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Micah 6-7
The Message
Micah 6-7
The Message
What God Is Looking For
6 1-2 Listen now, listen to God:
“Take your stand in court.
If you have a complaint, tell the mountains;
make your case to the hills.
And now, Mountains, hear God’s case;
listen, Jury Earth—
For I am bringing charges against my people.
I am building a case against Israel.
3-5 “Dear people, how have I done you wrong?
Have I burdened you, worn you out? Answer!
I delivered you from a bad life in Egypt;
I paid a good price to get you out of slavery.
I sent Moses to lead you—
and Aaron and Miriam to boot!
Remember what Balak king of Moab tried to pull,
and how Balaam son of Beor turned the tables on him.
Remember all those stories about Shittim and Gilgal.
Keep all God’s salvation stories fresh and present.”
6-7 How can I stand up before God
and show proper respect to the high God?
Should I bring an armload of offerings
topped off with yearling calves?
Would God be impressed with thousands of rams,
with buckets and barrels of olive oil?
Would he be moved if I sacrificed my firstborn child,
my precious baby, to cancel my sin?
* * *
8 But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,
what God is looking for in men and women.
It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously—
take God seriously.
9 Attention! God calls out to the city!
If you know what’s good for you, you’ll listen.
So listen, all of you!
This is serious business.
* * *
10-16 “Do you expect me to overlook obscene wealth
you’ve piled up by cheating and fraud?
Do you think I’ll tolerate shady deals
and shifty scheming?
I’m tired of the violent rich
bullying their way with bluffs and lies.
I’m fed up. Beginning now, you’re finished.
You’ll pay for your sins down to your last cent.
No matter how much you get, it will never be enough—
hollow stomachs, empty hearts.
No matter how hard you work, you’ll have nothing to show for it—
bankrupt lives, wasted souls.
You’ll plant grass
but never get a lawn.
You’ll make jelly
but never spread it on your bread.
You’ll press apples
but never drink the cider.
You have lived by the standards of your king, Omri,
the decadent lifestyle of the family of Ahab.
Because you’ve slavishly followed their fashions,
I’m forcing you into bankruptcy.
Your way of life will be laughed at, a tasteless joke.
Your lives will be derided as futile and fake.”
Stick Around to See What God Will Do
7 1-6 I’m overwhelmed with sorrow!
sunk in a swamp of despair!
I’m like someone who goes to the garden
to pick cabbages and carrots and corn
And returns empty-handed,
finds nothing for soup or sandwich or salad.
There’s not a decent person in sight.
Right-living humans are extinct.
They’re all out for one another’s blood,
animals preying on each other.
They’ve all become experts in evil.
Corrupt leaders demand bribes.
The powerful rich
make sure they get what they want.
The best and brightest are thistles.
The top of the line is crabgrass.
But no longer: It’s exam time.
Look at them slinking away in disgrace!
Don’t trust your neighbor,
don’t confide in your friend.
Watch your words,
even with your spouse.
Neighborhoods and families are falling to pieces.
The closer they are—sons, daughters, in-laws—
The worse they can be.
Your own family is the enemy.
* * *
7 But me, I’m not giving up.
I’m sticking around to see what God will do.
I’m waiting for God to make things right.
I’m counting on God to listen to me.
Spreading Your Wings
8-10 Don’t, enemy, crow over me.
I’m down, but I’m not out.
I’m sitting in the dark right now,
but God is my light.
I can take God’s punishing rage.
I deserve it—I sinned.
But it’s not forever. He’s on my side
and is going to get me out of this.
He’ll turn on the lights and show me his ways.
I’ll see the whole picture and how right he is.
And my enemy will see it, too,
and be discredited—yes, disgraced!
This enemy who kept taunting,
“So where is this God of yours?”
I’m going to see it with these, my own eyes—
my enemy disgraced, trash in the gutter.
* * *
11-13 Oh, that will be a day! A day for rebuilding your city,
a day for stretching your arms, spreading your wings!
All your dispersed and scattered people will come back,
old friends and family from faraway places,
From Assyria in the east to Egypt in the west,
from across the seas and out of the mountains.
But there’ll be a reversal for everyone else—massive depopulation—
because of the way they lived, the things they did.
