The Lord Pleads His Case to Israel |
Micah 6:1-16 The Book of Micah [in Smaller Chunks] |
You, now hear what the Lord says; Arise & [plead your case in front of] the mountains, & let the hills hear your voice. O you mountains, & strong foundations of the earth, hear the Lord's controversy, [a.k.a. dispute.] For the Lord has a [dispute] with His people, & He will plead with Israel. |
[Isaiah 1:16-18 Wash [yourselves] & make [yourself] clean. Put away the evil of your [actions] from [in front of My] eyes & [stop from doing] [what is] evil. Learn to do well; & seek: [justice,] relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, & plead for the widow. |
Come now, & let's reason together, says the Lord. [Although] your sins [are like] scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. [Although] they [are] red like crimson, they shall be [white] [like] wool.] |
O My people, what have I done to you? And [for what reason,] have I [tired] you? Testify against Me. [Isaiah 43:22-24 But you haven't called upon Me, O Jacob. But you have been [tired] of Me, O Israel. You haven't brought Me the small [livestock for] your burnt offerings; & neither have you honored Me with your sacrifices. |
I haven't [made] you to serve with an offering, nor [tired] you with [bringing] incense. You haven't brought Me [any] sweet [sugar] cane with money, & neither have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have made Me to [put up] with your sins. You have wearied Me with your [sinfulness.] |
For, I brought you up, out of the land of Egypt, & redeemed you [from] the house of servants. And I sent Moses, Aaron, & Miriam [in front of] you. |
O My people, remember now what Balak, [Moab's] king, [requested] & what Balaam, [Beor's] son, answered him from Shittim, [all the way] to Gilgal; [so] that you may know the righteousness of the Lord. |
[Joshua 24:9-10 Then, Balak, [Zippor's] son, [Moab's] king, arose & [fought] against Israel, & sent & called Balaam, [Beor's] son, to curse you. But I wouldn't [listen] to Balaam. Therefore, he still blessed you. So, I delivered you out of his hand.] |
[For what reason] shall I come before the Lord & bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, & with [1] year old calves? Will the Lord be pleased with 1,000's off rams, or with 10,000 rivers of oil? |
Shall I give my firstborn for my [sinfulness,] the fruit of my body, for the sin of my soul? [1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings & sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? [See,] to obey is better than sacrifice, & to [listen] is better than the fat of rams.] |
O man, He has [declared to] you, what is good. And what does the Lord require [from] you, [only] to do justly; to love mercy, & to walk humbly with your God? The Lord's voice cries [out] to the city, & the man [with] wisdom shall see Your Name. You, hear the Rod, & Who has appointed it. |
[Isaiah 11:1-4 *And there shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, & a Branch shall grow out of his roots. *And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him: the Spirit of wisdom & understanding; the Spirit of [advice] & [strength;] & the Spirit of knowledge & the fear [respect] of the Lord. |
And shall [immediately] make Him of understanding in the fear [respect] of the Lord. And He shall not judge, [according to] the sight of His eyes, & neither [correct according] [to what] His ears [hear.] |
But He shall judge the poor with righteousness, & [repay] the [humble] of the earth with equity. And He shall [strike] the earth with the Rod of His mouth, & He shall slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.] |
Are there [still] treasures in the house of wicked [from] wickedness? And the scant, [a.k.a. reduced, measurement,] that is abominable? [Amos 8:4-6 O you, [who] swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail. Hear this saying, When will the New Moon be [over, so] that we may sell [grain?] |
And [when will] the Sabbath [be over, so] that we may [put out] the wheat, making the ephah [smaller,] & the shekel [larger,] & [falsify] the balances, [a.k.a. scales,] by deceit? [So] that we may buy the poor for silver, & the needy for a pair of shoes. [Yes,] & sell the [inferior] wheat?] |
Shall I [consider those who] [have] the wicked balances, with a bag of deceitful weights, pure? For [its] rich men are full of violence, & [its] inhabitants have spoken lies. And their tongue in their mouth is deceitful. |
[Isaiah 1:23-24 Your silver [has] become [scum,] & your wine [is] mixed with water. Your princes are rebellious, & companions of thieves. Everyone loves gifts, [a.k.a. bribes,] & follows after rewards. They [don't] judge the fatherless, & neither [does] the [case] of the widow come to them.] |
Therefore, I will also make you sick [by] [striking] you, & making you desolate, because of your sins. [Ezekiel 23:37-39 They have committed adultery & blood is [on] their hands. And they have committed adultery with their idols. |
And have also caused their sons, whom they [bore] to Me, to pass through the fire, to devour them, for [idols.] [Additionally,] they have done [this] to Me. They have defiled My sanctuary [on] the same day, & have profaned My Sabbaths. |
For when they had [sacrificed] their children to their idols, then they came the same day into My sanctuary to profane it. And, [look] they have done [this] in the midst of [My] house.] |
You shall eat, but not be satisfied. And your casting down, shall be in the midst of you. And you shall take hold, but shall not [be] [delivered.] And [those, who] you deliver, I will give up to the sword. [Isaiah 24:17-18 Fear, the pit, & the [trap,] are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth. |
And it shall [happen] that he who flees from the noise of the fear, shall fall into the pit. And he, [who] comes up, out of the [middle] of the pit, shall be taken in the [trap.] For the windows from on high are open & the foundations of the earth shake.] |
You shall sow [seed,] but you shall not [harvest.] You shall [trample] the olives, but you shall not anoint [yourself] with oil. And you shall [trample the grapes for your] sweet wine, but shall not drink wine. |
[Amos 5:11-12 Therefore, [since you trample] upon the poor, & you take from him burdens, [a.k.a. loads,] of wheat, you have built houses of [cut] stone, but you shall not [live] in them. |
You have planted [nice] vineyards, but you shall not drink wine [from] them. For I know your [many] transgressions & your mighty sins. They afflict the just, & they take a bribe, & they turn aside the poor in the gate, from their [rights.] |
For the [mandates] of Omri are kept. [1 Kings 16:25-26 But Omri, [brought about] evil in the eyes of the Lord, & did worse than all, [who] were before him. For [Omri followed] in all the [ways] of Jeroboam, [Nebat's] son, & in his [sins with which] he made Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger, with their vanities, [a.k.a. idols.] |
And the works of the house of Ahab, & you [follow] their [advice; so] that I should make you [desolate] & inhabitants [that are hissed at.] [1 Kings 16:30-33 And Ahab, [Omri's] son, did evil in the sight of the Lord, above all, [who] were before him. |
And it [happened,] as if it had been [a little] thing for him to [follow] in the sins of Jeroboam, [Nebat's] son, that [Ahab,] took to [marry,] Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, the [Zidonian's] king, & went & served Baal, & worshiped him. |
And [Ahab put] up an altar for Baal, in the house of Baal, that he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a grove. And Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel, [who] were before him.] |
[For these reasons,] you shall bear the [disgrace] of My people. |