WEBVTT 00:00:00.999 --> 00:00:03.700 Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're 00:00:03.700 --> 00:00:05.740 taking this journey together to read the Bible 00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:09.140 in a year. Today, we finish the book of Micah, 00:00:09.220 --> 00:00:14.960 chapters 3 through 7. Chapter 3 And I said, Hear 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:17.899 now, O heads of Jacob and you rulers of the house 00:00:17.899 --> 00:00:20.379 of Israel, is it not for you to know justice? 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:23.660 You who hate good and love evil, who strip the 00:00:23.660 --> 00:00:26.359 skin from my people and the flesh from their 00:00:26.359 --> 00:00:29.629 bones, who also eat the flesh of my people. Flay 00:00:29.629 --> 00:00:32.009 their skin from them, break their bones, and 00:00:32.009 --> 00:00:34.770 chop them in pieces, like meat for the pot, like 00:00:34.770 --> 00:00:37.369 flesh in the cauldron. Then they will cry to 00:00:37.369 --> 00:00:39.530 the Lord, but he will not hear them. He will 00:00:39.530 --> 00:00:42.329 even hide his face from them at that time, because 00:00:42.329 --> 00:00:44.950 they have been evil in their deeds. Thus says 00:00:44.950 --> 00:00:47.369 the Lord concerning the prophets, Who make my 00:00:47.369 --> 00:00:50.350 people stray, who chant peace, while they chew 00:00:50.350 --> 00:00:52.810 with their teeth, but who prepare war against 00:00:52.810 --> 00:00:56.310 him, who puts nothing into their mouth. Therefore 00:00:56.310 --> 00:00:58.670 you shall have night without vision. and you 00:00:58.670 --> 00:01:01.289 shall have darkness without divination. The sun 00:01:01.289 --> 00:01:03.649 shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall 00:01:03.649 --> 00:01:06.510 be dark for them. So the seers shall be ashamed, 00:01:06.810 --> 00:01:09.689 and the diviners abashed. Indeed, they shall 00:01:09.689 --> 00:01:12.209 all cover their lips, for there is no answer 00:01:12.209 --> 00:01:15.569 from God. But truly I am full of power by the 00:01:15.569 --> 00:01:17.950 Spirit of the Lord, and of justice and might, 00:01:18.109 --> 00:01:20.609 to declare to Jacob his transgression, and to 00:01:20.609 --> 00:01:23.290 Israel his sin. Now hear this, you heads of the 00:01:23.290 --> 00:01:25.750 house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel. 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:57.579 Chapter 4 Now it shall come to pass in the latter 00:01:57.579 --> 00:02:00.219 days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall 00:02:00.219 --> 00:02:02.739 be established on the top of the mountains, and 00:02:02.739 --> 00:02:05.340 shall be exalted above the hills, and peoples 00:02:05.340 --> 00:02:08.280 shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and 00:02:08.280 --> 00:02:10.759 say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of 00:02:10.759 --> 00:02:13.599 the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:15.960 will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:19.219 his path. For out of Zion the law shall go forth, 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:22.340 and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall 00:02:22.340 --> 00:02:24.870 judge between many peoples. and rebuke strong 00:02:24.870 --> 00:02:28.229 nations afar off. They shall beat their swords 00:02:28.229 --> 00:02:31.289 into plowshares and their spears into pruning 00:02:31.289 --> 00:02:34.129 hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against 00:02:34.129 --> 00:02:37.030 nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. 00:02:37.370 --> 00:02:39.969 But everyone shall sit under his vine and under 00:02:39.969 --> 00:02:42.610 his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid. 00:02:42.909 --> 00:02:45.530 For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. 00:02:45.710 --> 00:02:48.810 For all people walk each in the name of his God. 00:02:49.009 --> 00:02:51.229 But we will walk in the name of the Lord our 00:02:51.229 --> 00:02:55.509 God forever and ever. In that day, says the Lord, 00:02:55.689 --> 00:02:58.590 I will assemble the lame, I will gather the outcast, 00:02:58.830 --> 00:03:01.270 and those whom I have afflicted, I will make 00:03:01.270 --> 00:03:04.430 the lame a remnant, and outcast a strong nation. 00:03:04.849 --> 00:03:07.330 So the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion, 00:03:07.550 --> 00:03:11.430 from now on, even forever. And you, O tower of 00:03:11.430 --> 00:03:13.750 the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of 00:03:13.750 --> 00:03:17.370 Zion, to you shall it come, even the former dominion 00:03:17.370 --> 00:03:20.030 shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. 