Old/New Testament
The Lord’s Complaint
6 Now hear what the Lord says:
“Present your argument to the mountains.
Let the hills hear your story.[a]
2 The Lord has a complaint against his people.
Mountains, listen to the Lord’s complaint.
Foundations of the earth, hear the Lord.
He will prove that Israel is wrong!”
3 He says, “My people, tell me what I did!
Did I do something wrong against you?
Did I make life too hard for you?
4 I will tell you what I did.
I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to you.
I brought you from the land of Egypt.
I freed you from slavery.
5 My people, remember the evil plans of Balak king of Moab.
Remember what Balaam son of Beor said to Balak.
Remember what happened from Acacia to Gilgal,[b]
and you will know the Lord is right!”
What Does God Want From Us?
6 What must I bring when I come to meet with the Lord?
What must I do when I bow down to God above?
Should I come to him with burnt offerings
and a year-old calf?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with a thousand rams
or with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Should I offer him my first child to pay for my wrongs?
Should I sacrifice my very own child for my sins?
8 Human, the Lord has told you what goodness is.
This is what he wants from you:
Be fair to other people.
Love kindness and loyalty,
and humbly obey your God.
What Were the Israelites Doing?
9 The Lord shouts to the city:
“A wise person respects the Lord’s name.[c]
So pay attention to the punishing rod and to the one who uses it![d]
10 Do the wicked still hide treasures
that they have stolen?
Do they still cheat people
with baskets that are too small?[e]
Yes, all of this is still happening!
11 Some people carry special weights
that they use to cheat people when they weigh their goods.
Should I pardon them?
12 The rich in that city are still cruel.
The people there still tell lies.
Yes, they tell their lies.
13 So I have begun to punish you.
I will destroy you because of your sins.
14 You will eat, but you will not become full.
You will still be hungry and empty.[f]
You will try to bring people to safety,
but people with swords will kill the people you rescued.
15 You will plant your seeds,
but you will not gather food.
You will try to squeeze oil from your olives,
but you will not get any oil.
You will crush your grapes,
but you will not get enough juice to have wine to drink.
16 This is because you obey the laws of Omri.[g]
You do all the evil things that Ahab’s family does.
You follow their teachings,
so I will let you be destroyed.
People will whistle in amazement
when they see your destroyed city.
Then you will bear the shame
that the other nations bring to you.”[h]
Micah Is Upset at the Evil People Do
7 I am upset because I am like fruit that has been gathered,
like grapes that have already been picked.
There are no grapes left to eat.
There are none of the early figs that I love.
2 By this I mean that all the faithful people are gone.
There are no good people left.
Everyone is planning to kill someone.
Everyone is trying to trap their brother.
3 People are good at doing bad things with both hands.
Officials ask for bribes.
Judges take money to change their decisions in court.
“Important leaders” do whatever they want to do.
4 Even the best of them is as crooked
as a tangled thornbush.
The Day of Punishment Is Coming
Your prophets said this day would come,
and the day of your watchmen[i] has come.
Now you will be punished.
Now you will be confused!
5 Don’t trust your neighbor
or trust a friend!
Don’t even speak freely
with your wife.
6 Your enemies will be the people in your own house.
A son will not honor his father.
A daughter will turn against her mother.
A daughter-in-law will turn against her mother-in-law.
The Lord Is the Savior
7 So I will look to the Lord for help.
I will wait for God to save me.
My God will hear me.
8 I have fallen, but enemy, don’t laugh at me!
I will get up again.
I sit in darkness now,
but the Lord will be a light for me.
The Lord Forgives
9 I sinned against the Lord,
so he was angry with me.
But he will argue my case for me in court.
He will do what is right for me.
Then he will bring me out into the light,
and I will see that he is right.
10 My enemy said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?”
But my enemy will see this,
and she will be ashamed.
At that time I will laugh at her.[j]
People will walk over her,[k] like mud in the streets.
The Jews to Return
11 The time will come when your walls will be rebuilt.
At that time the country will grow.
12 Your people will come back to your land.
They will come back from Assyria and from the cities of Egypt.
They will come from Egypt
and from the other side of the Euphrates River.
They will come from the sea in the west
and from the mountains in the east.
13 The land was ruined by the people
who lived there and by what they did.
14 So rule your people with your rod.
Rule the flock of people who belong to you.
That flock lives alone in the woods
and up on Mount Carmel.
That flock lives in Bashan and Gilead
as they did in the past.
Israel Will Defeat Its Enemies
15 I did many miracles when I took you out of Egypt.
I will let you see more miracles like that.
16 The nations will see those miracles,
and they will be ashamed.
They will see that their “power”
is nothing compared to mine.
They will be amazed
and put their hands over their mouths.
They will cover their ears
and refuse to listen.
17 They will crawl in the dust like a snake.
They will shake with fear.
They will be like insects crawling
from their holes in the ground
and coming to the Lord our God.
God, they will fear and respect you!
Praise for the Lord
18 There is no God like you.
You take away people’s guilt.
God will forgive his people who survive.
He will not stay angry with them forever,
because he enjoys being kind.
19 He will come back and comfort us again.
He will throw all our sins into the deep sea.
20 God, please be true to Jacob.
Be kind and loyal to Abraham,[l] as you promised our ancestors long ago.
The Beast From the Sea
13 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads. There was a crown on each of its horns. It had an evil name written on each head. 2 This beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear’s feet. It had a mouth like a lion’s mouth. The dragon gave the beast all of its power and its throne and great authority.
3 One of the heads of the beast looked as if it had been wounded and killed, but the death wound was healed. All the people in the world were amazed, and they all followed the beast. 4 People worshiped the dragon because it had given its power to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast. They asked, “Who is as powerful as the beast? Who can make war against it?”
5 The beast was allowed to boast and speak insults against God. It was allowed to use its power for 42 months. 6 The beast opened its mouth to insult God—to insult his name, the place where he lives, and all those who live in heaven. 7 It was given power to make war against God’s holy people and to defeat them. It was given power over every tribe, race of people, language, and nation. 8 Everyone living on earth would worship the beast. These are all the people since the beginning of the world whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life. The Lamb is the one who was killed.
9 Anyone who hears these things should listen to this:
10 Whoever is to be a prisoner,
will be a prisoner.
Whoever is to be killed with a sword,
will be killed with a sword.
This means that God’s holy people must have patience and faith.
The Beast From the Earth
11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he talked like a dragon. 12 This beast stood before the first beast and used the same power the first beast had. He used this power to make everyone living on the earth worship the first beast. The first beast was the one that had the death wound that was healed. 13 The second beast did great miracles.[a] He even made fire come down from heaven to earth while people were watching.
14 This second beast fooled the people living on earth by using the miracles that he had been given the power to do for the first beast. He ordered people to make an idol to honor the first beast, the one that was wounded by the sword but did not die. 15 The second beast was given power to give life to the idol of the first beast. Then the idol could speak and order all those who did not worship it to be killed. 16 The second beast also forced all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a mark put on their right hand or on their forehead. 17 No one could buy or sell without this mark. (This mark is the name of the beast or the number of its name.)
18 Anyone who has understanding can find the meaning of the beast’s number. This requires wisdom. This number is the number of a man. It is 666.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International