Micah 1 - 2, Acts 7, Psalm 83 — Legacy Standard Bible

Calamity in Israel and Judah

1The ^aword of ¹Yahweh which came to ^bMicah of Moresheth in the days of ^cJotham, ^dAhaz, and ^eHezekiah, kings of Judah, which he beheld concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

²Hear, O peoples, all of ¹you;^aGive heed, O earth, as well as its fullness,And let Lord Yahweh be a ^bwitness against you,The Lord from His holy temple.³For behold, Yahweh is ^agoing forth from His place.He will come down and ^btread on the high places of the ¹earth.⁴^aThe mountains will melt under Him,And the valleys will be split,Like wax before the fire,Like water poured down a steep place.⁵All this is for the transgression of JacobAnd for the sins of the house of Israel.What is the ^atransgression of Jacob?Is it not ^bSamaria?What is the ^chigh ¹place of Judah?Is it not Jerusalem?⁶So I will make Samaria a ^aheap of ruins in the field,^bPlanting places for a vineyard.And I will ^cpour her stones down into the valleyAnd will ^dlay bare her foundations.⁷And all of her ^agraven images will be smashed,And all of her earnings will be burned with fireAnd all of her idols I will make desolate,For she collected them from a ^bharlot’s earnings,And to the earnings of a harlot they will return.⁸Because of this I must lament and wail;I must go ^abarefoot and naked;I must make a lament like the ^bjackalsAnd a mourning like the ostriches.⁹For her ¹^,^awound is incurable,For ^bit has come to Judah;It has reached the ^cgate of my people,Even to Jerusalem.¹⁰^aTell it not in Gath,Weep not at all.At ¹Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust.¹¹¹Pass on by, inhabitant of ²Shaphir, in ^ashameful nakedness.The inhabitant of ³^,^bZaanan does not go out.The lamentation of ⁴Beth-ezel: “He will take from you its ⁵support.”¹²For the inhabitant of ¹MarothWrithes ^ain waiting for goodBecause a ²calamity has come down from YahwehTo the ^bgate of Jerusalem.¹³Harness the chariot to the team of horses,O inhabitant of ^aLachish—She was the beginning of sinTo the daughter of Zion—Because in you were foundThe ^btransgressions of Israel.¹⁴Therefore you will give parting ^agiftsOn behalf of ¹Moresheth-gath;The houses of ²^,^bAchzib will become a ^cdeceptionTo the kings of Israel.¹⁵Moreover, I will bring on youThe one who takes possession,O inhabitant of ¹^,^aMareshah.The glory of Israel will enter ^bAdullam.¹⁶Make yourself ^abald and cut off your hair,Because of the children of your delight;Extend your baldness like the eagle,For they will ^bgo from you into exile.

An Evil Time

2Woe to those who ^adevise wickedness,Who work out evil on their beds!^bWhen the light of the morning comes, they do it,For it is in the ^cpower of their hands.²And they ^acovet fields and then ^btear them away,And houses, and take them away.And they ^coppress a man and his house,A man and his inheritance.

³Therefore thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am ^adevising against this ^bfamily an evil demiseFrom which you ^ccannot remove your necks;And you will not walk ^dhaughtily,For it will be an ^eevil time.

⁴“On that day they will ^atake up against you a ¹tauntAnd ²^,^butter a bitter wailing and say,‘We are completely ^cdevastated!He exchanges the portion of my people;How He removes it from me!To the faithless one, He ^dapportions our fields.’⁵“Therefore you will have no one ¹^,^astretching a measuring lineFor you by lot in the assembly of Yahweh.⁶‘^aDo not speak, dripping out words,’ they say while dripping out words.But if ¹they do ^bnot drip out words concerning these things,^cDishonor will not be turned back.⁷“Is it being said, O house of Jacob:‘Is the Spirit of Yahweh ^aimpatient?Are these His deeds?’Do not My words ^bdo goodTo the one ^cwalking uprightly?⁸“¹And recently My people have arisen as an ^aenemy—You ^bstrip the ²robe off the garmentFrom ^cunsuspecting passers-by,From those returned from war.⁹“The women of My people you ^adrive out,Each one from her pleasant house.From her infants you take My ^bsplendor forever.¹⁰“Arise and go,For this is no place ^aof restBecause of the ^buncleanness that wreaks destruction,A painful destruction.¹¹“If a man walking after wind and ^alyingHad acted falsely and said,‘I will speak, dripping out words to you concerning ^bwine and liquor,’He would be one who drips out words as a spokesman to ^cthis people.¹²“I will surely ^aassemble all of you, Jacob;I will surely gather the ^bremnant of Israel.I will put them together like sheep in the fold;Like a flock in the midst of its pastureThey will be noisy with men.¹³“The breaker goes up before them;They break out, pass through the gate, and go out by it.So their king goes on before them,And Yahweh at their head.”

