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11 And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony, for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death [holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing].

12 Therefore be glad (exult), O heavens and you that dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in fierce anger (fury), because he knows that he has [only] a short time [left]!(A)

13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he went in pursuit of the woman who had given birth to the male Child.

14 But the woman was supplied with the two wings of a giant eagle, so that she might fly from the presence of the serpent into the desert (wilderness), to the retreat where she is to be kept safe and fed for a time, and times, and half a time (three and one-half years, or 1,260 days).(B)

15 Then out of his mouth the serpent spouted forth water like a flood after the woman, that she might be carried off with the torrent.

16 But the earth came to the rescue of the woman, and the ground opened its mouth and swallowed up the stream of water which the dragon had spouted from his mouth.

17 So then the dragon was furious (enraged) at the woman, and he went away to wage war on the remainder of her descendants—[on those] who obey God’s commandments and who have the testimony of Jesus Christ [and adhere to it and [a]bear witness to Him].

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Footnotes

  1. Revelation 12:17 Charles B. Williams, The New Testament: A Translation in the Language of the People.

11 They triumphed over(A) him
    by the blood of the Lamb(B)
    and by the word of their testimony;(C)
they did not love their lives so much
    as to shrink from death.(D)
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens(E)
    and you who dwell in them!
But woe(F) to the earth and the sea,(G)
    because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
    because he knows that his time is short.”

13 When the dragon(H) saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.(I) 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle,(J) so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time,(K) out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent(L) spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war(M) against the rest of her offspring(N)—those who keep God’s commands(O) and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.(P)

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And I [Micah] said, Hear, I pray you, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?—

You who hate the good and love the evil, who pluck and steal the skin from off [My people] and their flesh from off their bones;

Yes, you who eat the flesh of my people and strip their skin from off them, who break their bones and chop them in pieces as for the pot, like meat in a big kettle.

Then will they cry to the Lord, but He will not answer them; He will even hide His face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil.(A)

Thus says the Lord: Concerning the false prophets who make My people err, when they have anything good to bite with their teeth they cry, Peace; and whoever gives them nothing to chew, against him they declare a sanctified war.

Therefore it shall be night to you, so that you shall have no vision; yes, it shall be dark to you without divination. And the sun shall go down over the false prophets, and the day shall be black over them.

And the seers shall be put to shame and the diviners shall blush and be confounded; yes, they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.

But truly I [Micah] am full of power, of the Spirit of the Lord, and of justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.

Hear this, I pray you, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who abhor and reject justice and pervert all equity,

10 Who build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity.

11 Its heads judge for reward and a bribe and its priests teach for hire and its prophets divine for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, Is not the Lord among us? No evil can come upon us.(B)

12 Therefore shall Zion on your account be [a]plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps [of ruins], and the mountain of the house [of the Lord] like a densely wooded height.(C)

But in the latter days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains; and it shall be exalted above the hills, and peoples shall flow to it.

And many nations shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways, and we may walk in His paths. For the law shall go forth out of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

And He shall judge between many peoples and shall decide for strong nations afar off, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.(D)

But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken it.(E)

For all the peoples [now] walk every man in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.

In that day, says the Lord, I will assemble the lame, and I will gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted.

And I will make the lame a remnant, and those who were cast off a strong nation; and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forever.

And you, O tower of the flock, the hill and stronghold of the Daughter of Zion, unto you the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the Daughter of Jerusalem.

Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king among you? Has your counselor perished, that pains have taken you like a woman in labor?

10 Writhe in pain and labor to bring forth, O Daughter of Zion, like a woman in childbirth; for now you shall go forth out of the city and you shall live in the open country. You shall go to Babylon; there you shall be rescued. There the Lord shall redeem you from the hand of your enemies.

11 Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, Let her be profaned and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.

12 But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither do they understand His plan, for He shall gather them as the sheaves to the threshing floor.

