Micah 6–7

Chapter 6

God’s Indictment of His People

¹Hear now what the Lord is saying,

“Arise, plead your case ¹before the mountains,

And let the hills hear your voice.

²“Listen, you mountains, to the indictment of the Lord,

And you enduring ^afoundations of the earth,

Because the ^bLord has a case against His people;

Even with Israel He will dispute.

³“^aMy people, ^bwhat have I done to you,

And ^chow have I wearied you? Answer Me.

⁴“Indeed, I ^abrought you up from the land of Egypt

And ^bransomed you from the house of slavery,

And I sent before you ^cMoses, Aaron and ^dMiriam.

⁵“My people, remember now

What ^aBalak king of Moab counseled

And what Balaam son of Beor answered him,

And from ^bShittim to ^cGilgal,

So ¹that you might know the ^drighteous acts of the Lord.”

What God Requires of Man

^6aWith what shall I come to the Lord

And bow myself before the God on high?

Shall I come to Him with ^bburnt offerings,

With yearling calves?

⁷Does the Lord take delight in ^athousands of rams,

In ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I present my ^bfirstborn for my rebellious acts,

The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

⁸He has ^atold you, O man, what is good;

And ^bwhat does the Lord require of you

But to ^cdo justice, to ^dlove ¹kindness,

And to walk ^2ehumbly with your God?

⁹The voice of the Lord will call to the city—

And it is sound wisdom to fear Your name:

“Hear, O tribe. Who has appointed ¹its time?

¹⁰“Is there yet a man in the wicked house,

Along with treasures of ^awickedness

And a ^1bshort measure that is cursed?

¹¹“Can I justify wicked ^ascales

And a bag of deceptive weights?

¹²“For the rich men of the ¹city are full of ^aviolence,

Her residents speak ^blies,

And their ^ctongue is deceitful in their mouth.

¹³“So also I will make you ^asick, striking you down,

^bDesolating you because of your sins.

¹⁴“You will eat, but you will ^anot be satisfied,

And your ¹vileness will be in your midst.

You will try to remove for safekeeping,

But you will ^bnot preserve anything,

And what you do preserve I will give to the sword.

¹⁵“You will sow but you will ^anot reap.

You will tread the olive but will not anoint yourself with oil;

And the grapes, but you will ^bnot drink wine.

¹⁶“The statutes of ^aOmri

And all the works of the house of ^bAhab are observed;

And in their devices you ^cwalk.

Therefore I will give you up for ^ddestruction

And ¹your inhabitants for ^ederision,

And you will bear the ^freproach of My people.”

Chapter 7

The Prophet Acknowledges

¹Woe is me! For I am

Like the fruit pickers, like the ^agrape gatherers.

There is not a cluster of grapes to eat,

Or a ^bfirst-ripe fig which ¹I crave.

²The ¹godly person has ^aperished from the land,

And there is no upright person among men.

All of them lie in wait for ^bbloodshed;

Each of them hunts the other with a ^cnet.

³Concerning evil, both hands do it ^awell.

The prince asks, also the judge, for a ^bbribe,

And a great man speaks the desire of his soul;

So they weave it together.

⁴The best of them is like a ^abriar,

The most upright like a ^bthorn hedge.

The day when you post your watchmen,

Your ^cpunishment will come.

Then their ^dconfusion will occur.

⁵Do not ^atrust in a neighbor;

Do not have confidence in a friend.

From her who lies in your bosom

Guard ¹your lips.

⁶For ^ason treats father contemptuously,

Daughter rises up against her mother,

Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

^bA man’s enemies are the men of his own household.

God Is the Source of Salvation and Light

⁷But as for me, I will ^awatch expectantly for the Lord;

I will ^bwait for the God of my salvation.

My ^cGod will hear me.

^8aDo not rejoice over me, O ^bmy enemy.

Though I fall I will ^crise;

Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a ^dlight for me.

⁹I will bear the indignation of the Lord

Because I have sinned against Him,

Until He ^apleads my case and executes justice for me.

He will bring me out to the ^blight,

And I will see His ^1crighteousness.

¹⁰Then my enemy will see,

And shame will cover her who ^asaid to me,

“Where is the Lord your God?”

My eyes will look on her;

¹At that time she will ²be ^btrampled down

Like mire of the streets.

¹¹It will be a day for ^abuilding your walls.

On that day will your boundary be extended.

¹²It will be a day when ¹they will ^acome to you

From Assyria and the cities of Egypt,

From Egypt even to the ²Euphrates,

Even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

¹³And the earth will become ^adesolate because of her inhabitants,

On account of the ^bfruit of their deeds.

^14aShepherd Your people with Your ^bscepter,

The flock of Your ¹possession

Which dwells by itself in the woodland,

In the midst of ²a fruitful field.

Let them feed in ^cBashan and Gilead

^dAs in the days of old.

¹⁵“As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt,

I will show ^1ayou miracles.”

¹⁶Nations ^awill see and be ashamed

Of all their might.

They will ^bput their hand on their mouth,

Their ears will be deaf.

¹⁷They will ^alick the dust like a serpent,

Like ^breptiles of the earth.

They will come ^ctrembling out of their ¹fortresses;

To the Lord our God they will come in ^ddread

And they will be afraid before You.

¹⁸Who is a God like You, who ^apardons iniquity

And passes over the rebellious act of the ^bremnant of His ¹possession?

He does not ^cretain His anger forever,

Because He ^ddelights in ²unchanging love.

¹⁹He will again have compassion on us;

^aHe will tread our iniquities under foot.

Yes, You will ^bcast all ¹their sins

Into the depths of the sea.

²⁰You will give ^1atruth to Jacob

And ²unchanging love to Abraham,

Which You ^bswore to our forefathers

From the days of old.