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Psalm 135

1  Alleluia.
      Praise the name of the Lord; ♦︎
   give praise, you servants of the Lord,
2  You that stand in the house of the Lord, ♦︎
   in the courts of the house of our God.
3  Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; ♦︎
   make music to his name, for it is lovely.
4  For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself ♦︎
   and Israel for his own possession.
5  For I know that the Lord is great ♦︎
   and that our Lord is above all gods.
6  The Lord does whatever he pleases
      in heaven and on earth, ♦︎
   in the seas and in all the deeps.
7  He brings up the clouds from the ends of the earth; ♦︎
   he makes lightning with the rain
      and brings the winds out of his treasuries.
8  He smote the firstborn of Egypt, ♦︎
   the firstborn of man and beast.
9  He sent signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt, ♦︎
   upon Pharaoh and all his servants.
10  He smote many nations ♦︎
   and slew mighty kings:
11  Sihon, king of the Amorites,
      and Og, the king of Bashan, ♦︎
   and all the kingdoms of Canaan.
12  He gave their land as a heritage, ♦︎
   a heritage for Israel his people.
13  Your name, O Lord, endures for ever ♦︎
   and shall be remembered through all generations.
14  For the Lord will vindicate his people ♦︎
   and have compassion on his servants.
15  The idols of the nations are but silver and gold, ♦︎
   the work of human hands.
16  They have mouths, but cannot speak; ♦︎
   eyes have they, but cannot see;
17  They have ears, but cannot hear; ♦︎
   neither is there any breath in their mouths.
18  Those who make them shall become like them, ♦︎
   and so will all who put their trust in them.
19  Bless the Lord, O house of Israel; ♦︎
   O house of Aaron, bless the Lord.
20  Bless the Lord, O house of Levi; ♦︎
   you who fear the Lord, bless the Lord.
21  Blessed be the Lord from Zion, ♦︎
   who dwells in Jerusalem.
      Alleluia.

Micaiah Predicts Failure

18Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honour; and he made a marriage alliance with Ahab. ²After some years he went down to Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered an abundance of sheep and oxen for him and for the people who were with him, and induced him to go up against Ramoth-gilead. ³King Ahab of Israel said to King Jehoshaphat of Judah, ‘Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead?’ He answered him, ‘I am with you, my people are your people. We will be with you in the war.’

4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, ‘Inquire first for the word of the Lord.’ ⁵Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred of them, and said to them, ‘Shall we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?’ They said, ‘Go up; for God will give it into the hand of the king.’ ⁶But Jehoshaphat said, ‘Is there no other prophet of the Lord here of whom we may inquire?’ ⁷The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘There is still one other by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies anything favourable about me, but only disaster.’ Jehoshaphat said, ‘Let the king not say such a thing.’ ⁸Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, ‘Bring quickly Micaiah son of Imlah.’ ⁹Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes; and they were sitting at the threshing-floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. ¹⁰Zedekiah son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron, and he said, ‘Thus says the Lord: With these you shall gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.’ ¹¹All the prophets were prophesying the same and saying, ‘Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.’

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, ‘Look, the words of the prophets with one accord are favourable to the king; let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favourably.’ ¹³But Micaiah said, ‘As the Lord lives, whatever my God says, that I will speak.’

14 When he had come to the king, the king said to him, ‘Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?’ He answered, ‘Go up and triumph; they will be given into your hand.’ ¹⁵But the king said to him, ‘How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?’ ¹⁶Then Micaiah^* said, ‘I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd; and the Lord said, “These have no master; let each one go home in peace.” ’ ¹⁷The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy anything favourable about me, but only disaster?’

18 Then Micaiah^* said, ‘Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, with all the host of heaven standing to the right and to the left of him. ¹⁹And the Lord said, “Who will entice King Ahab of Israel, so that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?” Then one said one thing, and another said another, ²⁰until a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, “I will entice him.” The Lord asked him, “How?” ²¹He replied, “I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.” Then the Lord ^* said, “You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do it.” ²²So you see, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets; the Lord has decreed disaster for you.’

23 Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah came up to Micaiah, slapped him on the cheek, and said, ‘Which way did the spirit of the Lord pass from me to speak to you?’ ²⁴Micaiah replied, ‘You will find out on that day when you go in to hide in an inner chamber.’ ²⁵The king of Israel then ordered, ‘Take Micaiah, and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son; ²⁶and say, “Thus says the king: Put this fellow in prison, and feed him on reduced rations of bread and water until I return in peace.” ’ ²⁷Micaiah said, ‘If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.’ And he said, ‘Hear, you peoples, all of you!’

The Guilt of Humankind

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth. ¹⁹For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse; ²¹for though they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. ²²Claiming to be wise, they became fools; ²³and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, ²⁷and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. ²⁹They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, ³⁰slanderers, God-haters,^* insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious towards parents, ³¹foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. ³²They know God’s decree, that those who practise such things deserve to die—yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practise them.