Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today, we finish the book of Micah,
chapters 3 through 7. Chapter 3 And I said, Hear
now, O heads of Jacob and you rulers of the house
of Israel, is it not for you to know justice?
You who hate good and love evil, who strip the
skin from my people and the flesh from their
bones, who also eat the flesh of my people. Flay
their skin from them, break their bones, and
chop them in pieces, like meat for the pot, like
flesh in the cauldron. Then they will cry to
the Lord, but he will not hear them. He will
even hide his face from them at that time, because
they have been evil in their deeds. Thus says
the Lord concerning the prophets, Who make my
people stray, who chant peace, while they chew
with their teeth, but who prepare war against
him, who puts nothing into their mouth. Therefore
you shall have night without vision. and you
shall have darkness without divination. The sun
shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall
be dark for them. So the seers shall be ashamed,
and the diviners abashed. Indeed, they shall
all cover their lips, for there is no answer
from God. But truly I am full of power by the
Spirit of the Lord, and of justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression, and to
Israel his sin. Now hear this, you heads of the
house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel.
Chapter 4 Now it shall come to pass in the latter
days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall
be established on the top of the mountains, and
shall be exalted above the hills, and peoples
shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and
say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of
the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He
will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in
his path. For out of Zion the law shall go forth,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall
judge between many peoples. and rebuke strong
nations afar off. They shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning
hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against
nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
But everyone shall sit under his vine and under
his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid.
For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
For all people walk each 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, I will gather the outcast,
and those whom I have afflicted, I will make
the lame a remnant, and outcast a strong nation.
So the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion,
from now on, even forever. And you, O tower of
the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of
Zion, to you shall it come, even the former dominion
shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.
Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in
your midst? Has your counselor perished? For
pangs have seized you like a woman in labor.
Be in pain and labor to bring forth, O daughter
of Zion, like a woman in birth pangs. For now
you shall go forth from the city, you shall dwell
in the field, and to Babylon you shall go. There
you shall be delivered, there the Lord will redeem
you from the hand of your enemies. Now also many
nations have gathered against you. who say, Let
her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.
But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord,
nor do they understand his counsel. For he will
gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will
make your horn iron, and I will make your hooves
bronze. You shall beat in pieces many peoples.
I will consecrate their gain to the Lord, and
their substance to the Lord of the whole earth.
Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of
troops. He has laid siege against us. They will
strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the
cheek. But you, Bethlehem, Ephrata, though you
are little among the thousands of Judah, yet
out of you shall come forth to me the one to
be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from
of old, from everlasting. Therefore he shall
give them up. until the time that she who is
in labor has given birth. Then the remnant of
his brethren shall return to the children of
Israel. And he shall stand and feed his flock,
in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of
the name of the Lord his God. And they shall
abide. For now he shall be great to the ends
of the earth, and this one shall be peace. When
the Assyrian comes into our land and when he
treads in our palaces, then we will raise against
him seven shepherds and eight princely men. They
shall waste with the sword the land of Assyria
and the land of Nimrod at its entrances. Thus
he shall deliver us from the Assyrian when he
comes into our land and when he treads within
our borders. Then the remnant of Jacob shall
be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from
the Lord, like showers on the grass, nor wait
for the sons of men. And the remnant of Jacob
shall be among the Gentiles, in the midst of
many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of
the forest, like a young lion among flocks of
sheep, who, if he passes through, both treads
down and tears in pieces, and none can deliver.
