Micah 6–7: To Act Justly, to Love Mercy": The Lawsuit and the Sea
Scripture: Berean Standard Bible
Hear now what the LORD says:
“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,and let the hills hear your voice.Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment,you enduring foundations of the earth.For the LORD has a case against his people,and he will argue it against Israel:
‘My people, what have I done to you?Testify against me how I have wearied you!For I brought you up from the land of Egyptand redeemed you from the house of slavery.I sent Moses before you,as well as Aaron and Miriam.My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseledand what Balaam son of Beor answered.Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal,so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’ ”
With what shall I come before the LORDwhen I bow before the God on high?Should I come to him with burnt offerings,with year-old calves?Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,with ten thousand rivers of oil?Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression,the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has shown you, O man, what is good.And what does the LORD require of youbut to act justly, to love mercy,and to walk humbly with your God?
The voice of the LORD calls out to the city(and it is sound wisdom to fear your name):“Heed the rodand the One who ordained it.Can I forget any longer,O house of the wicked,the treasures of wickednessand the short ephah, which is accursed?Can I excuse dishonest scalesor bags of false weights?For the wealthy of the cityare full of violence,and its residents speak lies;their tongues are deceitful in their mouths.
Therefore I am striking you severely,to ruin you because of your sins.You will eat but not be satisfied,and your hunger will remain with you.What you acquire, you will not preserve;and what you save, I will give to the sword.You will sow but not reap;you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil;you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.You have kept the statutes of Omriand all the practices of Ahab’s house;you have followed their counsel.Therefore I will make you a desolation,and your inhabitants an object of contempt;you will bear the scorn of the nations.”Woe is me!
For I am like one gathering summer fruitat the gleaning of the vineyard;there is no cluster to eat,no early fig that I crave.The godly man has perished from the earth;there is no one upright among men.They all lie in wait for blood;they hunt one another with a net.Both hands are skilled at evil;the prince and the judge demand a bribe.When the powerful utters his evil desire,they all conspire together.The best of them is like a brier;the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns.The day for your watchmen has come,the day of your visitation.Now is the time of their confusion.Do not rely on a friend;do not trust in a companion.Seal the doors of your mouthfrom her who lies in your arms.For a son dishonors his father,a daughter rises against her mother,and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.A man’s enemies are the membersof his own household.
But as for me, I will look to the LORD;I will wait for the God of my salvation.My God will hear me.
Do not gloat over me, my enemy!Though I have fallen, I will arise;though I sit in darkness,the LORD will be my light.Because I have sinned against him,I must endure the rage of the LORD,until he argues my caseand executes justice for me.He will bring me into the light;I will see his righteousness.Then my enemy will seeand will be covered with shame—she who said to me,“Where is the LORD your God?”My eyes will see her;at that time she will be trampledlike mud in the streets.
The day for rebuilding your walls will come—the day for extending your boundary.On that day they will come to youfrom Assyria and the cities of Egypt,even from Egypt to the Euphrates,from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.Then the earth will become desolatebecause of its inhabitants,as the fruit of their deeds.
Shepherd with your staff your people,the flock of your inheritance.They live alone in a woodland,surrounded by pastures.Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead,as in the days of old.
As in the days when you came out of Egypt,I will show my wonders.Nations will see and be ashamed,deprived of all their might.They will put their hands over their mouths,and their ears will become deaf.They will lick the dust like a snake,like reptiles slithering on the ground.They will crawl from their holesin the presence of the LORD our God;they will tremble in fear of you.
Who is a God like you,who pardons iniquityand passes over the transgressionof the remnant of his inheritance—who does not retain his anger forever,because he delights in loving devotion?He will again have compassion on us;he will vanquish our iniquities.You will cast out all our sinsinto the depths of the sea.You will show faithfulness to Jacoband loving devotion to Abraham,as you swore to our fathersfrom the days of old.