Stephen’s Defense

7And the high priest said, “Are these things so?”

²And he said, “Hear me, ^abrothers and fathers! ^bThe God of glory ^cappeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in ¹Haran, ³and said to him, ‘^aLeave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’ ⁴“^aThen he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in ¹Haran. ^bFrom there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living. ⁵“But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and ^aHe promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his seed after him, even when he had no child. ⁶“But ^aGod spoke in this way, that his seed would be sojourners in a foreign land, and that they would ¹be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. ⁷“‘And I Myself will judge the nation to which they will be enslaved,’ said God, ‘and ^aafter that they will come out and ¹serve Me in this place.’ ⁸“And He ^agave him ¹the covenant of circumcision; and so ^bAbraham was the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and ^cIsaac was the father of Jacob, and ^dJacob of the twelve ^epatriarchs.

⁹“And the patriarchs, ^abecoming jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him, ¹⁰and rescued him from all his afflictions, and ^agranted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he appointed him governor over Egypt and all his household.

¹¹“Now ^aa famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers ¹could find no food. ¹²“But ^awhen Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. ¹³“And on the second visit ^aJoseph ¹made himself known to his brothers, and ^bJoseph’s family was disclosed to Pharaoh. ¹⁴“Then ^aJoseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, ^bseventy-five ¹^,^cpersons in all. ¹⁵“And ^aJacob went down to Egypt and there he and our fathers died. ¹⁶“And from there they were removed to ¹^,^aShechem and placed in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of ²Hamor in ³Shechem.

¹⁷“But as the ^atime of the promise was drawing near which God had assured to Abraham, ^bthe people increased and multiplied in Egypt, ¹⁸until ^aanother king arose over Egypt who did not know about Joseph. ¹⁹“It was he who ^adeceitfully took advantage of our family and mistreated our fathers to ¹^,^bset their infants outside so that they would not survive. ²⁰“It was at this time that ^aMoses was born, and he was lovely ¹in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father’s home. ²¹“And after he had been set outside, ^aPharaoh’s daughter ¹took him away and nurtured him as her own son. ²²“And Moses was educated in all ^athe wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in words and deeds. ²³“But when he was approaching the age of forty, ^ait entered his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. ²⁴“And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took justice for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵“And he supposed that his brothers understood that God was granting them salvation ¹through him, but they did not understand. ²⁶“^aOn the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting together, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers, why are you treating one another unjustly?’ ²⁷“But the one who was treating his neighbor unjustly pushed him away, saying, ‘^aWho made you a ruler and judge over us? ²⁸‘^aDo you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ ²⁹“At this remark, ^aMoses fled and became a sojourner in the land of ¹Midian, where he ^bwas the father of two sons.

³⁰“And after forty years had passed, ^aan angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. ³¹“When Moses saw it, he was marveling at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, there came the voice of the ¹Lord: ³²‘^aI am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and would not dare to look. ³³“^aBut the ¹Lord said to him, ‘^bRemove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. ³⁴‘^aI have surely seen the oppression of My people in Egypt and have heard their groans, and I have come down to deliver them; ¹^,^bcome now, and I will send you to Egypt.’

