Micah 5 - 6, Acts 9:36-10:48, Psalm 85

The Ruler Will Come from Bethlehem

5“¹Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops;²They have laid siege against us;With a rod they will ^astrike the judge of Israel on the cheek.²“¹But as for ^ayou, Bethlehem Ephrathah,Too little to be among the clans of Judah,From ^byou One will go forth for Me to be ^cruler in Israel.²His goings forth are ^dfrom everlasting,From the ancient days.”³Therefore He will ^agive them up until the timeWhen she ^bwho is in childbirth has borne a child.Then the ^cremainder of His brothersWill return to the sons of Israel.⁴And He will stand and ^ashepherd His flockIn the strength of Yahweh,In the majesty of the name of Yahweh His God.And they will ¹remainBecause ²at that time He will be greatTo the ^bends of the earth.⁵And this One ^awill be peace.When the ^bAssyrian enters our land,When he treads on our ¹citadels,Then we will raise against himSeven shepherds and eight princes of men.⁶And they will ^ashepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,The land of ^bNimrod at its entrances;And He will ^cdeliver us from the AssyrianWhen he enters our landAnd when he treads within our borders.⁷Then the ^aremnant of JacobWill be among many peoplesLike ^bdew from Yahweh,Like ^cshowers on vegetationWhich do not hope for manOr wait for the sons of men.⁸Then the remnant of JacobWill be among the nations,Among many peoples^aLike a lion among the beasts of the forest,Like a young lion among flocks of sheep,Which, if it passes through,^bTramples down and ^ctears,And there is ^dnone to deliver.⁹Your hand will be ^araised up against your adversaries,And all your enemies will be cut off.¹⁰“And it will be in that day,” declares Yahweh,“^aThat I will cut off your ^bhorses from among youAnd destroy your chariots.¹¹“And I will cut off the ^acities of your landAnd pull down all your ^bfortifications.¹²“And I will cut off ^asorceries from your hand,And you will have soothsaying no more.¹³“^aAnd I will cut off your graven imagesAnd your sacred pillars from among youSo that you will no longer worshipThe work of your hands.¹⁴“And I will uproot your ¹^,^aAsherim from among youAnd ²eradicate your cities.¹⁵“And I will ^aexecute vengeance in anger and wrathOn the nations which have not ¹^,^blistened.”

Yahweh’s Case Against His People

6¹^,^aListen now to what Yahweh is saying, “Arise, plead your case ²before the mountains,And let the hills ³^,^blisten to your voice.

²“¹^,^aListen, you mountains, to the case of Yahweh,And you enduring ^bfoundations of the earth,Because ^cYahweh has a case against His people;Even with Israel He will reprove.³“^aMy people, ^bwhat have I done to you,And ^chow have I wearied you? Answer Me.⁴“Indeed, I ^abrought you up from the land of EgyptAnd ^bransomed you from the house of slavery,And I sent before you ^cMoses, Aaron, and ^dMiriam.⁵“My people, remember nowWhat ^aBalak king of Moab counseledAnd what Balaam son of Beor answered him,And from ^bShittim to ^cGilgal,So ¹that you might know the ^drighteous acts of Yahweh.”

What Yahweh Requires

⁶^aWith what shall I come before YahwehAnd bow myself before the God on high?Shall I come before Him with ^bburnt offerings,With yearling calves?⁷Is Yahweh pleased with ^athousands of rams,With ten thousand rivers of oil?Shall I give my ^bfirstborn for my transgression,The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?⁸He has ^atold you, O man, what is good;And ^bwhat does Yahweh require of youBut to ^cdo justice, to ^dlove lovingkindness,And to walk ¹^,^ehumbly with your God?⁹The voice of Yahweh will call to the city—And it is sound wisdom to fear Your name:“Hear, O tribe. Who even has appointed ¹its time?¹⁰“Is there yet a man in the wicked house,Along with treasures of ^awickedness,And a ¹^,^bshort measure which is cursed?¹¹“Can I purify wicked ^ascalesAnd a bag of deceptive weights?¹²“For the rich men of ¹the city are full of ^aviolence,And her inhabitants speak ^blies,And their ^ctongue is deceitful in their mouth.¹³“So also I will make you ^asick, striking you down,^bDesolating you because of your sins.¹⁴“You will eat, but you will ^anot be satisfied,And your ¹vileness will be in your midst.And you will try to remove something for safekeeping,But you will ^bnot cause anything to escape,And that which you do have escape, I will give to the sword.¹⁵“You will sow but you will ^anot reap.You will tread the olive but will not anoint yourself with oil;And the grapes, but you will ^bnot drink wine.¹⁶“The statutes of ^aOmriAnd all the works of the house of ^bAhab are kept;And in their counsels you ^cwalk.Therefore I will give you up as ^dan object of horrorAnd ¹your inhabitants as an ^eobject of hissing,And you will bear the ^freproach of My people.”

Peter Raises Tabitha to Life

³⁶Now in ^aJoppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated is called ¹Dorcas). This woman was full of good works and charity which she continually did. ³⁷And it happened ¹at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an ^aupper room. ³⁸Now since Lydda was near ^aJoppa, ^bthe disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, pleading with him, “Do not delay in coming to us.” ³⁹So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the ^aupper room; and all the ^bwidows stood beside him, crying and showing all the ¹tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them. ⁴⁰But Peter ^asent them all out and ^bknelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “^cTabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹And he gave her his hand and raised her up. And calling ^athe ¹saints and ^bwidows, he presented her alive. ⁴²And it became known all over ^aJoppa, and ^bmany believed in the Lord. ⁴³And it happened that he stayed many days in ^aJoppa with ^ba tanner named Simon.