13 Arise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion! For I will make your horn iron and I will make your hoofs bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples, and I will devote their gain to the Lord and their treasure to the Lord of all the earth.(F)

Footnotes

  1. Micah 3:12 In his book The Land and the Book, Dr. William Thomson wrote, “Mount Zion is now [in the eighteenth century], for the most part, a rough field. From the tomb of David I passed on through the fields of ripe grain. It is the only part of Jerusalem that is now or ever has been plowed.” When Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in a.d. 1542, the architect omitted Mount Zion, the City of David, from the area he enclosed, and strangely enough it was only partly built up again. How, except by divine inspiration, could Micah have foretold that this particular part of Jerusalem would be “plowed like a field”?

Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

Then I said,

“Listen, you leaders(A) of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
    you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
    and the flesh from their bones;(B)
who eat my people’s flesh,(C)
    strip off their skin
    and break their bones in pieces;(D)
who chop(E) them up like meat for the pan,
    like flesh for the pot?(F)

Then they will cry out to the Lord,
    but he will not answer them.(G)
At that time he will hide his face(H) from them
    because of the evil they have done.(I)

This is what the Lord says:

“As for the prophets
    who lead my people astray,(J)
they proclaim ‘peace’(K)
    if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
    who refuses to feed them.
Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
    and darkness, without divination.(L)
The sun will set for the prophets,(M)
    and the day will go dark for them.(N)
The seers will be ashamed(O)
    and the diviners disgraced.(P)
They will all cover(Q) their faces(R)
    because there is no answer from God.(S)
But as for me, I am filled with power,
    with the Spirit of the Lord,
    and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
    to Israel his sin.(T)

Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
    you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
    and distort all that is right;(U)
10 who build(V) Zion with bloodshed,(W)
    and Jerusalem with wickedness.(X)
11 Her leaders judge for a bribe,(Y)
    her priests teach for a price,(Z)
    and her prophets tell fortunes for money.(AA)
Yet they look(AB) for the Lord’s support and say,
    “Is not the Lord among us?
    No disaster will come upon us.”(AC)
12 Therefore because of you,
    Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,(AD)
    the temple(AE) hill a mound overgrown with thickets.(AF)

The Mountain of the Lord(AG)

In the last days

the mountain(AH) of the Lord’s temple will be established
    as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,(AI)
    and peoples will stream to it.(AJ)

Many nations will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,(AK)
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.(AL)
He will teach us(AM) his ways,(AN)
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law(AO) will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He will judge between many peoples
    and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.(AP)
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.(AQ)
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war(AR) anymore.(AS)
Everyone will sit under their own vine
    and under their own fig tree,(AT)
and no one will make them afraid,(AU)
    for the Lord Almighty has spoken.(AV)
All the nations may walk
    in the name of their gods,(AW)
but we will walk in the name of the Lord
    our God for ever and ever.(AX)

The Lord’s Plan

“In that day,” declares the Lord,

“I will gather the lame;(AY)
    I will assemble the exiles(AZ)
    and those I have brought to grief.(BA)
I will make the lame my remnant,(BB)
    those driven away a strong nation.(BC)
The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion(BD)
    from that day and forever.(BE)
As for you, watchtower of the flock,
    stronghold[a] of Daughter Zion,
the former dominion will be restored(BF) to you;
    kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.(BG)

Why do you now cry aloud—
    have you no king[b](BH)?
Has your ruler[c] perished,
    that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?(BI)
10 Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion,
    like a woman in labor,
for now you must leave the city
    to camp in the open field.
You will go to Babylon;(BJ)
    there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will redeem(BK) you
    out of the hand of your enemies.

11 But now many nations
    are gathered against you.
They say, “Let her be defiled,
    let our eyes gloat(BL) over Zion!”
12 But they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,(BM)
    that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
13 “Rise and thresh,(BN) Daughter Zion,
    for I will give you horns of iron;
I will give you hooves of bronze,
    and you will break to pieces many nations.”(BO)
You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,(BP)
    their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

Footnotes

  1. Micah 4:8 Or hill
  2. Micah 4:9 Or King
  3. Micah 4:9 Or Ruler