00:03:20.599 --> 00:03:23.479 Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:26.479 your midst? Has your counselor perished? For 00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:28.900 pangs have seized you like a woman in labor. 00:03:29.099 --> 00:03:32.439 Be in pain and labor to bring forth, O daughter 00:03:32.439 --> 00:03:35.620 of Zion, like a woman in birth pangs. For now 00:03:35.620 --> 00:03:37.879 you shall go forth from the city, you shall dwell 00:03:37.879 --> 00:03:40.819 in the field, and to Babylon you shall go. There 00:03:40.819 --> 00:03:43.520 you shall be delivered, there the Lord will redeem 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:46.500 you from the hand of your enemies. Now also many 00:03:46.500 --> 00:03:49.280 nations have gathered against you. who say, Let 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:52.300 her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:55.060 But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, 00:03:55.240 --> 00:03:58.439 nor do they understand his counsel. For he will 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:01.060 gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:04.180 Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will 00:04:04.180 --> 00:04:06.780 make your horn iron, and I will make your hooves 00:04:06.780 --> 00:04:09.240 bronze. You shall beat in pieces many peoples. 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:11.860 I will consecrate their gain to the Lord, and 00:04:11.860 --> 00:04:14.259 their substance to the Lord of the whole earth. 00:04:17.290 --> 00:04:19.529 Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of 00:04:19.529 --> 00:04:22.730 troops. He has laid siege against us. They will 00:04:22.730 --> 00:04:24.850 strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the 00:04:24.850 --> 00:04:27.850 cheek. But you, Bethlehem, Ephrata, though you 00:04:27.850 --> 00:04:30.509 are little among the thousands of Judah, yet 00:04:30.509 --> 00:04:32.970 out of you shall come forth to me the one to 00:04:32.970 --> 00:04:36.269 be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from 00:04:36.269 --> 00:04:39.449 of old, from everlasting. Therefore he shall 00:04:39.449 --> 00:04:42.089 give them up. until the time that she who is 00:04:42.089 --> 00:04:45.009 in labor has given birth. Then the remnant of 00:04:45.009 --> 00:04:47.389 his brethren shall return to the children of 00:04:47.389 --> 00:04:50.129 Israel. And he shall stand and feed his flock, 00:04:50.329 --> 00:04:52.790 in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of 00:04:52.790 --> 00:04:55.269 the name of the Lord his God. And they shall 00:04:55.269 --> 00:04:58.149 abide. For now he shall be great to the ends 00:04:58.149 --> 00:05:01.670 of the earth, and this one shall be peace. When 00:05:01.670 --> 00:05:04.089 the Assyrian comes into our land and when he 00:05:04.089 --> 00:05:06.910 treads in our palaces, then we will raise against 00:05:06.910 --> 00:05:10.970 him seven shepherds and eight princely men. They 00:05:10.970 --> 00:05:13.370 shall waste with the sword the land of Assyria 00:05:13.370 --> 00:05:16.730 and the land of Nimrod at its entrances. Thus 00:05:16.730 --> 00:05:19.050 he shall deliver us from the Assyrian when he 00:05:19.050 --> 00:05:21.589 comes into our land and when he treads within 00:05:21.589 --> 00:05:24.670 our borders. Then the remnant of Jacob shall 00:05:24.670 --> 00:05:26.970 be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from 00:05:26.970 --> 00:05:31.459 the Lord, like showers on the grass, nor wait 00:05:31.459 --> 00:05:34.000 for the sons of men. And the remnant of Jacob 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:36.500 shall be among the Gentiles, in the midst of 00:05:36.500 --> 00:05:39.160 many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:42.120 the forest, like a young lion among flocks of 00:05:42.120 --> 00:05:45.379 sheep, who, if he passes through, both treads 00:05:45.379 --> 00:05:48.680 down and tears in pieces, and none can deliver. 