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Micah 6
Common English Bible
Micah 6
Common English Bible
God’s dispute with Israel
6 Hear what the Lord is saying:
Arise, lay out the lawsuit before the mountains;
let the hills hear your voice!
2 Hear, mountains, the lawsuit of the Lord!
Hear, eternal foundations of the earth!
The Lord has a lawsuit against his people;
with Israel he will argue.
3 “My people, what did I ever do to you?
How have I wearied you? Answer me!
4 I brought you up out of the land of Egypt;
I redeemed you from the house of slavery.
I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you.
5 My people, remember what Moab’s King Balak had planned,
and how Balaam, Beor’s son, answered him!
Remember everything[a] from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you might learn to recognize the righteous acts of the Lord!”
What does the Lord require?
6 With what should I approach the Lord
and bow down before God on high?
Should I come before him with entirely burned offerings,
with year-old calves?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with many torrents of oil?
Should I give my oldest child for my crime;
the fruit of my body for the sin of my spirit?
8 He has told you, human one, what is good and
what the Lord requires from you:
to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God.
Punishment is near
9 The voice of the Lord calls out to the city;
wisdom appears when one fears your name.[b]
Hear, tribe, and who appointed her![c]
10 Are the treasures of wickedness still in the house of wickedness,
while the shorted basket[d] is denounced?[e]
11 Can I approve wicked scales and a bag of false weights
12 in a city[f] whose wealthy are full of violence
and whose inhabitants speak falsehood
with lying tongues in their mouths?
13 So I have made you sick by striking you!
I have struck you because of your sins.
14 You devour, but you aren’t satisfied;
a gnawing emptiness is within you.
You put something aside,
but you don’t keep it safe.
That which you do try to keep safe,
I will give to the sword.
15 You sow, but you don’t gather.
You tread down olives, but you don’t anoint with oil;
you tread grapes, but don’t drink wine.
16 Yet you[g] have kept the policies of Omri,
all the practices of the house of Ahab;
you have followed their counsels.
Therefore, I will make you a sign of destruction,
your[h] inhabitants an object of hissing!
You must bear the reproach of my people.
Footnotes
- Micah 6:5 Heb lacks everything.
- Micah 6:9 Heb uncertain
- Micah 6:9 Heb uncertain
- Micah 6:10 Or ephah, approximately twenty quarts of grain
- Micah 6:10 Heb uncertain
- Micah 6:12 Heb lacks in a city.
- Micah 6:16 Or he
- Micah 6:16 Or her
Micah 6
New International Version
Micah 6
New International Version
The Lord’s Case Against Israel
6 Listen to what the Lord says:
“Stand up, plead my case before the mountains;(A)
let the hills hear what you have to say.
2 “Hear,(B) you mountains, the Lord’s accusation;(C)
listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.
For the Lord has a case(D) against his people;
he is lodging a charge(E) against Israel.
3 “My people, what have I done to you?
How have I burdened(F) you?(G) Answer me.
4 I brought you up out of Egypt(H)
and redeemed you from the land of slavery.(I)
I sent Moses(J) to lead you,
also Aaron(K) and Miriam.(L)
5 My people, remember
what Balak(M) king of Moab plotted
and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
Remember your journey from Shittim(N) to Gilgal,(O)
that you may know the righteous acts(P) of the Lord.”
6 With what shall I come before(Q) the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?(R)
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,(S)
with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?(T)
Shall I offer my firstborn(U) for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?(V)
8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly(W) and to love mercy
and to walk humbly[a](X) with your God.(Y)
Israel’s Guilt and Punishment
9 Listen! The Lord is calling to the city—
and to fear your name is wisdom—
“Heed the rod(Z) and the One who appointed it.[b]
10 Am I still to forget your ill-gotten treasures, you wicked house,
and the short ephah,[c] which is accursed?(AA)
11 Shall I acquit someone with dishonest scales,(AB)
with a bag of false weights?(AC)
12 Your rich people are violent;(AD)
your inhabitants are liars(AE)
and their tongues speak deceitfully.(AF)
13 Therefore, I have begun to destroy(AG) you,
to ruin[d] you because of your sins.
14 You will eat but not be satisfied;(AH)
your stomach will still be empty.[e]
You will store up but save nothing,(AI)
because what you save[f] I will give to the sword.
15 You will plant but not harvest;(AJ)
you will press olives but not use the oil,
you will crush grapes but not drink the wine.(AK)
16 You have observed the statutes of Omri(AL)
and all the practices of Ahab’s(AM) house;
you have followed their traditions.(AN)
Therefore I will give you over to ruin(AO)
and your people to derision;
you will bear the scorn(AP) of the nations.[g]”
Footnotes
- Micah 6:8 Or prudently
- Micah 6:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
- Micah 6:10 An ephah was a dry measure.
- Micah 6:13 Or Therefore, I will make you ill and destroy you; / I will ruin
- Micah 6:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Micah 6:14 Or You will press toward birth but not give birth, / and what you bring to birth
- Micah 6:16 Septuagint; Hebrew scorn due my people
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.