1 Kings 22:19-23
22:19 Micaiah
said, “That being the case, hear the word of the
Lord. I saw the
Lord sitting on his throne, with all the heavenly assembly standing on his right and on his left.
22:20 The
Lord said, ‘Who will deceive Ahab, so he will attack Ramoth Gilead and die
there?’ One said this and another that.
22:21 Then a spirit
stepped forward and stood before the
Lord. He said, ‘I will deceive him.’ The
Lord asked him, ‘How?’
22:22 He replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ The
Lord said, ‘Deceive and overpower him.
Go out and do as you have proposed.’
22:23 So now, look, the
Lord has placed a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours; but the
Lord has decreed disaster for you.”
Amos 3:1
Every Effect has its Cause
3:1 Listen, you Israelites, to this message which the Lord is proclaiming against you! This message is for the entire clan I brought up from the land of Egypt:
Amos 3:8
3:8 A lion has roared! Who is not afraid?
The sovereign Lord has spoken! Who can refuse to prophesy?
Micah 3:8-12
3:8 But I am full of the courage that the Lord’s Spirit gives,
and have a strong commitment to justice.
This enables me to confront Jacob with its rebellion,
and Israel with its sin.
3:9 Listen to this, you leaders of the family of Jacob,
you rulers of the nation of Israel!
You hate justice
and pervert all that is right.
3:10 You build Zion through bloody crimes,
Jerusalem through unjust violence.
3:11 Her leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases,
her priests proclaim rulings for profit,
and her prophets read omens for pay.
Yet they claim to trust the Lord and say,
“The Lord is among us.
Disaster will not overtake us!”
3:12 Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed up like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,
and the Temple Mount will become a hill overgrown with brush!