00:05:49.019 --> 00:05:51.660 Your hand shall be lifted against your adversaries, 00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:54.540 and all your enemies shall be cut off. And it 00:05:54.540 --> 00:05:56.959 shall be in that day, says the Lord, that I will 00:05:56.959 --> 00:05:59.500 cut off your horses from your midst, and destroy 00:05:59.500 --> 00:06:02.180 your chariots. I will cut off the cities of your 00:06:02.180 --> 00:06:05.259 land and throw down all your strongholds. I will 00:06:05.259 --> 00:06:07.579 cut off sorceries from your hand, and you shall 00:06:07.579 --> 00:06:10.740 have no soothsayers. Your carved images I will 00:06:10.740 --> 00:06:13.800 also cut off, and your sacred pillars from your 00:06:13.800 --> 00:06:16.339 midst. You shall no more worship the work of 00:06:16.339 --> 00:06:19.319 your hands. I will pluck your wooden images from 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:21.879 your midst. Thus I will destroy your cities, 00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:25.259 and I will execute vengeance in anger and fury 00:06:25.259 --> 00:06:30.379 on the nations that have not heard. Chapter 6 00:06:30.379 --> 00:06:34.279 Hear now what the Lord says. Arise, plead your 00:06:34.279 --> 00:06:36.360 case before the mountains, and let the hills 00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:39.759 hear your voice. Hear, O you mountains, the Lord's 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:42.120 complaint, and you strong foundations of the 00:06:42.120 --> 00:06:44.879 earth. For the Lord has a complaint against his 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:48.120 people, and he will contend with Israel. O my 00:06:48.120 --> 00:06:50.560 people, what have I done to you? And how have 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:54.100 I wearied you? Testify against me, for I brought 00:06:54.100 --> 00:06:56.560 you up from the land of Egypt, I redeemed you 00:06:56.560 --> 00:06:58.839 from the house of bondage, and I sent before 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:02.439 you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember 00:07:02.439 --> 00:07:05.860 now what Balak king of Moab counseled, and what 00:07:05.860 --> 00:07:08.699 Balaam the son of Beor answered him. From Acacia 00:07:08.699 --> 00:07:11.639 grove to Gilgal, that you may know the righteousness 00:07:11.639 --> 00:07:14.500 of the Lord. With what shall I come before the 00:07:14.500 --> 00:07:17.439 Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:19.680 I come before him with burnt offerings, with 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:22.620 calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with 00:07:22.620 --> 00:07:25.800 thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? 00:07:26.040 --> 00:07:28.600 Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, 00:07:28.779 --> 00:07:31.639 the first fruit of my body for the sin of my 00:07:31.639 --> 00:07:34.540 soul? He has shown you, O man, what is good. 00:07:34.660 --> 00:07:37.019 And what does the Lord require of you but to 00:07:37.019 --> 00:07:39.899 do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly 00:07:39.899 --> 00:07:43.259 with your God? The Lord's voice cries to the 00:07:43.259 --> 00:07:46.899 city. Wisdom shall see your name. Hear the rod. 00:07:47.180 --> 00:07:50.069 Who has appointed it? Are there yet the treasures 00:07:50.069 --> 00:07:52.449 of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and 00:07:52.449 --> 00:07:55.430 the short measure that is an abomination? Shall 00:07:55.430 --> 00:07:58.350 I count pure those with the wicked scales, and 00:07:58.350 --> 00:08:00.930 with the bag of deceitful weights? For her rich 00:08:00.930 --> 00:08:03.910 men are full of violence, her inhabitants have 00:08:03.910 --> 00:08:07.310 spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in 00:08:07.310 --> 00:08:10.170 their mouth. Therefore I will also make you sick 00:08:10.170 --> 00:08:13.149 by striking you, by making you desolate because 00:08:13.149 --> 00:08:16.170 of your sins. You shall eat but not be satisfied. 00:08:16.910 --> 00:08:19.970 Hunger shall be in your midst. You may carry 00:08:19.970 --> 00:08:22.850 some away, but shall not save them. And what 00:08:22.850 --> 00:08:25.250 you do rescue, I will give over to the sword. 00:08:25.529 --> 00:08:28.089 You shall sow, but not reap. You shall tread 00:08:28.089 --> 00:08:30.329 the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil. 00:08:30.509 --> 00:08:33.870 And make sweet wine, but not drink wine. For 00:08:33.870 --> 00:08:36.629 the statutes of Omri are kept. All the works 00:08:36.629 --> 00:08:39.870 of Ahab's house are done. And you walk in their 00:08:39.870 --> 00:08:42.950 councils, that I may make you a desolation, and 00:08:42.950 --> 00:08:45.940 your inhabitants a hissing. Therefore you shall 00:08:45.940 --> 00:08:51.779 bear the reproach of my people. Chapter 7 Woe 00:08:51.779 --> 00:08:54.639 is me, for I am like those who gather summer 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:57.419 fruits, like those who glean vintage grapes. 