Micah 3:5 - Zephaniah 3:9

English Standard Version

⁵ Thus says the Lord concerning ^(A)the prophets
    who lead my people astray,
^(B)who cry “Peace”
    when they have something to eat,
but declare war against him
    who puts nothing into their mouths.
⁶ Therefore ^(C)it shall be night to you, without vision,
    and darkness to you, without divination.
^(D)The sun shall go down on the prophets,
    and the day shall be black over them;
^7 (E)the seers shall be disgraced,
    and the diviners put to shame;
^(F)they shall all cover their lips,
    for ^(G)there is no answer from God.
⁸ But as for me, ^(H)I am filled with power,
    with the Spirit of the Lord,
    and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob ^(I)his transgression
    and to Israel his sin.

^9 (J)Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob
    and rulers of the house of Israel,
^(K)who detest justice
    and make crooked all that is straight,
^10 (L)who build Zion with blood
    and Jerusalem with iniquity.
^11 (M)Its heads give judgment for a bribe;
    ^(N)its priests teach for a price;
    ^(O)its prophets practice divination for money;
^(P)yet they lean on the Lord and ^(Q)say,
    “Is not the Lord in the midst of us?
    ^(R)No disaster shall come upon us.”
¹² Therefore because of you
    ^(S)Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem ^(T)shall become a heap of ruins,
    and ^(U)the mountain of the house ^(V)a wooded height.

⁸ And you, O tower of the flock,
    hill of the daughter of Zion,
to you shall it come,
    the former dominion shall come,
    kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.

⁹ Now why do you cry aloud?
    ^(AJ)Is there no king in you?
^(AK)Has your counselor perished,
    that ^(AL)pain seized you like a woman in labor?
^10 (AM)Writhe and groan,^[b] O daughter of Zion,
    like a woman in labor,
for ^(AN)now you shall go out from the city
    and dwell in the open country;
    you ^(AO)shall go to Babylon.
There you shall be rescued;
    ^(AP)there the Lord will redeem you
    from the hand of your enemies.

¹¹ Now ^(AQ)many nations
    are assembled against you,
saying, “Let her be defiled,
    and ^(AR)let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”
¹² But ^(AS)they do not know
    the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,
    that ^(AT)he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.
¹³ Arise and thresh,
    O daughter of Zion,
for I will make your horn iron,
    and I will make your hoofs bronze;
you shall beat in pieces many peoples;
    and ^(AU)shall devote^{[c] (AV)}their gain to the Lord,
    their wealth to ^(AW)the Lord of the whole earth.

^(BJ)When the Assyrian comes into our land
    and treads in our palaces,
then we will raise against him seven ^(BK)shepherds
    and eight princes of men;
⁶ they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
    and the land of ^(BL)Nimrod at its entrances;
and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian
    ^(BM)when he comes into our land
    and treads within our border.

¹⁰ And ^(BR)in that day, declares the Lord,
    ^(BS)I will cut off your horses from among you
    and will destroy your chariots;
^11 (BT)and I will cut off the cities of your land
    and throw down all your strongholds;
¹² and I will cut off ^(BU)sorceries from your hand,
    and ^(BV)you shall have no more tellers of fortunes;
¹³ and ^(BW)I will cut off your carved images
    and ^(BX)your pillars from among you,
^(BY)and you shall bow down no more
    to the work of your hands;
¹⁴ and I will root out your ^(BZ)Asherah images from among you
    ^(CA)and destroy your cities.
¹⁵ And in anger and wrath ^(CB)I will execute vengeance
    on the nations that did not obey.

³ “O my people, ^(CF)what have I done to you?
    ^(CG)How have I wearied you? Answer me!
⁴ For ^(CH)I brought you up from the land of Egypt
    and ^(CI)redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
    Aaron, and ^(CJ)Miriam.
⁵ O my people, remember ^(CK)what Balak king of Moab devised,
    and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from ^(CL)Shittim to Gilgal,
    that you may know ^(CM)the righteous acts of the Lord.”

^8 (DY)Rejoice not over me, O ^(DZ)my enemy;
    ^(EA)when I fall, I shall rise;
^(EB)when I sit in darkness,
    the Lord will be a light to me.
^9 (EC)I will bear the indignation of the Lord
    because I have sinned against him,
until ^(ED)he pleads my cause
    and executes judgment for me.
^(EE)He will bring me out to the light;
    I shall look upon his vindication.
¹⁰ Then ^(EF)my enemy will see,
    and shame will cover her who ^(EG)said to me,
    “Where is the Lord your God?”
^(EH)My eyes will look upon her;
    now she will be trampled down
    ^(EI)like the mire of the streets.

