Micah 5-7
New American Standard Bible
Birth of the King in Bethlehem
5 “[a]Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops;
[b]They have laid siege against us;
With a rod they will (A)strike the judge of Israel on the cheek.
2 [c]But as for (B)you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From (C)you One will come forth for Me to be (D)ruler in Israel.
His times of coming forth are (E)from long ago,
From the days of eternity.”
3 Therefore He will (F)give them up until the time
When she (G)who is in labor has given birth.
Then the (H)remainder of His kinsmen
Will return to the sons of Israel.
4 And He will arise and (I)shepherd His flock
In the strength of the Lord,
In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God.
And they will [d]remain,
Because [e]at that time He will be great
To the (J)ends of the earth.
5 This One (K)will be our peace.
When the (L)Assyrian invades our land,
When he tramples on our [f]citadels,
Then we will raise against him
Seven shepherds and eight leaders of people.
6 They will (M)shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
The land of (N)Nimrod at its entrances;
And He will (O)rescue us from the Assyrian
When he invades our land,
And when he tramples our territory.
7 Then the (P)remnant of Jacob
Will be among many peoples
Like (Q)dew from the Lord,
Like (R)showers on vegetation
That do not wait for man,
Or delay for [g]mankind.
8 The remnant of Jacob
Will be among the nations,
Among many peoples
(S)Like a lion among the animals of the forest,
Like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
Which, if he passes through,
(T)Tramples and (U)tears,
And there is (V)no one who can rescue.
9 Your hand will be (W)lifted up against your adversaries,
And all your enemies will be eliminated.
10 “And it will be on that day,” declares the Lord,
“(X)That I will eliminate your (Y)horses from among you,
And destroy your chariots.
11 I will also eliminate the (Z)cities of your land,
And tear down all your (AA)fortifications.
12 I will eliminate (AB)sorceries from your hand,
And you will have no fortune-tellers.
13 (AC)I will eliminate your carved images
And your memorial stones from among you,
So that you will no longer bow down
To the work of your hands.
14 I will uproot your [h](AD)Asherim from among you,
And destroy your cities.
15 And I will (AE)execute vengeance in anger and wrath
On the nations which have not obeyed.”
God’s Indictment of His People
6 Hear now what the Lord is saying,
“Arise, plead your case [i]before the mountains,
And let the hills hear your voice.
2 Listen, you mountains, to the indictment by the Lord,
And you enduring (AF)foundations of the earth,
Because the (AG)Lord has a case against His people;
And He will dispute with Israel.
3 (AH)My people, (AI)what have I done to you,
And (AJ)how have I wearied you? Answer Me.
4 Indeed, I (AK)brought you up from the land of Egypt,
I (AL)redeemed you from the house of slavery,
And I sent before you (AM)Moses, Aaron, and (AN)Miriam.
5 My people, remember now
What (AO)Balak king of Moab planned
And what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
And what happened from (AP)Shittim to (AQ)Gilgal,
[j]So that you might know the (AR)righteous acts of the Lord.”
What God Requires of Mankind
6 (AS)With what shall I come to the Lord
And bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come to Him with (AT)burnt offerings,
With yearling calves?
7 Does the Lord take pleasure in (AU)thousands of rams,
In ten thousand rivers of [k]oil?
Shall I give Him my (AV)firstborn for my wrongdoings,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has (AW)told you, mortal one, what is good;
And (AX)what does the Lord require of you
But to (AY)do justice, to (AZ)love [l]kindness,
And to walk [m](BA)humbly with your God?
9 The voice of the Lord will call to the city—
And it is sound wisdom to fear Your name:
“[n]Hear, you tribe. Who has designated [o]its time?
10 Is there still a person in the wicked house,
Along with treasures of (BB)wickedness,
And a [p](BC)short measure that is cursed?
11 Can I justify dishonest (BD)balances,
And a bag of fraudulent weights?
12 For the rich people of [q]the city are full of (BE)violence,
Her residents speak (BF)lies,
And their (BG)tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 So also I will make you (BH)sick, striking you down,
(BI)Making you desolate because of your sins.
14 You will eat, but you will (BJ)not be satisfied,
And your filth will be in your midst.
