Micah 6 - Nahum 3

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Rise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
² Listen to the Lord’s lawsuit,^(A)
you mountains and enduring foundations of the earth,^(B)
because the Lord has a case against His people,^(C)
and He will argue it against Israel.
³ My people,^(D) what have I done to you,^(E)
or how have I wearied you?^(F)
Testify against Me!
⁴ Indeed, I brought you up^(G) from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you^(H) from that place of slavery.^(I)
I sent Moses,^(J) Aaron, and Miriam^(K) ahead of you.
⁵ My people,
remember what Balak king of Moab^(L) proposed,
what Balaam son of Beor answered him,^(M)
and what happened from the Acacia Grove^[a](N) to Gilgal^(O)
so that you may acknowledge
the Lord’s righteous acts.^(P)

⁶ What should I bring before the Lord^(Q)
when I come to bow before God on high?
Should I come before Him with burnt offerings,^(R)
with year-old calves?
⁷ Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams^(S)
or with ten thousand streams of oil?
Should I give my firstborn for my transgression,^(T)
the child of my body for my own sin?

⁸ Mankind, He has told you what is good^(U)
and what it is the Lord requires of you:^(V)
to act justly,^(W)
to love faithfulness,^(X)
and to walk humbly with your God.^(Y)

¹³ “As a result, I have begun to strike you severely,^[e](AF)
bringing desolation because of your sins.^(AG)
14 You will eat but not be satisfied,^(AH)
for there will be hunger within you.
What you acquire, you cannot save,^(AI)
and what you do save,
I will give to the sword.^[f]
15 You will sow but not reap;^(AJ)
you will press olives
but not anoint yourself with oil;
and you will tread grapes
but not drink the wine.^(AK)
16 The statutes of Omri
and all the practices of Ahab’s house
have been observed;
you have followed their policies.^(AL)
Therefore, I will make you a desolate place^(AM)
and the city’s^[g] residents an object of contempt;^[h](AN)
you will bear the scorn of My people.”^[i](AO)

¹¹ A day will come for rebuilding your walls;^(BP)
on that day your boundary will be extended.^(BQ)
12 On that day people will come to you^(BR)
from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
even from Egypt to the Euphrates River
and from sea to sea
and mountain to mountain.
¹³ Then the earth will become a wasteland^(BS)
because of its inhabitants
and as a result of their actions.^(BT)

¹⁵ I will perform miracles for them^[k]
as in the days of your exodus
from the land of Egypt.^(BZ)
16 Nations will see and be ashamed
of^[l] all their power.
They will put their hands over their mouths,^(CA)
and their ears will become deaf.
¹⁷ They will lick the dust like a snake;^(CB)
they will come trembling out of their hiding places^(CC)
like reptiles slithering on the ground.^(CD)
They will tremble in the presence of Yahweh our God;^(CE)
they will stand in awe of You.

¹⁸ Who is a God like You,^(CF)
removing iniquity and passing over rebellion^(CG)
for the remnant of His inheritance?^(CH)
He does not hold on to His anger forever,^(CI)
because He delights in faithful love.^(CJ)
19 He will again have compassion on us;
He will vanquish our iniquities.^(CK)
You will cast all our^[m] sins
into the depths of the sea.^(CL)
20 You will show loyalty to Jacob^(CM)
and faithful love to Abraham,
as You swore to our fathers^(CN)
from days long ago.

⁹ Whatever you^[r] plot against the Lord,
He will bring it to complete destruction;^(CX)
oppression will not rise up a second time.
¹⁰ For they will be consumed
like entangled thorns,^(CY)
like the drink of a drunkard
and like straw that is fully dry.^[s]
11 One has gone out from you,^[t]
who plots evil against Yahweh,
and is a wicked counselor.

Though they are strong^[u] and numerous,
they will still be mowed down,
and he^[v] will pass away.
Though I have afflicted you,^[w](CZ)
I will afflict you no longer.^(DA)
13 For I will now break off his yoke from you
and tear off your shackles.