^11 (EJ)A day for the building of your walls!
    In that day the boundary shall be far extended.
¹² In that day they^[o] will come to you,
    ^(EK)from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to ^(EL)the River,^{[p]
    (EM)}from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.
¹³ But ^(EN)the earth will be desolate
    because of its inhabitants,
    for the fruit of their deeds.

^14 (EO)Shepherd your people ^(EP)with your staff,
    the flock of your inheritance,
who dwell alone in a forest
    ^(EQ)in the midst of ^(ER)a garden land;^[q]
let them graze in Bashan and Gilead
    as in the days of old.
^15 (ES)As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
    I will show them^[r] marvelous things.
^16 (ET)The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
^(EU)they shall lay their hands on their mouths;
    their ears shall be deaf;
^17 (EV)they shall lick the dust like a serpent,
    like the crawling things of the earth;
^(EW)they shall come trembling out of their strongholds;
    ^(EX)they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God,
    and they shall be in fear of you.

^6 (FX)Who can stand before his indignation?
    Who can endure the heat of his anger?
His wrath ^(FY)is poured out like fire,
    and ^(FZ)the rocks are broken into pieces by him.
^7 (GA)The Lord is good,
    ^(GB)a stronghold in the day of trouble;
^(GC)he knows those who take refuge in him.
⁸     But ^(GD)with an overflowing flood
he will make a complete end of the adversaries,^[t]
    and ^(GE)will pursue his enemies into darkness.
⁹ What ^(GF)do you plot against the Lord?
    ^(GG)He will make a complete end;
    trouble will not rise up a second time.
¹⁰ For they are ^(GH)like entangled thorns,
    like drunkards as they drink;
    ^(GI)they are consumed like stubble fully dried.
¹¹ From you came one
    ^(GJ)who plotted evil against the Lord,
    a worthless counselor.

¹² Thus says the Lord,
“Though they are at full strength and many,
    ^(GK)they will be cut down and pass away.
^(GL)Though I have afflicted you,
    I will afflict you no more.
¹³ And now ^(GM)I will break his yoke from off you
    and will burst your bonds apart.”

¹⁴ The Lord has given commandment about you:
    ^(GN)“No more shall your name be perpetuated;
from ^(GO)the house of your gods I will cut off
    the carved image and the metal image.
^(GP)I will make your grave, ^(GQ)for you are vile.”

^{15 [u] (GR)}Behold, upon the mountains, ^(GS)the feet of him
    who brings good news,
    who publishes peace!
^(GT)Keep your feasts, O Judah;
    ^(GU)fulfill your vows,
^(GV)for never again shall the worthless pass through you;
    he is utterly cut off.

² For ^(GY)the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob
    as the majesty of Israel,
for plunderers have plundered them
    and ^(GZ)ruined their branches.

³ The shield of his mighty men is red;
    ^(HA)his soldiers are clothed in scarlet.
The chariots come with flashing metal
    on the day he musters them;
    the cypress spears are brandished.
^4 (HB)The chariots race madly through the streets;
    they rush to and fro through the squares;
they gleam like torches;
    they dart like lightning.
⁵ He remembers ^(HC)his officers;
    ^(HD)they stumble as they go,
they hasten to the wall;
    the siege tower^[w] is set up.
^6 (HE)The river gates are opened;
    the palace ^(HF)melts away;
⁷ its mistress^[x] is ^(HG)stripped;^[y] she is carried off,
    her slave girls ^(HH)lamenting,
moaning like doves
    and beating their breasts.
^8 (HI)Nineveh is like a pool
    whose waters run away.^[z]
“Halt! Halt!” they cry,
    but ^(HJ)none turns back.
⁹ Plunder the silver,
    plunder the gold!
There is no end of the treasure
    or of the wealth of all precious things.