14-17 Shepherd, O God, your people with your staff,
your dear and precious flock.
Uniquely yours in a grove of trees,
centered in lotus land.
Let them graze in lush Bashan
as in the old days in green Gilead.
Reproduce the miracle-wonders
of our exodus from Egypt.
And the godless nations: Put them in their place—
humiliated in their arrogance, speechless and clueless.
Make them slink like snakes, crawl like cockroaches,
come out of their holes from under their rocks
And face our God.
Fill them with holy fear and trembling.
* * *
18-20 Where is the god who can compare with you—
wiping the slate clean of guilt,
Turning a blind eye, a deaf ear,
to the past sins of your purged and precious people?
You don’t nurse your anger and don’t stay angry long,
for mercy is your specialty. That’s what you love most.
And compassion is on its way to us.
You’ll stamp out our wrongdoing.
You’ll sink our sins
to the bottom of the ocean.
You’ll stay true to your word to Father Jacob
and continue the compassion you showed Grandfather Abraham—
Everything you promised our ancestors
from a long time ago.
Micah 6-7
New International Version
Micah 6-7
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]”
Israel’s Misery
7 What 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(AQ) that I crave.
2 The faithful have been swept from the land;(AR)
not one(AS) upright person remains.
Everyone lies in wait(AT) to shed blood;(AU)
they hunt each other(AV) with nets.(AW)
3 Both hands are skilled in doing evil;(AX)
the ruler demands gifts,
the judge accepts bribes,(AY)
the powerful dictate what they desire—
they all conspire together.
4 The best of them is like a brier,(AZ)
the most upright worse than a thorn(BA) hedge.
The day God visits you has come,
the day your watchmen sound the alarm.
Now is the time of your confusion.(BB)
5 Do not trust a neighbor;
put no confidence in a friend.(BC)
Even with the woman who lies in your embrace
guard the words of your lips.
6 For a son dishonors his father,
a daughter rises up against her mother,(BD)
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.(BE)
7 But as for me, I watch(BF) in hope(BG) for the Lord,
I wait for God my Savior;
my God will hear(BH) me.
Israel Will Rise
8 Do not gloat over me,(BI) my enemy!
Though I have fallen, I will rise.(BJ)
Though I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be my light.(BK)
9 Because I have sinned against him,
I will bear the Lord’s wrath,(BL)
until he pleads my case(BM)
and upholds my cause.
He will bring me out into the light;(BN)
I will see his righteousness.(BO)
10 Then my enemy will see it
and will be covered with shame,(BP)
she who said to me,
“Where is the Lord your God?”(BQ)
My eyes will see her downfall;(BR)
even now she will be trampled(BS) underfoot
like mire in the streets.
11 The day for building your walls(BT) will come,
the day for extending your boundaries.
12 In that day people will come to you
from Assyria(BU) and the cities of Egypt,
even from Egypt to the Euphrates
and from sea to sea
and from mountain to mountain.(BV)
13 The earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants,
as the result of their deeds.(BW)
Prayer and Praise
14 Shepherd(BX) your people with your staff,(BY)
the flock of your inheritance,
which lives by itself in a forest,
in fertile pasturelands.[h](BZ)
Let them feed in Bashan(CA) and Gilead(CB)
as in days long ago.(CC)
15 “As in the days when you came out of Egypt,
I will show them my wonders.(CD)”
16 Nations will see and be ashamed,(CE)
deprived of all their power.
They will put their hands over their mouths(CF)
and their ears will become deaf.
17 They will lick dust(CG) like a snake,
like creatures that crawl on the ground.
They will come trembling(CH) out of their dens;
they will turn in fear(CI) to the Lord our God
and will be afraid of you.
18 Who is a God(CJ) like you,
who pardons sin(CK) and forgives(CL) the transgression
of the remnant(CM) of his inheritance?(CN)
You do not stay angry(CO) forever
but delight to show mercy.(CP)
19 You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities(CQ) into the depths of the sea.(CR)
20 You will be faithful to Jacob,
and show love to Abraham,(CS)
as you pledged on oath to our ancestors(CT)
in days long ago.(CU)
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
- Micah 7:14 Or in the middle of Carmel
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.