There will be no offspring
to carry on your name.^[x](DB)
I will eliminate the carved idol and cast image
from the house of your gods;^(DC)
I will prepare your grave,
for you are contemptible.

^15 [y]Look to the mountains—
the feet of one bringing good news^(DD)
and proclaiming peace!
Celebrate your festivals, Judah;
fulfill your vows.
For the wicked one will never again
march through you;
he will be entirely wiped out.

² For the Lord will restore the majesty of Jacob,
yes,^[aa] the majesty of Israel,
though ravagers have ravaged them
and ruined their vine branches.^(DF)

³ The shields of his^[ab] warriors are dyed red;
the valiant men are dressed in scarlet.^(DG)
The fittings of the chariot flash like fire
on the day of its battle preparations,
and the spears are brandished.
⁴ The chariots dash madly through the streets;
they rush around in the plazas.
They look like torches;
they dart back and forth like lightning.
⁵ He gives orders to his officers;
they stumble as they advance.
They race to its wall;
the protective shield is set in place.
⁶ The river gates are opened,
and the palace erodes away.^(DH)

⁷ Beauty^[ac] is stripped,^[ad]
she is carried away;
her ladies-in-waiting moan
like the sound of doves,^(DI)
and beat their breasts.
⁸ Nineveh has been like a pool of water
from her first days,^[ae]
but they are fleeing.
“Stop! Stop!” they cry,
but no one turns back.
⁹ “Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold!”
There is no end to the treasure,
an abundance of every precious thing.^(DJ)
10 Desolation, decimation, devastation!
Hearts melt,^(DK)
knees tremble,
loins shake,
every face grows pale!^(DL)

¹¹ Where is the lions’ lair,^(DM)
or the feeding ground of the young lions,
where the lion and lioness prowled,
and the lion’s cub,
with nothing to frighten them away?^(DN)
12 The lion mauled whatever its cubs needed
and strangled prey for its lionesses.
It filled up its dens with the kill,
and its lairs with mauled prey.^(DO)
13 Beware, I am against you.^(DP)
This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.
I will make your chariots go up in smoke^[af]
and the sword will devour your young lions.
I will cut off your prey from the earth,
and the sound of your messengers
will never be heard again.

⁸ Are you better than Thebes^[ag](DX)
that sat along the Nile
with water surrounding her,
whose rampart was the sea,
the river^[ah][ai] her wall?
⁹ Cush and Egypt were her endless source of strength;
Put and Libya were among her^[aj] allies.
¹⁰ Yet she became an exile;
she went into captivity.
Her children were also dashed to pieces^(DY)
at the head of every street.
They cast lots for her dignitaries,^(DZ)
and all her nobles were bound in chains.
¹¹ You^[ak] also will become drunk;
you will hide yourself.^[al]
You also will seek refuge from the enemy.

¹² All your fortresses are fig trees
with figs that ripened first;
when shaken, they fall—
right into the mouth of the eater!

¹³ Look, your troops are like women among you;
the gates of your land
are wide open to your enemies.
Fire will devour the bars of your gates.

¹⁴ Draw water for the siege;
strengthen your fortresses.
Step into the clay and tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick-mold!
¹⁵ The fire will devour you there;
the sword will cut you down.
It will devour you like the young locust.^(EA)
Multiply yourselves like the young locust,
multiply like the swarming locust!
¹⁶ You have made your merchants^(EB)
more numerous than the stars of the sky.
The young locust strips^[am] the land
and flies away.
¹⁷ Your court officials are like the swarming locust,
and your scribes like clouds of locusts,
which settle on the walls on a cold day;
when the sun rises, they take off,
and no one knows where they are.

¹⁸ King of Assyria, your shepherds slumber;
your officers sleep.
Your people are scattered across the mountains
with no one to gather them together.^(EC)
19 There is no remedy for your injury;
your wound is severe.^(ED)
All who hear the news about you
will clap their hands because of you,
for who has not experienced
your constant cruelty?