^10 (HK)Desolate! Desolation and ruin!
    ^(HL)Hearts melt and ^(HM)knees tremble;
^(HN)anguish is in all loins;
    ^(HO)all faces grow pale!
¹¹ Where is the lions' den,
    the feeding place of ^(HP)the young lions,
where the lion and lioness went,
    where his cubs were, with ^(HQ)none to disturb?
^12 (HR)The lion tore enough for his cubs
    and ^(HS)strangled prey for his lionesses;
he filled his caves with prey
    and his dens with torn flesh.

^5 (IF)Behold, I am against you,
    declares the Lord of hosts,
    and ^(IG)will lift up your skirts over your face;
and I will make nations look at ^(IH)your nakedness
    and kingdoms at your shame.
⁶ I will throw filth at you
    and ^(II)treat you with contempt
    and make you ^(IJ)a spectacle.
⁷ And all who look at you ^(IK)will shrink from you and say,
“Wasted is ^(IL)Nineveh; ^(IM)who will grieve for her?”
    ^(IN)Where shall I seek comforters for you?

^8 (IO)Are you better than ^(IP)Thebes^[ab]
    that sat ^(IQ)by the Nile,
with water around her,
    her rampart a sea,
    and water her wall?
^9 (IR)Cush was her strength;
    Egypt too, and that without limit;
    ^(IS)Put and the ^(IT)Libyans were her^[ac] helpers.

^10 (IU)Yet she became an exile;
    she went into captivity;
^(IV)her infants were dashed in pieces
    at the head of every street;
for her honored men ^(IW)lots were cast,
    ^(IX)and all her great men were bound in chains.
^11 (IY)You also will be drunken;
    you will go into hiding;
^(IZ)you will seek a refuge from the enemy.
¹² All your fortresses are ^(JA)like fig trees
    with first-ripe figs—
if shaken they fall
    into the mouth of the eater.
¹³ Behold, your troops
    ^(JB)are women in your midst.
The gates of your land
    are wide open to your enemies;
    fire has devoured your bars.

^14 (JC)Draw water for the siege;
    ^(JD)strengthen your forts;
go into the clay;
    tread the mortar;
    take hold of the brick mold!
¹⁵ There will the fire devour you;
    the sword will cut you off.
    It will ^(JE)devour you ^(JF)like the locust.
Multiply yourselves ^(JG)like the locust;
    multiply ^(JH)like the grasshopper!
¹⁶ You increased ^(JI)your merchants
    more than the stars of the heavens.
    ^(JJ)The locust spreads its wings and flies away.

¹⁷ Your ^(JK)princes are ^(JL)like grasshoppers,
    ^(JM)your scribes^[ad] like clouds of locusts
settling on the fences
    in a day of cold—
when the sun rises, they fly away;
    no one knows where they are.

¹⁸ Your shepherds ^(JN)are asleep,
    O king of Assyria;
    ^(JO)your nobles slumber.
Your people ^(JP)are scattered on the mountains
    with none to gather them.
¹⁹ There is no easing your hurt;
    ^(JQ)your wound is grievous.
All who hear the news about you
    ^(JR)clap their hands over you.
For ^(JS)upon whom has not come
    your unceasing evil?

2 I will ^(LA)take my stand at my watchpost
    and station myself on the tower,
and ^(LB)look out to see ^(LC)what he will say to me,
    and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

^(LD)“Write the vision;
    make it plain on tablets,
    so he may run who reads it.
³ For still ^(LE)the vision awaits its appointed time;
    it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, ^(LF)wait for it;
    ^(LG)it will surely come; it will not delay.

⁴ “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,
    but ^(LH)the righteous shall live by his faith.^[ag]

⁵ “Moreover, wine^[ah] is ^(LI)a traitor,
    an arrogant man who is never at rest.^[ai]
His greed is as wide as Sheol;
    like death ^(LJ)he has never enough.
^(LK)He gathers for himself all nations
    and collects as his own all peoples.”

^(LM)“Woe to him ^(LN)who heaps up what is not his own—
    for ^(LO)how long?—
    and ^(LP)loads himself with pledges!”
^7 (LQ)Will not your debtors suddenly arise,
    and those awake who will make you tremble?
    Then you will be spoil for them.
^8 (LR)Because you have plundered many nations,
    all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,
^(LS)for the blood of man and ^(LT)violence to the earth,
    to cities and all who dwell in them.

^9 (LU)“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
    ^(LV)to ^(LW)set his nest on high,
    to be safe from the reach of harm!
¹⁰ You have devised shame for your house
    ^(LX)by cutting off many peoples;
    you have forfeited your life.
¹¹ For ^(LY)the stone will cry out from the wall,
    and the beam from the woodwork respond.

