Monthly Archives: May 2010

Habakkuk 1:1  The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet received. Habakkuk’s Complaint ²     How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? ³     Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. ⁴     Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. The Lord’s Answer ⁵     “Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. ⁶     I am raising up the Babylonians,^a that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own. ⁷     They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor. ⁸     Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves at dusk. Their cavalry gallops headlong; their horsemen come from afar. They fly like a vulture swooping to devour; ⁹     they all come bent on violence. Their hordes^b advance like a desert wind and gather prisoners like sand. ¹⁰     They deride kings and scoff at rulers. They laugh at all fortified cities; they build earthen ramps and capture them. ¹¹     Then they sweep past like the wind and go on— guilty men, whose own strength is their god.” Habakkuk’s Second Complaint ¹²     O Lord, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not die. O Lord, you have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, you have ordained them to punish. ¹³     Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? ¹⁴     You have made men like fish in the sea, like sea creatures that have no ruler. ¹⁵     The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad. ¹⁶     Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. ¹⁷     Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy? Habakkuk 2:1  I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.^a The Lord’s Answer ² Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald^a may run with it. ³     For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it^b will certainly come and will not delay. ⁴     “See, he is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but the righteous will live by his faith^c— ⁵     indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave^d and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples. ⁶ “Will not all of them taunt him with ridicule and scorn, saying, “ ‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods and makes himself wealthy by extortion! How long must this go on?’ ⁷     Will not your debtors^e suddenly arise? Will they not wake up and make you tremble? Then you will become their victim. ⁸     Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will plunder you. For you have shed man’s blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them. ⁹     “Woe to him who builds his realm by unjust gain to set his nest on high, to escape the clutches of ruin! ¹⁰     You have plotted the ruin of many peoples, shaming your own house and forfeiting your life. ¹¹     The stones of the wall will cry out, and the beams of the woodwork will echo it. ¹²     “Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by crime! ¹³     Has not the Lord Almighty determined that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing? ¹⁴     For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. ¹⁵     “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies. ¹⁶     You will be filled with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink and be exposed^f! The cup from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory. ¹⁷     The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, and your destruction of animals will terrify you. For you have shed man’s blood; you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them. ¹⁸     “Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it? Or an image that teaches lies? For he who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. ¹⁹     Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’ Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it. ²⁰     But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.” Habakkuk’s Prayer Habakkuk 3:1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.^a ²     Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. ³     God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran.     Selah^b His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. ⁴     His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden. ⁵     Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps. ⁶     He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal. ⁷     I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish. ⁸     Were you angry with the rivers, O Lord? Was your wrath against the streams? Did you rage against the sea when you rode with your horses and your victorious chariots? ⁹     You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows.     Selah You split the earth with rivers; ¹⁰     the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high. ¹¹     Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear. ¹²     In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations. ¹³     You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot.     Selah ¹⁴     With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding. ¹⁵     You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters. ¹⁶     I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. ¹⁷     Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, ¹⁸     yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. ¹⁹     The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.

  Sayings of Agur. Proverbs 30:1  The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh—an oracle^a: This man declared to Ithiel, to Ithiel and to Ucal:^b ²     “I am the most ignorant of men; I do not have a man’s understanding. ³     I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. ⁴     Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know! ⁵     “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. ⁶     Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar. ⁷     “Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die: ⁸     Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. ⁹     Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. ¹⁰     “Do not slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you, and you will pay for it. ¹¹     “There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers; ¹²     those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth; ¹³     those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so disdainful; ¹⁴     those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth, the needy from among mankind. ¹⁵     “The leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry. “There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’: ¹⁶     the grave,^c the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’ ¹⁷     “The eye that mocks a father, that scorns obedience to a mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures. ¹⁸     “There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: ¹⁹     the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden. ²⁰     “This is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’ ²¹     “Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: ²²     a servant who becomes king, a fool who is full of food, ²³     an unloved woman who is married, and a maidservant who displaces her mistress. ²⁴     “Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise: ²⁵     Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer; ²⁶     coneys^d are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags; ²⁷     locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks; ²⁸     a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces. ²⁹     “There are three things that are stately in their stride, four that move with stately bearing: ³⁰     a lion, mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing; ³¹     a strutting rooster, a he-goat, and a king with his army around him.^e ³²     “If you have played the fool and exalted yourself, or if you have planned evil, clap your hand over your mouth! ³³     For as churning the milk produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.”

^{Revelation 13:1} And the dragon^a stood on the shore of the sea. The Beast out of the Sea And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. ² The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. ³ One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. ⁴ Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?” ⁵ The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. ⁶ He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. ⁷ He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. ⁸ All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.^a ⁹ He who has an ear, let him hear. ¹⁰     If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed^b with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints. The Beast out of the Earth ¹¹ Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. ¹² He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. ¹³ And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. ¹⁴ Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. ¹⁵ He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. ¹⁶ He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, ¹⁷ so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. ¹⁸ This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666. The Lamb and the 144,000 Revelation 14:1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. ² And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. ³ And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. ⁴ These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. ⁵ No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

Psalm 146 ⁸  the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. ⁹     The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. ¹⁰     The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord. Psalm 147 ¹     Praise the Lord.^a How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! ²     The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel. ³     He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. ⁴     He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. ^a Hebrew Hallelu Yah; also in verse 20 The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ps 146:8-147:4

