Revelation 12

The Woman and the Dragon

¹ A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. ² She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. ³ Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. ⁴ Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. ⁵ She gave birth to a son, a male child, who "will rule all the nations with an iron scepter."^[a] And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. ⁶ The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

⁷ Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸ But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. ⁹ The great dragon was hurled down−that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

"Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
¹¹ They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
¹² Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short."

¹³ When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. ¹⁵ Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. ¹⁶ But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. ¹⁷ Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring−those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.

Micah 1

¹ The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah−the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

² Hear, you peoples, all of you,
listen, earth and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign LORD may bear witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.

Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem

³ Look! The LORD is coming from his dwelling place;
he comes down and treads on the heights of the earth.
⁴ The mountains melt beneath him
and the valleys split apart,
like wax before the fire,
like water rushing down a slope.
⁵ All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,
because of the sins of the people of Israel.
What is Jacob’s transgression?
Is it not Samaria?
What is Judah’s high place?
Is it not Jerusalem?

⁶ "Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,
a place for planting vineyards.
I will pour her stones into the valley
and lay bare her foundations.
⁷ All her idols will be broken to pieces;
all her temple gifts will be burned with fire;
I will destroy all her images.
Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,
as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used."

Weeping and Mourning

⁸ Because of this I will weep and wail;
I will go about barefoot and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
and moan like an owl.
⁹ For Samaria’s plague is incurable;
it has spread to Judah.
It has reached the very gate of my people,
even to Jerusalem itself.
¹⁰ Tell it not in Gath^[a];
weep not at all.
In Beth Ophrah^[b]
roll in the dust.
¹¹ Pass by naked and in shame,
you who live in Shaphir.^[c]
Those who live in Zaanan^[d]
will not come out.
Beth Ezel is in mourning;
it no longer protects you.
¹² Those who live in Maroth^[e] writhe in pain,
waiting for relief,
because disaster has come from the LORD,
even to the gate of Jerusalem.
¹³ You who live in Lachish,
harness fast horses to the chariot.
You are where the sin of Daughter Zion began,
for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
¹⁴ Therefore you will give parting gifts
to Moresheth Gath.
The town of Akzib^[f] will prove deceptive
to the kings of Israel.
¹⁵ I will bring a conqueror against you
who live in Mareshah.^[g]
The nobles of Israel
will flee to Adullam.
¹⁶ Shave your head in mourning
for the children in whom you delight;
make yourself as bald as the vulture,
for they will go from you into exile.

Micah 2

Human Plans and God’s Plans

¹ Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
² They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and take them.
They defraud people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.

³ Therefore, the LORD says:

"I am planning disaster against this people,
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,
for it will be a time of calamity.
⁴ In that day people will ridicule you;
they will taunt you with this mournful song:
’We are utterly ruined;
my people’s possession is divided up.
He takes it from me!
He assigns our fields to traitors.’"

⁵ Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the LORD
to divide the land by lot.

False Prophets

⁶ "Do not prophesy," their prophets say.
"Do not prophesy about these things;
disgrace will not overtake us."
⁷ You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
"Does the LORD become^[h] impatient?
Does he do such things?"

"Do not my words do good
to the one whose ways are upright?
⁸ Lately my people have risen up
like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
from those who pass by without a care,
like men returning from battle.
⁹ You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.
¹⁰ Get up, go away!
For this is not your resting place,
because it is defiled,
it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
¹¹ If a liar and deceiver comes and says,
’I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’
that would be just the prophet for this people!

Deliverance Promised

¹² "I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture;
the place will throng with people.
¹³ The One who breaks open the way will go up before them;
they will break through the gate and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
the LORD at their head."

Micah 3

Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

¹ Then I said,

"Listen, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
² you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
and the flesh from their bones;
³ who eat my people’s flesh,
strip off their skin
and break their bones in pieces;
who chop them up like meat for the pan,
like flesh for the pot?"

⁴ Then they will cry out to the LORD,
but he will not answer them.
At that time he will hide his face from them
because of the evil they have done.

⁵ This is what the LORD says:

"As for the prophets
who lead my people astray,
they proclaim ’peace’
if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
who refuses to feed them.
⁶ Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
and darkness, without divination.
The sun will set for the prophets,
and the day will go dark for them.
⁷ The seers will be ashamed
and the diviners disgraced.
They will all cover their faces
because there is no answer from God."
⁸ But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the LORD,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
to Israel his sin.

⁹ Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
and distort all that is right;
¹⁰ who build Zion with bloodshed,
and Jerusalem with wickedness.
¹¹ Her leaders judge for a bribe,
her priests teach for a price,
and her prophets tell fortunes for money.
Yet they look for the LORD’s support and say,
"Is not the LORD among us?
No disaster will come upon us."
¹² Therefore because of you,
Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,
the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.