Micah 1–3; Luke 21:20–38

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Micah 1–3

The word of the Lord that came to Micah aof Moresheth bin the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw cconcerning dSamaria and Jerusalem.

The Coming Destruction

eHear, you peoples, all of you;1

fpay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,

and glet the Lord God be a witness against you,

hthe Lord from his holy temple.

For behold, ithe Lord is coming out of jhis place,

and will come down and ktread upon the high places of the earth.

And lthe mountains will melt under him,

and the valleys will split open,

like wax before the fire,

like waters poured down a steep place.

All this is for mthe transgression of Jacob

and for the sins of the house of Israel.

nWhat is the transgression of Jacob?

Is it not dSamaria?

And what is othe high place of Judah?

Is it not Jerusalem?

Therefore I will make dSamaria pa heap in the open country,

a place for planting vineyards,

and I will pour down her stones qinto the valley

and runcover her foundations.

All sher carved images shall be beaten to pieces,

tall her wages shall be burned with fire,

and all her idols I will lay waste,

for from tthe fee of a prostitute she gathered them,

and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.

uFor this I will lament and wail;

I will go vstripped and naked;

I will make lamentation wlike the jackals,

and mourning xlike the ostriches.

yFor her wound is incurable,

and it has come to Judah;

it has reached to the gate of my people,

to Jerusalem.

10  zTell it not in aGath;

weep not at all;

in Beth-le-aphrah

broll yourselves in the dust.

11  Pass on your way,

inhabitants of Shaphir,

cin nakedness and shame;

the inhabitants of Zaanan

do not come out;

the lamentation of Beth-ezel

shall take away from you its standing place.

12  For the inhabitants of Maroth

wait anxiously for good,

because disaster has come down dfrom the Lord

to the gate of Jerusalem.

13  Harness the steeds to the chariots,

inhabitants of eLachish;

it was the beginning of sin

to the daughter of Zion,

for in you were found

fthe transgressions of Israel.

14  Therefore you shall give parting gifts2

to gMoresheth-gath;

the houses of hAchzib shall be a deceitful thing

to the kings of Israel.

15  I will again bring ia conqueror to you,

inhabitants of hMareshah;

the glory of Israel

shall come to jAdullam.

16  kMake yourselves bald and cut off your hair,

for the children of your delight;

kmake yourselves as bald as the eagle,

for they shall go from you into exile.

Woe to the Oppressors

lWoe to those who devise wickedness

and work evil mon their beds!

When the morning dawns, they perform it,

because it is in the power of their hand.

They covet fields and nseize them,

and houses, and take them away;

they oppress a man and his house,

a man and his inheritance.

Therefore thus says the Lord:

behold, against othis family I am devising disaster,3

from which you cannot remove your necks,

and you pshall not walk haughtily,

qfor it will be a time of disaster.

In that day rthey shall take up a taunt song against you

and moan bitterly,

and say, We are utterly ruined;

she changes the portion of my people;

show he removes it from me!

tTo an apostate he allots our fields.

Therefore you will have none uto cast the line by lot

in the assembly of the Lord.

vDo not preachthus they preach

wone should not preach of such things;

xdisgrace will not overtake us.

Should this be said, O house of Jacob?

vHas the Lord grown impatient?4

Are these his deeds?

Do not my words do good

to him who walks uprightly?

But lately ymy people have risen up as an enemy;

you strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly

with no thought of war.5

The women of my people you drive out

from their delightful houses;

from their young children you take away

my splendor forever.

10  zArise and go,

for this is no aplace to rest,

because of buncleanness that destroys

with a grievous destruction.

11  If a man should go about and cutter wind and lies,

saying, I will preach to you dof wine and strong drink,

he would be the preacher for this people!

12  I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob;

eI will gather fthe remnant of Israel;

I will set them together

like sheep in a fold,

hlike a flock in its pasture,

a noisy multitude of men.

13  iHe who opens the breach goes up before them;

they break through and pass the gate,

jgoing out by it.

Their king passes on before them,

kthe Lord at their head.

Rulers and Prophets Denounced

And I said:

lHear, you heads of Jacob

and rulers of the house of Israel!

mIs it not for you to know justice?

you nwho hate the good and love the evil,

owho tear the skin from off my people6

and their flesh from off their bones,

pwho eat the flesh of my people,

and flay their skin from off them,

and break their bones in pieces

and chop them up like meat in a pot,

like flesh in a cauldron.

qThen they will cry to the Lord,

but he will not answer them;

rhe will hide his face from them at that time,

because they have made their deeds evil.

Thus says the Lord concerning sthe prophets

who lead my people astray,

twho cry Peace

when they have something to eat,

but declare war against him

who puts nothing into their mouths.

Therefore uit shall be night to you, without vision,

and darkness to you, without divination.

vThe sun shall go down on the prophets,

and the day shall be black over them;

wthe seers shall be disgraced,

and the diviners put to shame;

xthey shall all cover their lips,

for ythere is no answer from God.

But as for me, zI am filled with power,

with the Spirit of the Lord,

and with justice and might,

to declare to Jacob ahis transgression

and to Israel his sin.

bHear this, you heads of the house of Jacob

and rulers of the house of Israel,

cwho detest justice

and make crooked all that is straight,

10  dwho build Zion with blood

and Jerusalem with iniquity.

11  eIts heads give judgment for a bribe;

fits priests teach for a price;

gits prophets practice divination for money;

hyet they lean on the Lord and isay,

Is not the Lord in the midst of us?

jNo disaster shall come upon us.

12  Therefore because of you

kZion shall be plowed as a field;

Jerusalem lshall become a heap of ruins,

and mthe mountain of the house na wooded height.


Luke 21:20–38

Jesus Foretells Destruction of Jerusalem

20 But jwhen you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that kits desolation has come near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, 22 for these are ldays of mvengeance, to fulfill nall that is written. 23 oAlas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and pwrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and qbe led captive among all nations, and rJerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, suntil the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The Coming of the Son of Man

25 And tthere will be signs in sun and moon uand stars, and on the earth vdistress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For wthe powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see xthe Son of Man coming in a cloud ywith power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and zraise your heads, because ayour redemption is drawing near.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

29 And he told them a parable: Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 As soon as they come out in leaf, you see bfor yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 cTruly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. 33 dHeaven and earth will pass away, but emy words will not pass away.

Watch Yourselves

34 But watch yourselves flest gyour hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and hcares of this life, and ithat day come upon you suddenly jlike a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But kstay awake at all times, lpraying that you may mhave strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and nto stand before the Son of Man.

37 And oevery day he was teaching in the temple, but pat night he went out and lodged on qthe mount called Olivet. 38 And early in the morning oall the people came to him in the temple to hear him.