00:08:57.639 --> 00:09:00.679 There is no cluster to eat. Of the first ripe 00:09:00.679 --> 00:09:03.620 fruit which my soul desires, the faithful man 00:09:03.620 --> 00:09:06.200 has perished from the earth, and there is no 00:09:06.200 --> 00:09:09.559 one upright among men. They all lie in wait for 00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:12.299 blood. Every man haunts his brother with a net. 00:09:12.889 --> 00:09:15.629 That they may successfully do evil with both 00:09:15.629 --> 00:09:20.110 hands. The prince asks for gifts. The judge seeks 00:09:20.110 --> 00:09:23.230 a bribe. And the great man utters his evil desire. 00:09:23.590 --> 00:09:26.350 So they scheme together. The best of them is 00:09:26.350 --> 00:09:29.570 like a briar. The most upright is sharper than 00:09:29.570 --> 00:09:32.870 a thorn hedge. The day of your watchman and your 00:09:32.870 --> 00:09:35.950 punishment comes. Now shall be their perplexity. 00:09:36.350 --> 00:09:39.149 Do not trust in a friend. Do not put your confidence 00:09:39.149 --> 00:09:41.809 in a companion. Guard the doors of your mouth. 00:09:42.269 --> 00:09:45.970 From her who lies in your bosom. For son dishonors 00:09:45.970 --> 00:09:49.269 father. Daughter rises against her mother. Daughter 00:09:49.269 --> 00:09:52.049 -in -law against her mother -in -law. A man's 00:09:52.049 --> 00:09:55.509 enemies are the men of his own household. Therefore 00:09:55.509 --> 00:09:58.470 I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the 00:09:58.470 --> 00:10:02.110 God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Do 00:10:02.110 --> 00:10:05.210 not rejoice over me, my enemy. When I fall, I 00:10:05.210 --> 00:10:08.129 will arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord 00:10:08.129 --> 00:10:10.799 will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:13.679 of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, 00:10:13.740 --> 00:10:16.960 until he pleads my case and executes justice 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:19.960 for me. He will bring me forth to the light. 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:23.440 I will see his righteousness. Then she who is 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:26.440 my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:29.580 said to me, Where is the Lord your God? My eyes 00:10:29.580 --> 00:10:32.559 will see her. Now she will be trampled down like 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:35.379 mud in the streets. In the day when your walls 00:10:35.379 --> 00:10:38.399 are to be built, in that day, The decree shall 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:41.320 go far and wide. In that day they shall come 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:43.980 to you from Assyria and the fortified cities, 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:47.860 from the fortress to the river, from sea to sea, 00:10:47.980 --> 00:10:51.299 and mountain to mountain. Yet the land shall 00:10:51.299 --> 00:10:53.899 be desolate, because of those who dwell in it, 00:10:53.940 --> 00:10:57.740 and for the fruit of their deeds. Shepherd your 00:10:57.740 --> 00:11:00.379 people with your staff, the flock of your heritage, 00:11:00.580 --> 00:11:04.100 who dwell solitarily in a woodland in the midst 00:11:04.100 --> 00:11:07.279 of Carmel. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, 00:11:07.529 --> 00:11:10.629 as in days of old. As in the days when you came 00:11:10.629 --> 00:11:13.590 out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders. 00:11:14.110 --> 00:11:17.210 The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their 00:11:17.210 --> 00:11:19.970 might. They shall put their hand over their mouth, 00:11:20.110 --> 00:11:22.990 their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the 00:11:22.990 --> 00:11:26.190 dust like a serpent. They shall crawl from their 00:11:26.190 --> 00:11:28.970 holes like snakes of the earth. They shall be 00:11:28.970 --> 00:11:31.629 afraid of the Lord our God and shall fear because 00:11:31.629 --> 00:11:35.370 of you. Who is a God like you? pardoning iniquity 00:11:35.370 --> 00:11:37.830 and passing over the transgression of the remnant 00:11:37.830 --> 00:11:40.889 of his heritage. He does not retain his anger 00:11:40.889 --> 00:11:43.850 forever because he delights in mercy. He will 00:11:43.850 --> 00:11:46.809 again have compassion on us and will subdue our 00:11:46.809 --> 00:11:50.850 iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the 00:11:50.850 --> 00:11:53.549 depth of the sea. You will give truth to Jacob 00:11:53.549 --> 00:11:56.210 and mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn to 00:11:56.210 --> 00:12:05.070 our fathers from days of old. I hope you enjoyed 00:12:05.070 --> 00:12:07.629 today's reading as much as I did and I look forward 00:12:07.629 --> 00:12:09.690 to seeing you again tomorrow to continue on our 00:12:09.690 --> 00:12:11.789 journey. God bless you and have a great day.