Your hand shall be lifted against your adversaries,
and all your enemies shall be cut off. And it
shall be in that day, says the Lord, that I will
cut off your horses from your midst, and destroy
your chariots. I will cut off the cities of your
land and throw down all your strongholds. I will
cut off sorceries from your hand, and you shall
have no soothsayers. Your carved images I will
also cut off, and your sacred pillars from your
midst. You shall no more worship the work of
your hands. I will pluck your wooden images from
your midst. Thus I will destroy your cities,
and I will execute vengeance in anger and fury
on the nations that have not heard. Chapter 6
Hear now what the Lord says. Arise, plead your
case before the mountains, and let the hills
hear your voice. Hear, O you mountains, the Lord's
complaint, and you strong foundations of the
earth. For the Lord has a complaint against his
people, and he will contend with Israel. O my
people, what have I done to you? And how have
I wearied you? Testify against me, for I brought
you up from the land of Egypt, I redeemed you
from the house of bondage, and I sent before
you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember
now what Balak king of Moab counseled, and what
Balaam the son of Beor answered him. From Acacia
grove to Gilgal, that you may know the righteousness
of the Lord. With what shall I come before the
Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall
I come before him with burnt offerings, with
calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with
thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the first fruit of my body for the sin of my
soul? He has shown you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you but to
do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly
with your God? The Lord's voice cries to the
city. Wisdom shall see your name. Hear the rod.
Who has appointed it? Are there yet the treasures
of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and
the short measure that is an abomination? Shall
I count pure those with the wicked scales, and
with the bag of deceitful weights? For her rich
men are full of violence, her inhabitants have
spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in
their mouth. Therefore I will also make you sick
by striking you, by making you desolate because
of your sins. You shall eat but not be satisfied.
Hunger shall be in your midst. You may carry
some away, but shall not save them. And what
you do rescue, I will give over to the sword.
You shall sow, but not reap. You shall tread
the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil.
And make sweet wine, but not drink wine. For
the statutes of Omri are kept. All the works
of Ahab's house are done. And you walk in their
councils, that I may make you a desolation, and
your inhabitants a hissing. Therefore you shall
bear the reproach of my people. Chapter 7 Woe
is me, for I am like those who gather summer
fruits, like those who glean vintage grapes.
There is no cluster to eat. Of the first ripe
fruit which my soul desires, the faithful man
has perished from the earth, and there is no
one upright among men. They all lie in wait for
blood. Every man haunts his brother with a net.
That they may successfully do evil with both
hands. The prince asks for gifts. The judge seeks
a bribe. And the great man utters his evil desire.
So they scheme together. The best of them is
like a briar. The most upright is sharper than
a thorn hedge. The day of your watchman and your
punishment comes. Now shall be their perplexity.
Do not trust in a friend. Do not put your confidence
in a companion. Guard the doors of your mouth.
From her who lies in your bosom. For son dishonors
father. Daughter rises against her mother. Daughter
-in -law against her mother -in -law. A man's
enemies are the men of his own household. Therefore
I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the
God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Do
not rejoice over me, my enemy. When I fall, I
will arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord
will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation
of the Lord, because I have sinned against him,
until he pleads my case and executes justice
for me. He will bring me forth to the light.
I will see his righteousness. Then she who is
my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who
said to me, Where is the Lord your God? My eyes
will see her. Now she will be trampled down like
mud in the streets. In the day when your walls
are to be built, in that day, The decree shall
go far and wide. In that day they shall come
to you from Assyria and the fortified cities,
from the fortress to the river, from sea to sea,
and mountain to mountain. Yet the land shall
be desolate, because of those who dwell in it,
and for the fruit of their deeds. Shepherd your
people with your staff, the flock of your heritage,
who dwell solitarily in a woodland in the midst
of Carmel. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
as in days of old. As in the days when you came
out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders.
The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their
might. They shall put their hand over their mouth,
their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the
dust like a serpent. They shall crawl from their
holes like snakes of the earth. They shall be
afraid of the Lord our God and shall fear because
of you. Who is a God like you? pardoning iniquity
and passing over the transgression of the remnant
of his heritage. He does not retain his anger
forever because he delights in mercy. He will
again have compassion on us and will subdue our
iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the
depth of the sea. You will give truth to Jacob
and mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn to
our fathers from days of old. I hope you enjoyed
today's reading as much as I did and I look forward
to seeing you again tomorrow to continue on our
journey. God bless you and have a great day.