^12 (LZ)“Woe to him ^(MA)who builds a town with blood
    and founds a city on iniquity!
¹³ Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
    that ^(MB)peoples labor merely for fire,
    and nations weary themselves for nothing?
^14 (MC)For the earth will be filled
    with the knowledge of ^(MD)the glory of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

^15 (ME)“Woe to him ^(MF)who makes his neighbors drink—
    you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,
    in order to gaze ^(MG)at their nakedness!
¹⁶ You will have your fill ^(MH)of shame instead of glory.
    ^(MI)Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!
^(MJ)The cup in the Lord's right hand
    will come around to you,
    and ^(MK)utter shame will come upon your glory!
^17 (ML)The violence ^(MM)done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
    as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,
^(MN)for the blood of man and violence to the earth,
    to cities and all who dwell in them.

^18 (MO)“What profit is an idol
    when its maker has shaped it,
    a metal image, ^(MP)a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
    when he makes ^(MQ)speechless idols!
^19 (MR)Woe to him ^(MS)who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
    to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
    and ^(MT)there is no breath at all in it.
²⁰ But ^(MU)the Lord is in his holy temple;
    ^(MV)let all the earth keep silence before him.”

² O Lord, ^(MW)I have heard the report of you,
    and ^(MX)your work, O Lord, do I fear.
In the midst of the years ^(MY)revive it;
    in the midst of the years make it known;
    ^(MZ)in wrath remember mercy.
³ God came from ^(NA)Teman,
    ^(NB)and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covered the heavens,
    and the earth was full of his praise.
^4 (NC)His brightness was like the light;
    rays flashed from his hand;
    and there he veiled his power.
^5 (ND)Before him went pestilence,
    and plague followed ^(NE)at his heels.^[aj]
6 He stood ^(NF)and measured the earth;
    he looked and shook the nations;
then the ^(NG)eternal mountains ^(NH)were scattered;
    the everlasting hills sank low.
    His were ^(NI)the everlasting ways.
⁷ I saw the tents of ^(NJ)Cushan in affliction;
    ^(NK)the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
^8 (NL)Was your wrath against the rivers, O Lord?
    Was your anger against the rivers,
    ^(NM)or your indignation against the sea,
^(NN)when you rode on your horses,
    ^(NO)on your chariot of salvation?
⁹ You stripped the sheath from your bow,
    calling for many arrows.^[ak] Selah
    ^(NP)You split the earth with rivers.
^10 (NQ)The mountains saw you and writhed;
    the raging waters swept on;
^(NR)the deep gave forth its voice;
    ^(NS)it lifted its hands on high.
^11 (NT)The sun and moon stood still in their place
    ^(NU)at the light of your arrows as they sped,
    at the flash of your glittering spear.
^12 (NV)You marched through the earth in fury;
    ^(NW)you threshed the nations in anger.
^13 (NX)You went out for the salvation of your people,
    for the salvation of ^(NY)your anointed.
^(NZ)You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,
    laying him bare from thigh to neck.^[al] Selah
¹⁴ You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors,
    who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,
    rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.
^15 (OA)You trampled the sea with your horses,
    the surging of mighty waters.

^16 (OB)I hear, and ^(OC)my body trembles;
    my lips quiver at the sound;
^(OD)rottenness enters into my bones;
    my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet ^(OE)I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
    to come upon people who invade us.

^(OK)To the choirmaster: with ^(OL)stringed^[am] instruments.

¹⁰ “On that day,” declares the Lord,
    “a cry will be heard from ^(PG)the Fish Gate,
^(PH)a wail from ^(PI)the Second Quarter,
    a loud crash from the hills.
^11 (PJ)Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!
    For all the traders^[aq] are no more;
    all who weigh out silver are cut off.
¹² At that time ^(PK)I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
    and I will punish the men
^(PL)who are complacent,^{[ar]
    (PM)}those who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good,
    nor will he do ill.’
¹³ Their goods shall be ^(PN)plundered,
    and their houses laid waste.
^(PO)Though they build houses,
    they shall not inhabit them;
^(PP)though they plant vineyards,
    they shall not drink wine from them.”

