The strife of the LORD with his people - Micah 6

The strife of the LORD with his people
1 - Now I have heard the words of the LORD, Arise, contend with the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
2 - Hear, O mountains, the LORD'S request, and you, the strong foundations of the earth; for Jehovah hath an issue with his people, and with Israel he shall be brought into judgment.
3 - O my people; What have I done to you? And what have I been upset with? Testify against me.
4 For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of bondage; and sent before thee Moses, and Aaron, and Miriam.
5 - My people, remember now what Balak the king of Moab consulted, and Balaam the son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you might know the righteousness of the LORD.
6 - How shall I come unto the LORD, and bow myself before the most high God? Shall I present myself before him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves?
7 - Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand streams of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my womb for the sin of my soul?
8 - He hath declared thee, O man, that which is good; and what does the LORD require of thee, but to do righteousness, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?
9 - The voice of the LORD crieth unto the city, and he that is wise shall see thy name. I heard the rod, and who commanded it.
10 - Is there still in the house of the wicked treasures of wickedness, and a meager measure, which is detestable?
11 - Shall I be cleansed with false scales, and with a bag of deceitful weights?
12 - For their riches are full of violence, and their inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 - And I will also weaken thee, and smite thee, and make thee desolate for thy sins.
14 - Thou shalt eat, but thou shalt not be satisfied, and thy humiliation shall be in the midst of thee; thou shalt remove thy goods, but thou shalt not deliver; and whatsoever thou shalt deliver, I will deliver it with the sword.
15 - Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; You shall tread the olive, but you shall not anoint yourself with oil; and you shall tread the wine, but you shall not drink wine.
16 - For the statutes of Omri, and all the work of the house of Ahab, are observed, and ye walk in their counsels; that I may make thee a desolation, and of its inhabitants a whistle; so shalt thou bring the reproach of my people upon you.

The complaint of the people of God - Micah 7

The complaint of the people of God

1 - Woe to me! for I am made like the harvests of summer fruit, as the grapes of the vintage; there is no cluster of grapes to eat, nor any figs that my soul longs for.

2 - A merciful man has perished from the earth, and there is none righteous among men; all lay wait for blood; each one hunt his brother with the net,

3 - Their hands do evil diligently; so the prince demands, and the judge judges for the reward, and the great speech of the corruption of his soul, and so they all weave the evil.

4 - The best of them is like a thorn; The righteous is worse than the hedge of thorns; the day of your watchmen has come, the day of your punishment has come; now it will be your confusion.

5 - Believe not in a friend, neither trust in your guide; of the one that rests in your bosom, keep the doors of your mouth.

6 - For the son despiseth to the father, the daughter riseth against his mother, the daughter-in-law against his mother-in-law, the enemies of the man are those of his own house.

7 But I will look upon the LORD; I will wait on the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.

8 O my enemy, rejoice not over me; though I have fallen, I will arise; if you live in darkness, the LORD will be my light.

9 - I will suffer the wrath of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he shall judge my case, and execute my right; he will take me to the light, and I will see his righteousness.

10 - And my enemy shall see it, and the shame shall cover it, which saith unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? My eyes shall behold it; now it shall be trodden down like the mire of the streets.

11 - In the day that thou buildest thy walls, that day shall be far off, and the stature shall be lengthened.

12 - In that day shall he come unto thee, from Assyria and fortified cities, and from fortified cities to the river, and from the sea to the sea, and from the mountain to the mountain.

13 - But this land shall be a desolation because of the inhabitants thereof, because of the fruit of their doings.

14 - Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thy inheritance, that dwelleth in the forest in the midst of Carmel; feed yourselves in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.

15 - I will show you wonders, as in the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt.

16 - The nations shall see it, and be ashamed, because of all their might; they shall put their hand upon their mouths, and their ears shall be deaf.

17 - They shall lick the dust like a serpent, like worms of the earth, trembling, out of their hiding places; they shall fear the LORD our God, and they shall be afraid of thee.

18 - Who is God like unto thee, who forgiveth iniquity, and passeth over the rebellion of the remnant of his inheritance? He does not hold back his anger forever, because he delights in his mercy.

19 - He will have compassion on us again; He will subdue our iniquities, and you will cast all your sins into the depths of the sea.

20 - Thou shalt give unto Jacob faithfulness, and to Abraham the mercy which thou swarest unto our fathers from the days of old.

The fast that does not please God - Zechariah 7

The fast that does not please God

1 - And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Kislev.

2 - And when the people sent Zarezer and Rennenmelech and his men into the house of God to entreat the favor of the LORD,

3 - And to say unto the priests that were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, I will weep in the fifth month, and do abstinence, as I have done for so many years?

4 - And the word of the LORD of hosts came unto me, saying,

5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month, during these seventy years, was it really for me that ye fasted?

6 - Or when thou didst eat, and when thou didst drink, was it not for thyself to eat and drink?

7 - Were not these the words which the LORD preached by the ministry of the first prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in peace, with its cities round about it, and the south and the plain were inhabited?

8 - And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,

9 - Thus saith the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, show mercy and mercy, every man to his brother.

10 And do not oppress the widow, or the fatherless, or the stranger, or the poor, neither let every man try evil in his heart against his brother.

11 - But they would not hearken, and gave me a rebellious shoulder, and their ears deafened, that they should not hear.

12 - Yea, they made their hearts as a diamond stone, that they would not hear the law, nor the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the first prophets; from there came the great wrath of the LORD of hosts.

13 - And it came to pass, as he cried, and they hearkened not, they also cried, and I hearkened not, saith the Lord of hosts.

14 - And I have scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they knew not, and the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed by it, nor turned; because they have made the desired land desolate.