Passage

Micah 6

Book: Micah · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Hear ye now what Jehovah saith: Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. 2. Hear, O ye mountains, Jehovah's controversy, and ye enduring foundations of the earth; for Jehovah hath a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel. 3. O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. 4. For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 5. O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him; remember from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of Jehovah. 6. Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves a year old? 7. will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8. He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God? 9. The voice of Jehovah crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom will see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. 10. Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a scant measure that is abominable? 11. Shall I be pure with wicked balances, and with a bag of deceitful weights? 12. For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. 13. Therefore I also have smitten thee with a grievous wound; I have made thee desolate because of thy sins. 14. Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy humiliation shall be in the midst of thee: and thou shalt put away, but shalt not save; and that which thou savest will I give up to the sword. 15. Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine. 16. For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I may make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing: and ye shall bear the reproach of my people." (Micah 6:1-16, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Listen now to what Yahweh says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear what you have to say. 2. Hear, you mountains, Yahweh’s controversy, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for Yahweh has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel. 3. My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me! 4. For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage. I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 5. My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of Yahweh.” 6. How shall I come before Yahweh, and bow myself before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7. Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams? With tens of thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my disobedience? The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8. He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? 9. Yahweh’s voice calls to the city, and wisdom sees your name: “Listen to the rod, and he who appointed it. 10. Are there yet treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and a short ephah that is accursed? 11. Shall I be pure with dishonest scales, and with a bag of deceitful weights? 12. Her rich men are full of violence, her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their speech. 13. Therefore I also have struck you with a grievous wound. I have made you desolate because of your sins. 14. You shall eat, but not be satisfied. Your humiliation will be within you. You will store up, but not save; and that which you save I will give up to the sword. 15. You will sow, but won’t reap. You will tread the olives, but won’t anoint yourself with oil; and crush grapes, but won’t drink the wine. 16. For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of Ahab’s house. You walk in their counsels, that I may make you a ruin, and her inhabitants a hissing; And you will bear the reproach of my people.”" (Micah 6:1-16, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. ^{before: or, with} 2. Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD'S controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel. 3. O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. 4. For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 5. O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD. 6. Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? ^{of a: Heb. sons of a year?} 7. Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? ^{body: Heb. belly} 8. He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? ^{walk: Heb. humble thyself to walk} 9. The LORD'S voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. ^{the man: or, thy name shall see that which is} 10. Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable? ^{Are: or, Is there yet unto every man an house of the, etc} ^{scant: Heb. measure of leanness} 11. Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? ^{count: or, be pure with, etc} 12. For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. 13. Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins. 14. Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword. 15. Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine. 16. For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people. ^{For the: or, For he doth much keep the, etc} ^{desolation: or, astonishment}" (Micah 6:1-16, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. Hear, I pray you, that which Jehovah is saying: 'Rise, strive thou with the mountains, And cause thou the hills to hear thy voice.' 2. Hear, O mountains, the strife of Jehovah, Ye strong ones, foundations of earth! For a strife [is] to Jehovah, with His people, And with Israel He doth reason. 3. O My people, what have I done to thee? And what, have I wearied thee? Testify against Me. 4. For I brought thee up from the land of Egypt, And from the house of servants I have ransomed thee, And I send before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 5. O My people, remember, I pray you, What counsel did Balak king of Moab, What answer him did Balaam son of Beor, (From Shittim unto Gilgal,) In order to know the righteous acts of Jehovah.' 6. With what do I come before Jehovah? Do I bow to God Most High? Do I come before Him with burnt-offerings? With calves, sons of a year? 7. Is Jehovah pleased with thousands of rams? With myriads of streams of oil? Do I give my first-born [for] my transgression? The fruit of my body [for] the sin of my soul? 8. He hath declared to thee, O man, what [is] good; Yea, what is Jehovah requiring of thee, Except, to do judgment, and love kindness, And lowly to walk with thy God? 9. A voice of Jehovah to the city calleth, And wisdom doth fear Thy name, Hear ye the rod, and Him who appointed it. 10. Are there yet [in] the house of the wicked Treasures of wickedness, And the abhorred scanty ephah? 11. Do I reckon [it] pure with balances of wickedness? And with a bag of deceitful stones? 12. Whose rich ones have been full of violence, And its inhabitants have spoken falsehood, And their tongue [is] deceitful in their mouth. 13. And I also, I have begun to smite thee, To make desolate, because of thy sins. 14. Thou, thou eatest, and thou art not satisfied, And thy pit [is] in thy midst, And thou removest, and dost not deliver, And that which thou deliverest, to a sword I give. 15. Thou, thou sowest, and thou dost not reap, Thou, thou treadest the olive, And thou pourest not out oil, And new wine, and thou drinkest not wine. 16. And kept habitually are the statutes of Omri, And all the work of the house of Ahab, And ye do walk in their counsels, For My giving thee for a desolation, And its inhabitants for a hissing, And the reproach of My people ye do bear!" (Micah 6:1-16, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.