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Micah 1
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Micah shows the wrath of God against Jacob for idolatry
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The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in
the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which
he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
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Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein
is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from
his holy temple.
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For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will
come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.
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And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys
shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that
are poured down a steep place.
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For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins
of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob?
is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are
they not Jerusalem?
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Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and
as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones
thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations
thereof.
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And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces,
and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and
all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered
it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire
of an harlot.
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Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked:
I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.
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For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is
come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
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He exhorts them to mourn
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Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house
of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust.
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Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having thy shame
naked: the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning
of Bethezel; he shall receive of you his standing.
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For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but
evil came down from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem.
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O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift
beast: she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion:
for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.
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Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moreshethgath: the
houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.
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Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah:
he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel.
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Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children;
enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into
captivity from thee.
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Micah 2
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Against oppression
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Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their
beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because
it is in the power of their hand.
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And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses,
and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house,
even a man and his heritage.
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Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do
I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks;
neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil.
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A lamentation
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In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and
lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly
spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath
he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields.
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Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot
in the congregation of the LORD.
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Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall
not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.
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A reproof of injustice and idolatry
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O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of
the LORD straitened? are these his doings? do not my words
do good to him that walketh uprightly?
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Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off
the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely
as men averse from war.
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The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant
houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.
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Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it
is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.
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If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying,
I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall
even be the prophet of this people.
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A promise to restore Jacob
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I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely
gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the
sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they
shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.
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The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up,
and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it:
and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the
head of them.
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Micah 3
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The cruelty of the princes
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And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes
of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
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Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their
skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
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Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from
off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces,
as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
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Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them:
he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they
have behaved themselves ill in their doings.
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The false leadership of the prophets
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Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my
people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and
he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war
against him.
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Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a
vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine;
and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall
be dark over them.
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Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded:
yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer
of God.
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The false security of both
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But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and
of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his
transgression, and to Israel his sin.
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Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and
princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and
pervert all equity.
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They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.
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The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof
teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money:
yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD
among us? none evil can come upon us.
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Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field,
and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the
house as the high places of the forest.
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Micah 4
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The glory
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But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain
of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of
the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and
people shall flow unto it.
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And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go
up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God
of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk
in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word
of the LORD from Jerusalem.
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Peace
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And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong
nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into
plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall
not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn
war any more.
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But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his
fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of
the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
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For all people will walk every one in the name of his god,
and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever
and ever.
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In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth,
and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have
afflicted;
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And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was
cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over
them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.
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Kingdom
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And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the
daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first
dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.
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Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee?
is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a
woman in travail.
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Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion,
like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of
the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt
go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the
LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.
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and victory of the church
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Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say,
Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.
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But they know not the thoughts of the LORD, neither understand
they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into
the floor.
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Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine
horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt
beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain
unto the LORD, and their substance unto the Lord of the
whole earth.
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Micah 5
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The birth of Christ
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Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath
laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel
with a rod upon the cheek.
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But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among
the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth
unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have
been from of old, from everlasting.
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Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which
travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren
shall return unto the children of Israel.
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His kingdom
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And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in
the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall
abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
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And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall
come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces,
then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight
principal men.
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And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and
the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he
deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land,
and when he treadeth within our borders.
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And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people
as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that
tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.
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His conquest
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And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the
midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest,
as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go
through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none
can deliver.
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Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and
all thine enemies shall be cut off.
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And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that
I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will
destroy thy chariots:
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And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down
all thy strong holds:
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And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou
shalt have no more soothsayers:
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Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing
images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more
worship the work of thine hands.
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And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so
will I destroy thy cities.
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And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the
heathen, such as they have not heard.
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Micah 6
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God's controversy with Israel, for unkindness
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Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before
the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
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Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD'S controversy, and ye strong
foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with
his people, and he will plead with Israel.
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O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I
wearied thee? testify against me.
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For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed
thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
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O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto
Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD.
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for ignorance
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Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before
the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves of a year old?
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Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or 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?
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He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the
LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and
to walk humbly with thy God?
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The LORD'S voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom
shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.
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for injustice
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Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of
the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?
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Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with
the bag of deceitful weights?
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For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the
inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is
deceitful in their mouth.
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Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in
making thee desolate because of thy sins.
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Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down
shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but
shalt not deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give
up to the sword.
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Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread
the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet
wine, but shalt not drink wine.
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and idolatry
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For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the
house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should
make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing:
therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.
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Micah 7
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The church, complaining of her small number
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Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer
fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no
cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.
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The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none
upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt
every man his brother with a net.
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and the general corruption
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That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince
asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man,
he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.
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The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper
than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation
cometh; now shall be their perplexity.
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Puts her confidence not in man, but in God
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Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide:
keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
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For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up
against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother
in law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.
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Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God
of my salvation: my God will hear me.
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She triumphs over her enemies
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Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall
arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light
unto me.
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I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned
against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment
for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold
his righteousness.
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Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall
cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God?
mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down
as the mire of the streets.
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In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall
the decree be far removed.
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In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria,
and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to
the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.
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Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them
that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings.
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God comforts her by His promises
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Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage,
which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel:
let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
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According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt
will I shew unto him marvellous things.
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by confusion of her enemies
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The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might:
they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall
be deaf.
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They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move
out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be
afraid of the LORD our God, and shall fear because of thee.
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and by His mercies
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Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and
passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?
he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth
in mercy.
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He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will
subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into
the depths of the sea.
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Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to
Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the
days of old.
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