Micah 6:1-7:20

The LORD’s Case Against Israel 1Listen to what the LORD says: “Stand up, plead my case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say.

2“Hear, you mountains, the LORD ’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against his people; he is lodging a charge against Israel.

3“My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me.

4I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam.

5My people, remember what Balak king of Moab plotted and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD .”

6With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

7Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly Or prudently with your God.

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment 9Listen! The LORD is calling to the city— and to fear your name is wisdom— “Heed the rod and the One who appointed it. The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.

10Am I still to forget your ill-gotten treasures, you wicked house, and the short ephah, An ephah was a dry measure. which is accursed?

11Shall I acquit someone with dishonest scales, with a bag of false weights?

12Your rich people are violent; your inhabitants are liars and their tongues speak deceitfully.

13Therefore, I have begun to destroy you, to ruin Or Therefore, I will make you ill and destroy you; / I will ruin you because of your sins.

14You will eat but not be satisfied; your stomach will still be empty. The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. You will store up but save nothing, because what you save Or You will press toward birth but not give birth, / and what you bring to birth I will give to the sword.

15You will plant but not harvest; you will press olives but not use the oil, you will crush grapes but not drink the wine. 16You have observed the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their traditions. Therefore I will give you over to ruin and your people to derision; you will bear the scorn of the nations. Septuagint; Hebrew scorn due my people ”

Israel’s Misery 1What misery is mine! I am like one who gathers summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster of grapes to eat, none of the early figs that I crave.

2The faithful have been swept from the land; not one upright person remains. Everyone lies in wait to shed blood; they hunt each other with nets.

3Both hands are skilled in doing evil; the ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire— they all conspire together.

4The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day God visits you has come, the day your watchmen sound the alarm. Now is the time of your confusion.

5Do not trust a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend. Even with the woman who lies in your embrace guard the words of your lips.

6For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.

7But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

Israel Will Rise 8Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.

9Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the LORD ’s wrath, until he pleads my case and upholds my cause. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.

10Then my enemy will see it and will be covered with shame, she who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her downfall; even now she will be trampled underfoot like mire in the streets.

11The day for building your walls will come, the day for extending your boundaries.

12In that day people will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates and from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.

13The earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the result of their deeds.

Prayer and Praise 14Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest, in fertile pasturelands. Or in the middle of Carmel Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in days long ago.

15“As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show them my wonders.”

16Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their power. They will put their hands over their mouths and their ears will become deaf.

17They will lick dust like a snake, like creatures that crawl on the ground. They will come trembling out of their dens; they will turn in fear to the LORD our God and will be afraid of you.

18Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.

19You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. 20You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.