the Week of Proper 19 / Ordinary 24
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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
October 13 - Old & New Testament
csb
Micah 6,7
God's Lawsuit against Judah
1 Now listen to what the Lord is saying:
Rise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2 Listen to the
Lord
's lawsuit,(a)
you mountains and enduring foundations of the earth,(b)
because the
Lord
has a case against His people,(c)
and He will argue it against Israel.
3 My people,(d) what have I done to you,(e)
or how have I wearied you?(f)
Testify against Me!
4 Indeed, I brought you up(g) from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you(h) from that place of slavery.(i)
I sent Moses,(j) Aaron, and Miriam(k) ahead of you.
5 My people,
remember what Balak king of Moab(l) proposed,
what Balaam son of Beor answered him,(m)
and what happened from the Acacia Grove[a](n) to Gilgal(o)
so that you may acknowledge
the
Lord
's righteous acts.(p)
6 What should I bring before the
Lord
(q)
when I come to bow before God on high?
Should I come before Him with burnt offerings,(r)
with year-old calves?
7 Would the
Lord
be pleased with thousands of rams(s)
or with ten thousand streams of oil?
Should I give my firstborn for my transgression,(t)
the child of my body for my own sin?
8 Mankind, He has told you what is good(u)
and what it is the
Lord
requires of you:(v)
to act justly,(w)
to love faithfulness,(x)
and to walk humbly with your God.(y)
Verdict of Judgment
9 The voice of Yahweh calls out to the city[b]
(and it is wise to fear Your name):
"Pay attention to the rod
and the One who ordained it.[c]
10 Are there still[d] the treasures of wickedness(z)
and the accursed short measure(aa)
in the house of the wicked?
11 Can I excuse wicked scales
or bags of deceptive weights?(ab)
12 For the wealthy of the city are full of violence,(ac)
and its residents speak lies;(ad)
the tongues in their mouths are deceitful.(ae)
13 "As a result, I have begun to strike you severely,[e](af)
bringing desolation because of your sins.(ag)
14 You will eat but not be satisfied,(ah)
for there will be hunger within you.
What you acquire, you cannot save,(ai)
and what you do save,
I will give to the sword.[f]
15 You will sow but not reap;(aj)
you will press olives
but not anoint yourself with oil;
and you will tread grapes
but not drink the wine.(ak)
16 The statutes of Omri
and all the practices of Ahab's house
have been observed;
you have followed their policies.(al)
Therefore, I will make you a desolate place(am)
and the city's[g] residents an object of contempt;[h](an)
you will bear the scorn of My people."[i](ao)
Israel's Moral Decline
1 How sad for me!
For I am like one who—
when the summer fruit has been gathered
after the gleaning of the grape harvest(a)—
finds no grape cluster to eat,
no early fig, which I crave.(b)
2 Godly people have vanished from the land;(c)
there is no one upright among the people.(d)
All of them wait in ambush to shed blood;(e)
they hunt each other with a net.(f)
3 Both hands are good(g) at accomplishing evil:
the official and the judge demand a bribe;(h)
when the powerful man communicates his evil desire,
they plot it together.
4 The best of them is like a brier;(i)
the most upright is worse than a hedge of thorns.(j)
The day of your watchmen,
the day of your punishment, is coming;(k)
at this time their panic is here.(l)
5 Do not rely on a friend;(m)
don't trust in a close companion.
Seal your mouth
from the woman who lies in your arms.
6 Surely a son considers his father a fool,(n)
a daughter opposes her mother,
and a daughter-in-law is against her mother-in-law;
a man's enemies are the men of his own household.
7 But I will look to the
Lord
;(o)
I will wait for the God of my salvation.(p)
My God will hear me.(q)
Zion's Vindication
8 Do not rejoice over me,(r) my enemy!
Though I have fallen, I will stand up;(s)
though I sit in darkness,
the
Lord
will be my light.(t)
9 Because I have sinned against Him,
I must endure the
Lord
's rage
until He argues my case(u)
and establishes justice for me.(v)
He will bring me into the light;(w)
I will see His salvation.[a](x)
10 Then my enemy will see,
and she will be covered with shame,
the one who said to me,
"Where is the
Lord
your God?"(y)
My eyes will look at her in triumph;
at that time she will be trampled
like mud in the streets.(z)
11 A day will come for rebuilding your walls;(aa)
on that day your boundary will be extended.(ab)
12 On that day people will come to you(ac)
from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
even from Egypt to the Euphrates River
and from sea to sea
and mountain to mountain.