³⁵“This Moses whom they ^adisowned, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God ¹sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the ²help of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶“^aThis man led them out, doing ^bwonders and ¹signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the ^cwilderness for forty years. ³⁷“This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘^aGod will raise up for you a prophet ¹like me from your brothers.’ ³⁸“This is the one who, in ^athe ¹congregation in the wilderness, was with ^bthe angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai and with our fathers; the one who received ^cliving ^doracles to pass on to you. ³⁹“Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but ^arejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt, ⁴⁰^asaying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what has become of him.’ ⁴¹“¹At that time ^athey made a ²calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in ^bthe works of their hands. ⁴²“But God ^aturned away and delivered them up to ¹serve the ²host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘^bDid you present Me with slain beasts and sacrifices ^cforty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? ⁴³‘^aYou also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god ¹Rompha, the images which you made to worship. I also will remove you beyond Babylon.’

⁴⁴“Our fathers had ^athe tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He, who spoke to Moses, directed him to make it ^baccording to the pattern which he had seen. ⁴⁵“And having received it in their turn, our fathers ^abrought it in with ¹Joshua when they dispossessed the ²nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David. ⁴⁶“^aDavid found favor in the sight of God, and ^basked that he might find a dwelling place for the ¹God of Jacob. ⁴⁷“But ^aSolomon built a house for Him. ⁴⁸“However, ^athe Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands, as the prophet says:

⁴⁹‘^aHeaven is My throne,And earth is the footstool of My feet.What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,‘Or what place is there for My rest?⁵⁰‘^aWas it not My hand which made all these things?’

⁵¹“You men—^astiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears—are always resisting the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. ⁵²“^aAnd which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of ^bthe Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers ^cyou have now become; ⁵³you who received the Law as ^aordained by angels, and yet did not observe it.”

Stephen Is Stoned to Death

⁵⁴Now when they heard this, they became ^afurious in their hearts, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. ⁵⁵But being ^afull of the Holy Spirit, he ^bgazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing ^cat the right hand of God; ⁵⁶and he said, “Behold, I see the ^aheavens opened up and ^bthe Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” ⁵⁷But crying out with a loud voice, they covered their ears and rushed at him with one accord. ⁵⁸And when they had ^adriven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and ^bthe witnesses ^claid aside their garments at the feet of ^da young man named Saul. ⁵⁹They went on stoning Stephen as he ^awas calling out and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” ⁶⁰Then ^afalling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, ^bdo not hold this sin against them!” And having said this, he ¹^,^cfell asleep.

O God, Do Not Be Quiet

A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.

O God, ^ado not remain at rest;^bDo not be silent and, O God, do not be quiet.²For behold, Your enemies ^aroar,And ^bthose who hate You have ^clifted up their heads.³They ^amake shrewd plans against Your people,And ¹conspire together against ^bYour ²treasured ones.⁴They have said, “Come, and ^alet us wipe them out ¹as a nation,That the ^bname of Israel be remembered no more.”⁵For they have ¹^,^aconspired together with one heart;Against You they cut a covenant:⁶The tents of ^aEdom and the ^bIshmaelites,^cMoab and the ^dHagrites;⁷^aGebal and ^bAmmon and ^cAmalek,^dPhilistia with the inhabitants of ^eTyre;⁸^aAssyria also has joined with them;They have become ¹the power of the ^bchildren of Lot. ² Selah.⁹Do to them ^aas to Midian,As ^bto Sisera, and Jabin at the river of Kishon,¹⁰Who were destroyed at En-dor,Who ^awere as dung for the ground.¹¹Make their nobles like ^aOreb and ZeebAnd all their princes like ^bZebah and Zalmunna,¹²Who said, “^aLet us possess for ourselvesThe ^bpastures of God.”¹³O my God, make them like the ¹^,^awhirling dust,Like ^bchaff before the wind.¹⁴Like ^afire that burns the forestAnd like a flame that ^bburns up the mountains,¹⁵So pursue them ^awith Your tempestAnd dismay them with Your storm.¹⁶^aFill their faces with disgrace,That they may seek Your name, O Yahweh.¹⁷Let them be ^aashamed and dismayed forever,And let them be humiliated and perish,¹⁸That they may ^aknow that ^bYou alone—Your name is Yahweh—Are the ^cMost High over all the earth.