Micah 6-7

Easy-to-Read Version

6 Now hear what the Lord says:
“Present your argument to the mountains.
    Let the hills hear your story.^[a]
2 The Lord has a complaint against his people.
    Mountains, listen to the Lord’s complaint.
Foundations of the earth, hear the Lord.
    He will prove that Israel is wrong!”

⁶ What must I bring when I come to meet with the Lord?
    What must I do when I bow down to God above?
Should I come to him with burnt offerings
    and a year-old calf?
⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with a thousand rams
    or with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Should I offer him my first child to pay for my wrongs?
    Should I sacrifice my very own child for my sins?

⁹ The Lord shouts to the city:
“A wise person respects the Lord’s name.^[c]
    So pay attention to the punishing rod and to the one who uses it!^[d]
10 Do the wicked still hide treasures
    that they have stolen?
Do they still cheat people
    with baskets that are too small?^[e]
    Yes, all of this is still happening!
¹¹ Some people carry special weights
    that they use to cheat people when they weigh their goods.
    Should I pardon them?
¹² The rich in that city are still cruel.
    The people there still tell lies.
    Yes, they tell their lies.
¹³ So I have begun to punish you.
    I will destroy you because of your sins.
¹⁴ You will eat, but you will not become full.
    You will still be hungry and empty.^[f]
You will try to bring people to safety,
    but people with swords will kill the people you rescued.
¹⁵ You will plant your seeds,
    but you will not gather food.
You will try to squeeze oil from your olives,
    but you will not get any oil.
You will crush your grapes,
    but you will not get enough juice to have wine to drink.
¹⁶ This is because you obey the laws of Omri.^[g]
    You do all the evil things that Ahab’s family does.
You follow their teachings,
    so I will let you be destroyed.
People will whistle in amazement
    when they see your destroyed city.
Then you will bear the shame
    that the other nations bring to you.”^[h]

7 I am upset because I am like fruit that has been gathered,
    like grapes that have already been picked.
There are no grapes left to eat.
    There are none of the early figs that I love.
² By this I mean that all the faithful people are gone.
    There are no good people left.
Everyone is planning to kill someone.
    Everyone is trying to trap their brother.
³ People are good at doing bad things with both hands.
    Officials ask for bribes.
Judges take money to change their decisions in court.
    “Important leaders” do whatever they want to do.
⁴ Even the best of them is as crooked
    as a tangled thornbush.

Your prophets said this day would come,
    and the day of your watchmen^[i] has come.
Now you will be punished.
    Now you will be confused!
⁵ Don’t trust your neighbor
    or trust a friend!
Don’t even speak freely
    with your wife.
⁶ Your enemies will be the people in your own house.
    A son will not honor his father.
A daughter will turn against her mother.
    A daughter-in-law will turn against her mother-in-law.

⁷ So I will look to the Lord for help.
    I will wait for God to save me.
    My God will hear me.
⁸ I have fallen, but enemy, don’t laugh at me!
    I will get up again.
I sit in darkness now,
    but the Lord will be a light for me.

⁹ I sinned against the Lord,
    so he was angry with me.
But he will argue my case for me in court.
    He will do what is right for me.
Then he will bring me out into the light,
    and I will see that he is right.
¹⁰ My enemy said to me,
    “Where is the Lord your God?”
But my enemy will see this,
    and she will be ashamed.
At that time I will laugh at her.^[j]
    People will walk over her,^[k] like mud in the streets.

¹¹ The time will come when your walls will be rebuilt.
    At that time the country will grow.
¹² Your people will come back to your land.
    They will come back from Assyria and from the cities of Egypt.
They will come from Egypt
    and from the other side of the Euphrates River.
They will come from the sea in the west
    and from the mountains in the east.

¹⁵ I did many miracles when I took you out of Egypt.
    I will let you see more miracles like that.
¹⁶ The nations will see those miracles,
    and they will be ashamed.
They will see that their “power”
    is nothing compared to mine.
They will be amazed
    and put their hands over their mouths.
They will cover their ears
    and refuse to listen.
¹⁷ They will crawl in the dust like a snake.
    They will shake with fear.
They will be like insects crawling
    from their holes in the ground
    and coming to the Lord our God.
God, they will fear and respect you!

¹⁸ There is no God like you.
    You take away people’s guilt.
    God will forgive his people who survive.
He will not stay angry with them forever,
    because he enjoys being kind.
¹⁹ He will come back and comfort us again.
    He will throw all our sins into the deep sea.
²⁰ God, please be true to Jacob.
    Be kind and loyal to Abraham,^[l] as you promised our ancestors long ago.