You will try to remove valuables for safekeeping,
But you will (BK)not save it all,
And what you do save I will turn over to the sword.
15 You will sow but you will (BL)not harvest.
You will tread the olive press but will not anoint yourself with oil;
And tread out sweet wine, but you will (BM)not drink any wine.
16 The statutes of (BN)Omri
And every work of the house of (BO)Ahab are maintained,
And you (BP)walk by their plans.
Therefore I will give you up for (BQ)destruction,
And [r]your inhabitants for [s](BR)derision,
And you will suffer the (BS)taunting of My people.”
The Prophet Acknowledges Injustice
7 Woe to me! For I am
Like harvests of summer fruit, like gleanings of (BT)grapes.
There is not a cluster of grapes left to eat,
Nor an (BU)early fig, which [t]I crave.
2 The [u]godly person has (BV)perished from the land,
And there is no upright person among mankind.
All of them lie in wait for (BW)bloodshed;
Each of them hunts the other with a (BX)net.
3 As for evil, both hands do it (BY)well.
The leader asks for a (BZ)bribe, also the judge,
And the great one speaks the capricious desire of his soul;
So they plot it together.
4 The best of them is like a (CA)thorn bush,
The most upright like a (CB)thorn hedge.
The day [v]when you post your watchmen,
Your (CC)punishment is coming.
Then their (CD)confusion will occur.
5 Do not (CE)trust in a neighbor;
Do not have confidence in a close friend.
Guard [w]your lips
From her who lies [x]in your arms.
6 For (CF)son disavows father,
Daughter rises up against her mother,
Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
(CG)A person’s enemies are the people of his own household.
God Is the Source of Salvation and Light
7 But as for me, I will (CH)be on the watch for the Lord;
I will (CI)wait for the God of my salvation.
My (CJ)God will hear me.
8 (CK)Do not rejoice over me, (CL)enemy of mine.
Though I fall I will (CM)rise;
Though I live in darkness, the Lord is a (CN)light for me.
9 I will endure the rage of the Lord
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He (CO)pleads my case and executes justice for me.
He will bring me out to the (CP)light,
And I will look at His [y](CQ)righteousness.
10 Then my enemy will see,
And shame will cover her who (CR)said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will look at her;
[z]At that time she will [aa]be (CS)trampled down
Like mud of the streets.
11 It will be a day for (CT)building your walls.
On that day your boundary will be extended.
12 It will be a day when [ab]they will (CU)come to you
From Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
From Egypt even to the Euphrates River,
Even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
13 And the earth will become a (CV)wasteland because of her inhabitants,
On account of the (CW)fruit of their deeds.
14 (CX)Shepherd Your people with Your (CY)scepter,
The flock of Your [ac]possession
Which lives by itself in the woodland,
In the midst of [ad]a fruitful field.
Let them feed in (CZ)Bashan and Gilead
(DA)As in the days of old.
15 “As in the days when you went out from the land of Egypt,
I will show [ae](DB)you miracles.”
16 Nations (DC)will see and be ashamed
Of all their might.
They will (DD)put their hand on their mouth,
Their ears will be deaf.
17 They will (DE)lick up dust like a snake,
Like [af](DF)reptiles of the earth.
They will come (DG)trembling out of their [ag]fortresses;
To the Lord our God they will come in (DH)trepidation,
And they will be afraid of You.
18 Who is a God like You, who (DI)pardons wrongdoing
And passes over a rebellious act of the (DJ)remnant of His [ah]possession?
He does not (DK)retain His anger forever,
Because He (DL)delights in mercy.
19 He will again take pity on us;
(DM)He will trample on our wrongdoings.
Yes, You will (DN)cast all [ai]their sins
Into the depths of the sea.
20 You will give [aj](DO)truth to Jacob
And favor to Abraham,
Which You (DP)swore to our forefathers
From the days of old.