  Israel’s Misery Micah 7:1 What misery is mine! I am like one who gathers summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster of grapes to eat, none of the early figs that I crave. ²     The godly have been swept from the land; not one upright man remains. All men lie in wait to shed blood; each hunts his brother with a net. ³     Both hands are skilled in doing evil; the ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire— they all conspire together. ⁴     The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen has come, the day God visits you. Now is the time of their confusion. ⁵     Do not trust a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend. Even with her who lies in your embrace be careful of your words. ⁶     For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies are the members of his own household. ⁷     But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. Israel Will Rise ⁸     Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. ⁹     Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until he pleads my case and establishes my right. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness. ¹⁰     Then my enemy will see it and will be covered with shame, she who said to me, “Where is the Lord your God?” My eyes will see her downfall; even now she will be trampled underfoot like mire in the streets. ¹¹     The day for building your walls will come, the day for extending your boundaries. ¹²     In that day people will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates and from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain. ¹³     The earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the result of their deeds. Prayer and Praise ¹⁴     Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest, in fertile pasturelands.^a Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in days long ago. ¹⁵     “As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show them my wonders.” ¹⁶     Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their power. They will lay their hands on their mouths and their ears will become deaf. ¹⁷     They will lick dust like a snake, like creatures that crawl on the ground. They will come trembling out of their dens; they will turn in fear to the Lord our God and will be afraid of you. ¹⁸     Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. ¹⁹     You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. ²⁰     You will be true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago. Nahum 1     An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. The Lord’s Anger Against Nineveh ²     The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on his foes and maintains his wrath against his enemies. ³     The Lord is slow to anger and great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet. ⁴     He rebukes the sea and dries it up; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither and the blossoms of Lebanon fade. ⁵     The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it. ⁶     Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him. ⁷     The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him, ⁸     but with an overwhelming flood he will make an end of Nineveh; he will pursue his foes into darkness. ⁹     Whatever they plot against the Lord he^a will bring to an end; trouble will not come a second time. ¹⁰     They will be entangled among thorns and drunk from their wine; they will be consumed like dry stubble.^b ¹¹     From you, O Nineveh, has one come forth who plots evil against the Lord and counsels wickedness. ¹² This is what the Lord says: “Although they have allies and are numerous, they will be cut off and pass away. Although I have afflicted you, O Judah, I will afflict you no more. ¹³     Now I will break their yoke from your neck and tear your shackles away.” ¹⁴     The Lord has given a command concerning you, Nineveh: “You will have no descendants to bear your name. I will destroy the carved images and cast idols that are in the temple of your gods. I will prepare your grave, for you are vile.” ¹⁵     Look, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace! Celebrate your festivals, O Judah, and fulfill your vows. No more will the wicked invade you; they will be completely destroyed. Nineveh to Fall Nahum 2:1 An attacker advances against you, Nineveh. Guard the fortress, watch the road, brace yourselves, marshal all your strength! ²     The Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and have ruined their vines. ³     The shields of his soldiers are red; the warriors are clad in scarlet. The metal on the chariots flashes on the day they are made ready; the spears of pine are brandished.^a ⁴     The chariots storm through the streets, rushing back and forth through the squares. They look like flaming torches; they dart about like lightning. ⁵     He summons his picked troops, yet they stumble on their way. They dash to the city wall; the protective shield is put in place. ⁶     The river gates are thrown open and the palace collapses. ⁷     It is decreed^b that the city be exiled and carried away. Its slave girls moan like doves and beat upon their breasts. ⁸     Nineveh is like a pool, and its water is draining away. “Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back. ⁹     Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! The supply is endless, the wealth from all its treasures! ¹⁰     She is pillaged, plundered, stripped! Hearts melt, knees give way, bodies tremble, every face grows pale. ¹¹     Where now is the lions’ den, the place where they fed their young, where the lion and lioness went, and the cubs, with nothing to fear? ¹²     The lion killed enough for his cubs and strangled the prey for his mate, filling his lairs with the kill and his dens with the prey. ¹³     “I am against you,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will burn up your chariots in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will leave you no prey on the earth. The voices of your messengers will no longer be heard.” Woe to Nineveh Nahum 3:1  Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims! ²     The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels, galloping horses and jolting chariots! ³     Charging cavalry, flashing swords and glittering spears! Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses— ⁴     all because of the wanton lust of a harlot, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft. ⁵     “I am against you,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame. ⁶     I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle. ⁷     All who see you will flee from you and say, ‘Nineveh is in ruins—who will mourn for her?’ Where can I find anyone to comfort you?” ⁸     Are you better than Thebes,^a situated on the Nile, with water around her? The river was her defense, the waters her wall. ⁹     Cush^b and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were among her allies. ¹⁰     Yet she was taken captive and went into exile. Her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street. Lots were cast for her nobles, and all her great men were put in chains. ¹¹     You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy. ¹²     All your fortresses are like fig trees with their first ripe fruit; when they are shaken, the figs fall into the mouth of the eater. ¹³     Look at your troops— they are all women! The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire has consumed their bars. ¹⁴     Draw water for the siege, strengthen your defenses! Work the clay, tread the mortar, repair the brickwork! ¹⁵     There the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down and, like grasshoppers, consume you. Multiply like grasshoppers, multiply like locusts! ¹⁶     You have increased the number of your merchants till they are more than the stars of the sky, but like locusts they strip the land and then fly away. ¹⁷     Your guards are like locusts, your officials like swarms of locusts that settle in the walls on a cold day— but when the sun appears they fly away, and no one knows where. ¹⁸     O king of Assyria, your shepherds^c slumber; your nobles lie down to rest. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them. ¹⁹     Nothing can heal your wound; your injury is fatal. Everyone who hears the news about you claps his hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?