13 Then the earth will become a wasteland(ad)
because of its inhabitants
and as a result of their actions.(ae)
Micah's Prayer Answered
14 Shepherd Your people(af) with Your staff,(ag)
the flock that is Your possession.
They live alone(ah) in a woodland
surrounded by pastures.
Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead(ai)
as in ancient times.(aj)
15 I will perform miracles for them[b]
as in the days of your exodus
from the land of Egypt.(ak)
16 Nations will see and be ashamed
of[c] all their power.
They will put their hands over their mouths,(al)
and their ears will become deaf.
17 They will lick the dust like a snake;(am)
they will come trembling out of their hiding places(an)
like reptiles slithering on the ground.(ao)
They will tremble in the presence of Yahweh our God;(ap)
they will stand in awe of You.
18 Who is a God like You,(aq)
removing iniquity and passing over rebellion(ar)
for the remnant of His inheritance?(as)
He does not hold on to His anger forever,(at)
because He delights in faithful love.(au)
19 He will again have compassion on us;
He will vanquish our iniquities.(av)
You will cast all our[d] sins
into the depths of the sea.(aw)
20 You will show loyalty to Jacob(ax)
and faithful love to Abraham,
as You swore to our fathers(ay)
from days long ago.
Acts 22
Chapter 22
1 1 "Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you." 2 When they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even quieter.(a) 3 He(b) continued, "I am a Jewish man, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city[a] at the feet of Gamaliel(c) and educated according to the strict view of our patriarchal law. Being zealous for God, just as all of you are today,(d) 4 I persecuted this Way(e) to the death, binding and putting both men and women in jail,(f) 5 as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. After I received letters from them to the brothers, I traveled to Damascus to bring those who were prisoners there to be punished in Jerusalem.(g)
Paul's Testimony
6 "As(h) I was traveling and near Damascus, about noon an intense light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?'
8 "I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?'
"He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, the One you are persecuting!' 9 Now those who were with me saw the light,[b] but they did not hear the voice of the One who was speaking to me.(i)
10 "Then I said, ‘What should I do, Lord?'
"And the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything that is assigned for you to do.'
11 "Since I couldn't see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.(j) 12 Someone named Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good reputation with all the Jews residing there,(k) 13 came and stood by me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.' And in that very hour I looked up and saw him. 14 Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed(l) you to know His will, to see(m) the Righteous One,(n) and to hear the sound of His voice.[c] 15 For you will be a witness for Him to all people of what you have seen and heard.(o) 16 And now, why delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins(p) by calling on His name.'(q)
17 "After I came back to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple complex, I went into a visionary state(r) 18 and saw Him telling me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me!'
19 "But I said, ‘Lord, they know that in synagogue after synagogue I had those who believed in You imprisoned and beaten.(s) 20 And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I was standing by and approving,[d] and I guarded the clothes of those who killed him.'(t)
21 "Then He said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.' "(u)
Paul's Roman Protection
22 They listened to him up to this word. Then they raised their voices, shouting, "Wipe this person off the earth—it's a disgrace for him to live!"(v)
23 As they were yelling and flinging aside their robes and throwing dust into the air,(w) 24 the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, directing that he be examined with the scourge, so he could discover the reason they were shouting against him like this. 25 As they stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to the centurion standing by, "Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and is uncondemned?"(x)
26 When the centurion heard this, he went and reported to the commander, saying, "What are you going to do? For this man is a Roman citizen."
27 The commander came and said to him, "Tell me—are you a Roman citizen?"
"Yes," he said.
28 The commander replied, "I bought this citizenship for a large amount of money."
"But I was born a citizen," Paul said.
29 Therefore, those who were about to examine him withdrew from him at once. The commander too was alarmed when he realized Paul was a Roman citizen and he had bound him.(y)
Paul before the Sanhedrin
30 The next day, since he wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him[e] and instructed the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to convene.(z) Then he brought Paul down and placed him before them.
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