^14 (PQ)The great day of the Lord is near,
    near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;
    ^(PR)the mighty man cries aloud there.
^15 (PS)A day of wrath is that day,
    a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ^(PT)ruin and devastation,
    ^(PU)a day of darkness and gloom,
^(PV)a day of clouds and thick darkness,
^{16     (PW)}a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
^(PX)against the fortified cities
    and against the lofty battlements.

^17 (PY)I will bring distress on mankind,
    so that they shall walk ^(PZ)like the blind,
    because they have sinned against the Lord;
^(QA)their blood shall be poured out like dust,
    and their flesh ^(QB)like dung.
^18 (QC)Neither their silver nor their gold
    shall be able to deliver them
    on the day of the wrath of the Lord.
^(QD)In the fire of his jealousy,
    ^(QE)all the earth shall be consumed;
^(QF)for a full and sudden end
    he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

⁵ Woe to ^(QQ)you inhabitants of the seacoast,
    you nation of ^(QR)the Cherethites!
^(QS)The word of the Lord is against you,
    ^(QT)O Canaan, land of the Philistines;
    and I will destroy you ^(QU)until no inhabitant is left.
^6 (QV)And you, O seacoast, ^(QW)shall be pastures,
    with meadows^[au] for shepherds
    and folds for flocks.
^7 (QX)The seacoast shall become the possession
    of ^(QY)the remnant of the house of Judah,
    ^(QZ)on which they shall graze,
and in the houses of Ashkelon
    they shall lie down at evening.
For the Lord their God ^(RA)will be mindful of them
    and ^(RB)restore their fortunes.

⁸ “I have heard ^(RC)the taunts of Moab
    and ^(RD)the revilings of the Ammonites,
how they have taunted my people
    and made boasts ^(RE)against their territory.
⁹ Therefore, ^(RF)as I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,
    the God of Israel,
“Moab shall become ^(RG)like Sodom,
    and the Ammonites ^(RH)like Gomorrah,
a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,
    and a waste forever.
The remnant of my people shall plunder them,
    and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
¹⁰ This shall be their lot in return ^(RI)for their pride,
    because they taunted and boasted
    against the people of the Lord of hosts.
¹¹ The Lord will be awesome against them;
    ^(RJ)for he will famish all the gods of the earth,
and ^(RK)to him shall bow down,
    each in its place,
    all ^(RL)the lands of the nations.

^12 (RM)You also, O Cushites,
    shall be slain by my sword.

¹³ And he will stretch out his hand against the north
    ^(RN)and destroy Assyria,
and he ^(RO)will make Nineveh a desolation,
    a dry waste like the desert.
^14 (RP)Herds shall lie down in her midst,
    all kinds of beasts;^[av]
(RQ)even the owl and the hedgehog^[aw]
    shall lodge in her capitals;
a voice shall hoot in the window;
    devastation will be on the threshold;
    for ^(RR)her cedar work will be laid bare.
¹⁵ This is the exultant city
    ^(RS)that lived securely,
that said in her heart,
    “I am, and there is no one else.”
What a desolation she has become,
    ^(RT)a lair for wild beasts!
^(RU)Everyone who passes by her
    hisses and ^(RV)shakes his fist.

^3 (RZ)Her officials within her
    are roaring lions;
her judges are ^(SA)evening wolves
    that leave nothing till the morning.
^4 (SB)Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men;
^(SC)her priests ^(SD)profane what is holy;
    they do violence to the law.
⁵ The Lord within her ^(SE)is righteous;
    he does no injustice;
every morning he shows forth his justice;
    each dawn he does not fail;
    but ^(SF)the unjust knows no shame.

^6 (SG)“I have cut off nations;
    their battlements are in ruins;
I have laid waste their streets
    ^(SH)so that no one walks in them;
their cities have been made desolate,
    without a man, without an inhabitant.
^7 (SI)I said, ‘Surely you will fear me;
    ^(SJ)you will accept correction.
Then your^[ax] dwelling would not be cut off
    according to all that I have appointed against you.’^[ay]
But ^(SK)all the more they were eager
    to make all their deeds corrupt.

⁸ “Therefore ^(SL)wait for me,” declares the Lord,
    “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey.
For my decision is ^(SM)to gather nations,
    to assemble kingdoms,
to pour out upon them my indignation,
    all my burning anger;
for in the fire of my jealousy
    ^(SN)all the earth shall be consumed.