Day 359 of 730

¹Now you shall gather yourself in troops, daughter of troops. He has laid siege against us. They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.

²But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.

³Therefore he will abandon them until the time that she who is in labor gives birth. Then the rest of his brothers will return to the children of Israel.

⁴He shall stand, and shall shepherd in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God: and they will live, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth.

⁵He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land, and when he marches through our fortresses, then we will raise against him seven shepherds, and eight leaders of men.

⁶They will rule the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in its gates. He will deliver us from the Assyrian, when he invades our land, and when he marches within our border.

⁷The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, that do not wait for man, nor wait for the sons of men.

⁸The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep; who, if he goes through, treads down and tears in pieces, and there is no one to deliver.

⁹Let your hand be lifted up above your adversaries, and let all of your enemies be cut off.

¹⁰"It will happen in that day," says the Lord, "That I will cut off your horses out of the midst of you, and will destroy your chariots.

¹¹I will cut off the cities of your land, and will tear down all your strongholds.

¹²I will destroy witchcraft from your hand; and you shall have no soothsayers.

¹³I will cut off your engraved images and your pillars out of your midst; and you shall no more worship the work of your hands.

¹⁴I will uproot your Asherim out of your midst; and I will destroy your cities.

¹⁵I will execute vengeance in anger, and wrath on the nations that did not listen."

¹Listen now to what the Lord says: "Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear what you have to say.

²Hear, you mountains, the Lord's controversy, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for the Lord has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel.

³My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me!

⁴For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage. I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

⁵My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord."

⁶How shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

⁷Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams? With tens of thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my disobedience? The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

⁸He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does the Lord require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

⁹The Lord's voice calls to the city, and wisdom sees your name: "Listen to the rod, and he who appointed it.

¹⁰Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a short ephah that is accursed?

¹¹Shall I be pure with dishonest scales, and with a bag of deceitful weights?

¹²Her rich men are full of violence, her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their speech.

¹³Therefore I also have struck you with a grievous wound. I have made you desolate because of your sins.

¹⁴You shall eat, but not be satisfied. Your humiliation will be in your midst. You will store up, but not save; and that which you save I will give up to the sword.

¹⁵You will sow, but won't reap. You will tread the olives, but won't anoint yourself with oil; and crush grapes, but won't drink the wine.

¹⁶For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab. You walk in their counsels, that I may make you a ruin, and her inhabitants a hissing; And you will bear the reproach of my people."

¹Deliver me from my enemies, my God. Set me on high from those who rise up against me.

²Deliver me from the workers of iniquity. Save me from the bloodthirsty men.

³For, behold, they lie in wait for my soul. The mighty gather themselves together against me, not for my disobedience, nor for my sin, Lord.

⁴I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me. Rise up, behold, and help me!

⁵You, Lord God of Hosts, the God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish the nations. Show no mercy to the wicked traitors. Selah.

⁶They return at evening, howling like dogs, and prowl around the city.

⁷Behold, they spew with their mouth. Swords are in their lips, "For," they say, "who hears us?"

⁸But you, Lord, laugh at them. You scoff at all the nations.

⁹Oh, my Strength, I watch for you, for God is my high tower.

¹⁰My God will go before me with his loving kindness. God will let me look at my enemies in triumph.

¹¹Do not kill them, or my people may forget. Scatter them by your power, and bring them down, Lord our shield.

¹²For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride, for the curses and lies which they utter.

¹³Consume them in wrath. Consume them, and they will be no more. Let them know that God rules in Jacob, to the ends of the earth. Selah.

¹⁴At evening let them return. Let them howl like a dog, and go around the city.

¹⁵They shall wander up and down for food, and wait all night if they aren't satisfied.

¹⁶But I will sing of your strength. Yes, I will sing aloud of your loving kindness in the morning. For you have been my high tower, a refuge in the day of my distress.

¹⁷To you, my strength, I will sing praises. For God is my high tower, the God of my mercy.

¹An unfriendly man pursues selfishness, and defies all sound judgment.

²A fool has no delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own opinion.

³When wickedness comes, contempt also comes, and with shame comes disgrace.

⁴The words of a man's mouth are like deep waters. The fountain of wisdom is like a flowing brook.

⁵To be partial to the faces of the wicked is not good, nor to deprive the innocent of justice.

⁶A fool's lips come into strife, and his mouth invites beatings.

⁷A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are a snare to his soul.

⁸The words of a gossip are like dainty morsels: they go down into a person's innermost parts.

⁹One who is slack in his work is brother to him who is a master of destruction.

¹⁰The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous run to him, and are safe.

¹¹The rich man's wealth is his strong city, like an unscalable wall in his own imagination.

¹²Before destruction the heart of man is proud, but before honor is humility.

¹³He who gives answer before he hears, that is folly and shame to him.

¹⁴A man's spirit will sustain him in sickness, but a crushed spirit, who can bear?

¹⁵The heart of the discerning gets knowledge. The ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

¹⁶A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.

¹⁷He who pleads his cause first seems right; until another comes and questions him.

¹⁸The lot settles disputes, and keeps strong ones apart.

¹⁹A brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city; and disputes are like the bars of a castle.

²⁰A man's stomach is filled with the fruit of his mouth. With the harvest of his lips he is satisfied.

²¹Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who love it will eat its fruit.

²²Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the Lord.

²³The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly.

²⁴A man of many companions may be ruined, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.