Footnotes
- Micah 5:1 Ch 4:14 in Heb
- Micah 5:1 Lit He has
- Micah 5:2 Ch 5:1 in Heb
- Micah 5:4 Or live in safety
- Micah 5:4 Lit now
- Micah 5:5 Or palaces
- Micah 5:7 Lit sons of mankind
- Micah 5:14 I.e., wooden symbols of a female deity (Asherah)
- Micah 6:1 Lit with
- Micah 6:5 Lit In order to know
- Micah 6:7 I.e., olive oil
- Micah 6:8 Or loyalty
- Micah 6:8 Or circumspectly
- Micah 6:9 Or Hear about the rod and who designated it
- Micah 6:9 Lit it
- Micah 6:10 Lit shrunken ephah
- Micah 6:12 Lit her are
- Micah 6:16 Lit her
- Micah 6:16 Lit whistling (in mockery)
- Micah 7:1 Lit my soul desires
- Micah 7:2 Or faithful
- Micah 7:4 Lit of your
- Micah 7:5 Lit the openings of your mouth
- Micah 7:5 Lit on your chest
- Micah 7:9 I.e., right dealing
- Micah 7:10 Lit Now
- Micah 7:10 Lit become a trampled place
- Micah 7:12 Lit he
- Micah 7:14 Or inheritance
- Micah 7:14 Or Carmel
- Micah 7:15 Lit him
- Micah 7:17 Lit crawling things
- Micah 7:17 Or prisons
- Micah 7:18 Or inheritance
- Micah 7:19 Several ancient versions our
- Micah 7:20 Or faithfulness
Matthew 25
New American Standard Bible
Parable of Ten Virgins
25 “Then (A)the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their (B)lamps and went out to meet the groom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were (C)prudent. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they did not take extra oil with them; 4 but the (D)prudent ones took oil in flasks with their lamps. 5 Now while the groom was delaying, they all became drowsy and began to sleep. 6 But at midnight [a]there finally was a shout: ‘Behold, the groom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 But the foolish virgins said to the prudent ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ 9 However, the (E)prudent ones answered, ‘No, there most certainly would not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 But while they were [b]on their way to buy the oil, the groom came, and those who were (F)ready went in with him to (G)the wedding feast; and (H)the door was shut. 11 Yet later, the other virgins also came, saying, ‘(I)Lord, lord, open up for us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 (J)Be on the alert then, because you do not know the day nor the hour.
Parable of the Talents
14 “(K)For it is just like a man (L)about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five [c](M)talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he (N)went on his journey. 16 The one who had received the five (O)talents immediately went and did business with them, and earned five more talents. 17 In the same way the one who had received the two talents earned two more. 18 But he who received the one talent went away and dug a hole in the ground, and hid his [d]master’s money.
19 “Now after a long time the master of those slaves *came and *(P)settled accounts with them. 20 The one who had received the five (Q)talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have earned five more talents.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and (R)faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will (S)put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your [e]master.’
22 “Also the one who had received the two (T)talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have earned two more talents.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and (U)faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’
24 “Now the one who had received the one (V)talent also came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed. 25 And I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you still have what is yours.’
26 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You [f]worthless, lazy slave! Did you know that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter seed? 27 Then you ought to have [g]put my money in the bank, and [h]on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. 28 Therefore: take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’
29 “(W)For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 30 And throw the worthless slave into (X)the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The Judgment
31 “But when (Y)the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then (Z)He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 And all the nations will be (AA)gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, (AB)just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep (AC)on His right, but the goats (AD)on the left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, (AE)inherit the kingdom prepared for you (AF)from the foundation of the world. 35 For (AG)I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; (AH)I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 (AI)naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you (AJ)visited Me; (AK)I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 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 And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And (AL)the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, (AM)to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘(AN)Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the (AO)eternal fire which has been prepared for (AP)the devil and his angels; 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 did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not [i]take care of You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me, either.’ 46 These will go away into (AQ)eternal punishment, but the righteous into (AR)eternal life.”
Footnotes
- Matthew 25:6 Lit a shout has occurred
- Matthew 25:10 Lit departing
- Matthew 25:15 A talent was worth about fifteen years’ wages for a laborer
- Matthew 25:18 Or lord’s
- Matthew 25:21 Or lord
- Matthew 25:26 Or wicked
- Matthew 25:27 Lit cast...to the bankers
- Matthew 25:27 Lit having come
- Matthew 25:44 Or serve
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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