-law;
a man’s enemies are the men of his own household.
7 But I will look to the Lord;(CJ)
I will wait for the God of my salvation.(CK)
My God will hear me.(CL)
Zion’s Vindication
8 Do not rejoice over me,(CM) my enemy!
Though I have fallen, I will stand up;(CN)
though I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be my light.(CO)
9 Because I have sinned against him,
I must endure the Lord’s fury
until he champions my cause(CP)
and establishes justice for me.(CQ)
He will bring me into the light;(CR)
I will see his salvation.[n](CS)
10 Then my enemy will see,
and she will be covered with shame,
the one who said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?” (CT)
My eyes will look at her in triumph;
at that time she will be trampled
like mud in the streets.(CU)
11 A day will come for rebuilding your walls;(CV)
on that day your boundary will be extended.(CW)
12 On that day people will come to you(CX)
from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
even from Egypt to the Euphrates River
and from sea to sea
and mountain to mountain.
13 Then the earth will become a wasteland(CY)
because of its inhabitants
and as a result of their actions.(CZ)
Micah’s Prayer Answered
14 Shepherd your people(DA) with your staff,(DB)
the flock that is your possession.
They live alone(DC) in a woodland
surrounded by pastures.
Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead(DD)
as in ancient times.(DE)
15 I will perform miracles for them[o]
as in the days of your exodus
from the land of Egypt.(DF)
16 Nations will see and be ashamed
of[p] all their power.
They will put their hands over their mouths,(DG)
and their ears will become deaf.
17 They will lick the dust like a snake;(DH)
they will come trembling out of their hiding places(DI)
like reptiles slithering on the ground.(DJ)
They will tremble in the presence of the Lord our God;(DK)
they will stand in awe of you.
18 Who is a God like you,(DL)
forgiving iniquity and passing over rebellion(DM)
for the remnant of his inheritance?(DN)
He does not hold on to his anger forever(DO)
because he delights in faithful love.(DP)
19 He will again have compassion on us;
he will vanquish our iniquities.(DQ)
You will cast all our[q] sins
into the depths of the sea.(DR)
20 You will show loyalty to Jacob(DS)
and faithful love to Abraham,
as you swore to our ancestors(DT)
from days long ago.
Footnotes
- 5:2 Lit His going out
- 5:6 Aq, Vg; MT, Sym read Nimrod at its gateways
- 5:14 Or shrines
- 6:1 Lit voice
- 6:5 Or from Shittim
- 6:9 = Jerusalem
- 6:9 Or attention, you tribe. Who has ordained it?; Hb obscure
- 6:10 Hb obscure
- 6:13 LXX, Aq, Theod, Syr, Vg; MT reads I have made you sick by striking you down
- 6:14 Hb obscure
- 6:16 Lit and its
- 6:16 Lit residents a hissing
- 6:16 LXX reads of the peoples
- 7:9 Or righteousness
- 7:15 = Israel
- 7:16 Or ashamed in spite of
- 7:19 Some Hb mss, LXX, Syr, Vg; other Hb mss read their
Matthew 25
Christian Standard Bible
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins[a] who took their lamps[b] and went out to meet the groom.(A) 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise.(B) 3 When the foolish took their lamps, they didn’t take oil with them; 4 but the wise ones took oil in their flasks with their lamps. 5 When the groom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “In the middle of the night there was a shout: ‘Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him.’
7 “Then all the virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’
9 “The wise ones answered, ‘No, there won’t be enough for us and for you. Go instead to those who sell oil, and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “When they had gone to buy some, the groom arrived, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut.(C) 11 Later the rest of the virgins also came and said, ‘Master, master, open up for us!’
12 “He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you!’
13 “Therefore be alert, because you don’t know either the day or the hour.[c]
The Parable of the Talents
14 “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey.(D) He called his own servants and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents,[d] to another two talents, and to another one talent, depending on each one’s ability. Then he went on a journey.(E) Immediately 16 the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more. 17 In the same way the man with two earned two more. 18 But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I’ve earned five more talents.’
21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’(F)
22 “The man with two talents also approached. He said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I’ve earned two more talents.’
23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’
24 “The man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You’re a harsh man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed.(G) 25 So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’
26 “His master replied to him, ‘You evil, lazy servant!(H) If you knew that I reap where I haven’t sown and gather where I haven’t scattered, 27 then[e] you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and I would have received my money[f] back with interest when I returned.
28 “‘So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.(I) 30 And throw this good-for-nothing servant into the outer darkness,(J) where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels[g](K) with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.(L) 32 All the nations[h](M) will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.(N) 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the kingdom(O) prepared for you from the foundation of the world.(P)
35 “‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me; I was in prison and you visited me.’(Q)
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or without clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick, or in prison, and visit you?’
40 “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’(R)
41 “Then he will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!(S) 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger and you didn’t take me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of me.’
44 “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’(T)
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”(U)
Footnotes
- 25:1 Or bridesmaids
- 25:1 Or torches, also in vv. 3,4,7,8
- 25:13 Other mss add in which the Son of Man is coming.
- 25:15 A talent is worth about 6,000 denarii, or twenty years’ wages for a laborer
- 25:26–27 Or So you knew... scattered? Then (as a question)
- 25:27 Lit received what is mine
- 25:31 Other mss read holy angels
- 25:32 Or the Gentiles
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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