Bible Strands
Micah 6:2
Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel:
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord speaks through the prophet to the mountains and earth’s foundations as witnesses to a legal indictment against Israel. This declaration immediately follows the Lord’s command in the preceding verse to arise and present His case before the hills.
The words — The Hebrew רִיב (riv) carries the literal sense of “case” or “controversy,” indicating a formal legal dispute. The imperative שִׁמְעוּ (shim‘u) commands the mountains to “hear” this proceeding.
The thread — The Lord presenting a formal case against His people runs through Hosea 4:1 and Hosea 12:2, where divine charges are brought against Israel and Judah. Isaiah 1:18 parallels this by framing the Lord’s appeal as an invitation to reason together.
Why it lands — The text states that the Lord holds a formal case against His people and will argue it against Israel. Readers must acknowledge their position as defendants in a divine courtroom and prepare a factual account of their conduct.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God in the land!
- Hosea 12:2 The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah. He will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.
- Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
- Deuteronomy 32:22 For a fire has been kindled by My anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.
- 2 Samuel 22:8 Then the earth shook and quaked; the foundations of the heavens trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.
- 2 Samuel 22:16 The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
- Psalms 104:5 He set the earth on its foundations, never to be moved.
- Proverbs 8:29 when He set a boundary for the sea, so that the waters would not surpass His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth.
- Isaiah 5:3 “And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I exhort you to judge between Me and My vineyard.
- Jeremiah 2:9 Therefore, I will contend with you again, declares the LORD, and I will bring a case against your children’s children.