4th December

¹ Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?² For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.³ I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation.⁴ His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them.⁵ Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.⁶ Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground;⁷ Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.⁸ I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:⁹ Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:¹⁰ Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields:¹¹ To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety.¹² He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.¹³ He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope in the noonday as in the night.¹⁵ But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.¹⁶ So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth.¹⁷ Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:¹⁸ For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.¹⁹ He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.²⁰ In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.²¹ Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.²² At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.²³ For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.²⁴ And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.²⁵ Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.²⁶ Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.²⁷ Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.

¹ 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.² 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.³ For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.⁴ 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.⁵ 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?⁶ 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.⁷ 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.⁸ 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.⁹ For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.¹⁰ Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust.¹¹ 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.¹² For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem.¹³ 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.¹⁴ Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moreshethgath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel.¹⁵ Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel.¹⁶ Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.

¹ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.² For by it the elders obtained a good report.³ Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.⁴ By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.⁵ By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.⁷ By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.⁸ By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.⁹ By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:¹⁰ For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.¹¹ Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.¹² Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.¹⁴ For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.¹⁵ And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.¹⁶ But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,¹⁸ Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:¹⁹ Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.²⁰ By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.²² By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.²³ By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.²⁴ By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;²⁵ Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;²⁶ Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.²⁷ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.²⁸ Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.²⁹ By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.³¹ By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.³² And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:³³ Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.³⁴ Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.³⁵ Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:³⁶ And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;³⁸ (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.³⁹ And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:⁴⁰ God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.