Cornelius’ and Peter’s Visions

10Now there was a man at ^aCaesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was ^bcalled the Italian ¹cohort, ²a devout man and ^aone who feared God with all his household, and ^bgave many ¹alms to the people and prayed to God continually. ³About ^athe ¹ninth hour of the day he clearly saw ^bin a vision ^can angel of God who had come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” ⁴And ^alooking intently on him and becoming afraid, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and ¹alms ^bhave ascended ^cas a memorial before God. ⁵“Now send some men to ^aJoppa and summon a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; ⁶he is lodging with a tanner named ^aSimon, whose house is by the sea.” ⁷And when the angel who was speaking to him had left, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants, ⁸and after he explained everything to them, he sent them to ^aJoppa.

⁹And on the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, ^aPeter went up on ^bthe housetop about ^cthe ¹sixth hour to pray. ¹⁰But he became hungry and was desiring to eat. And while they were making preparations, he ^afell into a trance ¹¹and *saw ^aheaven opened up, and ¹an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, ¹²and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the ¹sky. ¹³And a voice came to him, “Rise up, Peter, ¹slaughter and eat!” ¹⁴But Peter said, “By no means, ^aLord, for ^bI have never eaten anything defiled and unclean.” ¹⁵Again a voice came to him a second time, “^aWhat God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.” ¹⁶And this happened three times and immediately the ¹object was taken up into heaven.

¹⁷Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in ¹mind as to what ^athe vision which he had seen might be, behold, ^bthe men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate; ¹⁸and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was lodging there. ¹⁹And while Peter was reflecting on ^athe vision, ^bthe Spirit said to him, “Behold, ¹three men are looking for you. ²⁰“But rise up, go down and ^aaccompany them without taking issue at all, for I have sent them Myself.” ²¹And Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?” ²²And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and ^aGod-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, ^bwas directed by a ^choly angel to summon you to his house and hear ¹^,^da message from you.” ²³So he invited them in and gave them lodging. Peter at Caesarea And on the next day he rose up and went away with them, and ^asome of ^bthe brothers from ^cJoppa went with him. ²⁴And on the following day he entered ^aCaesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵And when Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and ¹^,^aworshiped him. ²⁶But Peter raised him up, saying, “^aStand up; I too am just a man.” ²⁷As he talked with him, he entered and *found ^amany people assembled. ²⁸And he said to them, “You yourselves know how ^aunlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet ^bGod has shown me that I should not call any man defiled or unclean. ²⁹“That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was summoned. So I ask for what reason you have summoned me.”

³⁰And Cornelius said, “^aFour days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during ^bthe ¹ninth hour; and behold, ^ca man stood before me in shining garments, ³¹and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your ¹alms have been remembered before God. ³²‘Therefore send to ^aJoppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is lodging at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’ ³³“So I sent for you immediately, and you have ¹been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been ordered by the Lord.”

The Holy Spirit Poured Out on the Gentiles

³⁴^aAnd opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most truly comprehend now that ^bGod is not one to show partiality, ³⁵but ^ain every nation the one who ¹^,^bfears Him and does righteousness is welcome to Him. ³⁶“As for the word which He sent to the sons of Israel, ^aproclaiming the good news of ^bpeace through Jesus Christ—He is ^cLord of all— ³⁷you yourselves know the thing which happened throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. ³⁸“¹You know of ^aJesus of Nazareth, how God ^banointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, ²^,^cand how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for ^dGod was with Him. ³⁹“And we are ^awitnesses of all the things He did both in the ¹land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also ^bput Him to death by hanging Him on a tree. ⁴⁰“^aGod raised Him up on the third day and granted that He appear, ⁴¹^anot to all the people, but to ^bwitnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us ^cwho ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. ⁴²“And He ^acommanded us to ¹preach to the people, and solemnly to ^bbear witness that this is the One who has been ^cdesignated by God as ^dJudge of the living and the dead. ⁴³“Of Him ^aall the prophets bear witness that through ^bHis name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these things, ^athe Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the word. ⁴⁵^aAnd all the ¹circumcised believers who came with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been ^bpoured out on the Gentiles also. ⁴⁶For they were hearing them ^aspeaking with tongues and magnifying God. Then Peter answered, ⁴⁷“^aCan anyone refuse water for these to be baptized who ^bhave received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” ⁴⁸And he ^aordered them to be baptized ^bin the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for a few days.

Turn Us Back, O God

For the choir director. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm.

O Yahweh, You showed ^afavor to Your land;You ¹^,^breturned the fortunes of Jacob.²You ^aforgave the iniquity of Your people;You ^bcovered all their sin. ¹ Selah.³You ^awithdrew all Your fury;You ^bturned back from Your burning anger.⁴^aTurn us back, O God of our salvation,And ^bcause Your vexation toward us to cease.⁵Will ^aYou be angry with us forever?Will You prolong Your anger from generation to generation?⁶Will You not Yourself ^areturn to ¹revive us,That Your people may ^bbe glad in You?⁷Show us, O Yahweh, Your lovingkindness,And ^agive us Your salvation.⁸Let me hear what the God, Yahweh, will speak;For He will ^aspeak peace to His people, ¹to His holy ones;But let them not ^bturn back to ²folly.⁹Surely ^aHis salvation is near to those who ¹fear Him,That ^bglory may dwell in our land.¹⁰^aLovingkindness and ¹truth have met together;^bRighteousness and peace have kissed each other.¹¹¹Truth ^asprings up from the earth,And righteousness looks down from heaven.¹²Indeed, ^aYahweh will give what is good,And our ^bland will yield its produce.¹³^aRighteousness will go before HimAnd will establish the way of His steps.