Micah 6:1–7:20
6 Hear now what the Lord says:
“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
And let the hills hear your voice.
2 aHear, O you mountains, bthe Lord’s complaint,
And you strong foundations of the earth;
For cthe Lord has a complaint against His people,
And He will 1contend with Israel.
3 “O My people, what dhave I done to you?
And how have I ewearied you?
Testify against Me.
4 fFor I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
I redeemed you from the house of bondage;
And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
What gBalak king of Moab counseled,
And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
From 2Acacia Grove to Gilgal,
That you may know hthe righteousness of the Lord.”
6 With what shall I come before the Lord,
And bow myself before the High God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
With calves a year old?
7 iWill the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
Ten thousand jrivers of oil?
kShall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
3The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has lshown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But mto do justly,
To love 4mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
Punishment of Israel’s Injustice
9 The Lord’s voice cries to the city—
Wisdom shall see Your name:
“Hear the rod!
Who has appointed it?
10 Are there yet the treasures of wickedness
In the house of the wicked,
And the short measure that is an abomination?
11 Shall I count pure those with nthe wicked scales,
And with the bag of deceitful weights?
12 For her rich men are full of oviolence,
Her inhabitants have spoken lies,
And ptheir tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 “Therefore I will also qmake you sick by striking you,
By making you desolate because of your sins.
14 rYou shall eat, but not be satisfied;
5Hunger shall be in your midst.
6You may carry some away, but shall not save them;
And what you do rescue I will give over to the sword.
15 “You shall ssow, but not reap;
You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
And make sweet wine, but not drink wine.
16 For the statutes of tOmri are ukept;
All the works of Ahab’s house are done;
And you walk in their counsels,
That I may make you a 7desolation,
And your inhabitants a hissing.
Therefore you shall bear the vreproach of 8My people.”
7 Woe is me!
For I am like those who gather summer fruits,
Like those who aglean vintage grapes;
There is no cluster to eat
Of the first-ripe fruit which bmy soul desires.
2 The cfaithful 1man has perished from the earth,
And there is no one upright among men.
They all lie in wait for blood;
dEvery man hunts his brother with a net.
3 That they may successfully do evil with both hands—
The prince asks for gifts,
The judge seeks a ebribe,
And the great man utters his evil desire;
So they scheme together.
4 The best of them is flike a brier;
The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge;
The day of your watchman and your punishment comes;
Now shall be their perplexity.
5 gDo not trust in a friend;
Do not put your confidence in a companion;
Guard the doors of your mouth
From her who lies in your hbosom.
6 For ison dishonors father,
Daughter rises against her mother,
Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.
7 Therefore I will look to the Lord;
I will jwait for the God of my salvation;
My God will hear me.
Israel’s Confession and Comfort
8 kDo not rejoice over me, my enemy;
lWhen I fall, I will arise;
When I sit in darkness,
The Lord will be a light to me.
9 mI will bear the indignation of the Lord,
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my ncase
And executes justice for me.
He will bring me forth to the light;
I will see His righteousness.
10 Then she who is my enemy will see,
And oshame will cover her who said to me,
p“Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will see her;
Now she will be trampled down
Like mud in the streets.
11 In the day when your qwalls are to be built,
In that day 2the decree shall go far and wide.
12 In that day rthey 3shall come to you
From Assyria and the 4fortified cities,
From the 5fortress to 6the River,
From sea to sea,
And mountain to mountain.
13 Yet the land shall be desolate
Because of those who dwell in it,
And sfor the fruit of their deeds.
14 Shepherd Your people with Your staff,
The flock of Your heritage,
Who dwell 7solitarily in a twoodland,
In the midst of Carmel;
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
As in days of old.
15 “As uin the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
16 The nations wshall see and be ashamed of all their might;
xThey shall put their hand over their mouth;
Their ears shall be deaf.
17 They shall lick the ydust like a serpent;
zThey shall crawl from their holes like 9snakes of the earth.
aThey shall be afraid of the Lord our God,
And shall fear because of You.
18 bWho is a God like You,
cPardoning iniquity
And passing over the transgression of dthe remnant of His heritage?
eHe does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in fmercy. 1
19 He will again have compassion on us,
And will subdue our iniquities.
You will cast all 2our sins
Into the depths of the sea.
20 gYou will give truth to Jacob
And 3mercy to Abraham,
hWhich You have sworn to our fathers
From days of old.