Proverbs 16

1The plans of the heart belong to man,

but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,

but the Lord weighs the spirit.

3 Commit your work to the Lord,

and your plans will be established.

4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose,

even the wicked for the day of trouble.

5Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord;

be assured, he will not go unpunished.

6By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,

and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil.

7When a man’s ways please the Lord,

he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

8 Better is a little with righteousness

than great revenues with injustice.

9 The heart of man plans his way,

but the Lord establishes his steps.

10 An oracle is on the lips of a king;

his mouth does not sin in judgment.

11 A just balance and scales are the Lord’s;

all the weights in the bag are his work.

12It is an abomination to kings to do evil,

for the throne is established by righteousness.

13 Righteous lips are the delight of a king,

and he loves him who speaks what is right.

14 A king’s wrath is a messenger of death,

and a wise man will appease it.

15 In the light of a king’s face there is life,

and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain.

16 How much better to get wisdom than gold!

To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

17The highway of the upright turns aside from evil;

whoever guards his way preserves his life.

18 Pride goes before destruction,

and a haughty spirit before a fall.

19 It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor

than to divide the spoil with the proud.

20Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good,

and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.

21The wise of heart is called discerning,

and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.

22Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it,

but the instruction of fools is folly.

23 The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious

and adds persuasiveness to his lips.

24 Gracious words are like a honeycomb,

sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

25There is a way that seems right to a man,

but its end is the way to death.

26A worker’s appetite works for him;

his mouth urges him on.

27 A worthless man plots evil,

and his speech is like a scorching fire.

28 A dishonest man spreads strife,

and a whisperer separates close friends.

29A man of violence entices his neighbor

and leads him in a way that is not good.

30Whoever winks his eyes plans dishonest things;

he who purses his lips brings evil to pass.

31 Gray hair is a crown of glory;

it is gained in a righteous life.

32 Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty,

and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

33 The lot is cast into the lap,

but its every decision is from the Lord.

Micah 7

Wait for the God of Salvation

1Woe is me! For I have become as when the summer fruit has been gathered, as when the grapes have been gleaned: there is no cluster to eat, no first-ripe fig that my soul desires. 2 The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net. Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together. 4The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand.

5 Put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms; 6 for the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house. 7But as for me, I will look to the Lord;I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.

8 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise;

when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. 9 I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication. 10 Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the Lord your God?” My eyes will look upon her; now she will be trampled down like the mire of the streets.

11 A day for the building of your walls! In that day the boundary shall be far extended. 12In that day they will come to you, from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the River, from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain. 13 But the earth will be desolate because of its inhabitants, for the fruit of their deeds. 

14 Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, who dwell alone in a forest in the midst of a garden land; let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old. 15 As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them marvelous things. 16 The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; they shall lay their hands on their mouths; their ears shall be deaf; 17 they shall lick the dust like a serpent, like the crawling things of the earth; they shall come trembling out of their strongholds; they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God, and they shall be in fear of you.

God’s Steadfast Love and Compassion

18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression

for the remnant of his inheritance?

He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.

19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot.

You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham,

as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.

Micah 6

The Indictment of the Lord

1 Hear what the Lord says:

Arise, plead your case before the mountains,

and let the hills hear your voice.

2 Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord,

and you enduring foundations of the earth,

for the Lord has an indictment against his people,

and he will contend with Israel.

3“O my people, what have I done to you?

How have I wearied you? Answer me!

4For I brought you up from the land of Egypt

and redeemed you from the house of slavery,

and I sent before you Moses,

Aaron, and Miriam.

5O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,

and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,

and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,

that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

What Does the Lord Require?

6 “With what shall I come before the Lord,

and bow myself before God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

with calves a year old?

7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

8He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

Destruction of the Wicked

9The voice of the Lord cries to the city—

and it is sound wisdom to fear your name:

“Hear of the rod and of him who appointed it!

10Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked,

and the scant measure that is accursed?

11Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales

and with a bag of deceitful weights?

12Your rich men are full of violence;

your inhabitants speak lies,

and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

13Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow,

making you desolate because of your sins.

14 You shall eat, but not be satisfied,

and there shall be hunger within you;

you shall put away, but not preserve,

and what you preserve I will give to the sword.

15 You shall sow, but not reap;

you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;

you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.

16For you have kept the statutes of Omri,

and all the works of the house of Ahab;

and you have walked in their counsels,

that I may make you a desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing;

so you shall bear the scorn of my people.”