9. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim;

For I am God, and not man,

The Holy One in the midst of thee,
And I will not come in anger.

10. They shall walk after the LORD,

11. They shall hasten as a bird from Egypt, And as a dove from the land of Assyria,

12.

And I will place them in their houses, saith the LORD.

(Chap; 1-11.)

I will ransom them from the power of the grave;
I will redeem them from death;

O Death where is thy plague ?

O Grave, where is thy destruction?

Repentance is not hidden from mine eyes.

V.

(Chap; XIII: 14.)

1.

Exhortation to repentance, and promise of the future
favor of God.

COME, and let us return to the LORD!
For he hath torn, and he will heal us;
He hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
2. After two days will he revive us;
On the third day he will raise us up,
And we shall live in his presence.

3. Let us, therefore, know him ;

4.

Let us ever strive to know the LORD
His coming forth is sure as the morning;
He will come to us like the rain;

Like the latter rain which watereth the earth.

Return, O Israel to the LORD thy God;
For thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.

(Chap; VI.)

5. Take with you words, and return to the LORD, saying,
"Forgive all our iniquity, and receive us graciously.
And we will render to thee the sacrifices of our lips!
6. Assyria shall not help us; we wil not ride on horses;
And no more will we say to the work of our hands,
Ye are our Gods!

For from thee the fatherless obtaineth mercy.

7.

"I will heal their rebellion; I will love them freely; For my anger is turned away from them.

8. I will be as the dew to Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, And strike his roots like Lebanon.

9. His sprouts shall spread forth,

And his beauty shall be as the olive-tree,

And his fragrance as Lebanon.

10. They that dwell under his shadow shall revive as the corn; They shall shoot forth as the vine ;

Their name shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

11. Ephraim shall say, What have I more to do with idols? I will hear him; I will be like a green cypress-tree; From me shall thy fruit be found.'

12.

Who is wise, that he may understand these things,
Prudent, that he may know them?
For the ways of the LORD are right,
And the righteous walk in them;
But in them transgressors stumble.

(Chap. XIV.)

MICAH.

About 745-702, B. C. E.

I.

Punishment threatened on account of injustice and corruption. The preacher of righteousness has no hearing; the frivolous are the favorite prophets. Various sins of the people denounced. Concerning the false prophets.

1. THE word of the LORD which came to Micah, the Morasthite; in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which was revealed to him concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Hear all ye nations,

2.

Give ear, O earth, and all that is therein !

The LORD the Eternal, appeareth as a witness against you,
The LORD from his holy palace.

3. For the transgression of Jacob is all this,

And for the sin of the house of Israel.

(Chap. I; 1-3.)

4.

Woe to them that devise iniquity,
And contrive evil upon their beds;
When the morning is light, they practice it,
Because it is in the power of their hand.
They covet fields and take them by violence;
Houses, and take them from their owners.
5. They defraud a man of his house;
Yea, a man of his inheritance.

6.

Therefore, thus saith the LORD.

Behold, against this race do I meditate evil,
From which ye shall not remove your necks,
Nor lift up your heads;

For it shall be a time of evil.

66

"Prophesy not," [say they,]"O ye that prophesy!" If they prophesy not concerning these things,

The shame will not depart.

O ye that are called the house of Jacob,

Is the spirit of the LORD impatient? are these his doings? Are not my words kind to him that walketh uprightly? 8. But long since hath my people risen against me, as an enemy; Ye strip the mantle from the garment of those that pass by securely, as men returning from war.

9. The women of my people ye cast out from their pleasant abodes;

Ye deprive their children forever of the glory which I gave them.

10. Arise and depart: this land is not your rest!

On account of its pollution shall it be wasted,
And given to utter destruction.

11. If a man follow wind, and invent falsehood, and say,
"I will prophesy to thee of wine and strong drink!”

He will be the prophet for this people.

(Chap. II; 1-3, 6-11.)

12. Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets, who deceive my people,

Who, while they bite with their teeth, proclaim peace,

But who, if one fill not their mouths, prepare war against him: 13. Therefore shall night come upon you, so that ye shall have no vision,

And darkness, so that ye shall not divine;

The sun shall go down upon the prophets,

And the day shall be dark to them.

14. Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded, So that all of them shall hide their faces,

Because there is no answer from God.

4

15. But I am full of power, even of the spirit of the LORD; Full of uprightness and courage,

To declare to Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. 16. O hear this; ye heads of the house of Jacob,

And ye leaders of the house of Israel, who abhor justice,
And pervert all equity, who build up Zion with blood,
And Jerusalem with iniquity!

Her heads judge for reward,

And her prophets divine for money,

And her priests teach for hire.

And yet they lean upon the LORD, saying,

"Is not the LORD in the midst of us? No evil can come upon us.' 17. Therefore because of you shall Zion be ploughed as a field. And Jerusalem become heaps of stones,

And the mountain of the temple like the heights of a forest. (Chap. III; 5-12.)

II.

1.

Woe and destruction threatened on account of injustice, oppression and treachery. The small number of righteous men in the nation. The prophet's hope in God's mercy.

And

HEAR, O ye heads of Jacob,

ye leaders of the house of Israel!

Is it not for you to administer justice ?

2. But ye hate what is good, and love what is evil;

Ye tear from men their skin, yea; their flesh from their bones; 3. Ye devour the flesh of my people, and strip them of their skin; And break their bones, and cut them in pieces as for the pot, 4. Yea, therefore will he hide his face from them,

Because they have done iniquity.

5. The voice of the LORD crieth to the city,

And the man of wisdom will discern thee;

(Chap. III; 1-4.)

6. Are there not yet in the houses of the unrighteous the treasures of iniquity,

And the scanty measure, which is abominable?

7. Shall I count her pure with the wicked balances,

And with the bag of deceitful weights?

8. For her rich men are full of violence,

And her inhabitants speak lies,

And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

9. Therefore will I sorely smite thee,

And make thee desolate on account of thy sins. 10. Thou shalt eat and not be satisfied,

And hunger shall be within thee.

Thou shalt remove, but shalt not save,

And what thou savest will I give up to the sword.

11. Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap;

Thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil,
And the grapes, but shalt not drink the wine.

12. For ye keep the statutes of Omri,

13.

And all the works of the house of Ahab,
And walk in their devices;

Therefore will I make thee a desolation,
And thine inhabitants a derision;

And ye shall bear the reproach of my people.

(Chap. VII; 9-16.)

WOE is me! I live where the summer fruits are gathered, And the vintage is gleaned; there is no cluster to eat ;

I long for the first-ripe fig.

14. The good man is perished from the land,

And there is none upright among men.

They all lie in wait for blood;

Every one hunteth his brother with a net.

15. Their hands are diligent for evil;

The prince asketh a bribe, and the judge decideth for money!
The great man giveth judgment according to his desire;
They conspire to pervert justice.

16. The best of them is like a brier;

The most upright of them is sharper than a thorn-hedge,
The day of recompense, announced by thy watchmen, cometh;
Then shall come their perplexity.

17. Trust ye not in a friend!

Put no confidence in a guide!

From her that is the wife of thy bosom

Keep the doors of thy mouth!

18. For the son dishonoreth his father,

19.

The daughter riseth up against her mother,

And the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
The inmates of a man's house are his foes.

I will look to the LORD.

I will hope in the God of my salvation;

20. My God will hear me.

Rejoice not over me, O my enemy

!

Though I have fallen, I shall arise;

Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.