Bible Strands
Micah 6:5
My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD addresses Israel in a courtroom-style indictment (Micah 6:1–8), listing His acts of grace to establish the charge before asking what offering could satisfy the case.
The words — יְעַץ (ya'ats) = "he counseled, planned, devised" — the verb frames Balak's move not as a casual inquiry but as a deliberate scheme, which is what makes the outcome remarkable.
The thread — "From Shittim to Gilgal" compresses the Balak-Balaam episode (Numbers 22–24), the Shittim immorality (Numbers 25:1), and the crossing where the reproach of Egypt was rolled away (Joshua 5:9); Judges 5:11 echoes the same demand to "recount the righteous acts of the LORD."
Why it lands — God asks for a specific, named recall of events and then a verdict: "acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD." Israel's failure to do so in the face of this recall is itself the indictment.
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
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.
Cross-references
- Joshua 5:9 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So that place has been called Gilgal to this day.
- Numbers 25:1 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,
- Judges 5:11 the voices of the singers at the watering places. There they shall recount the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous deeds of His villagers in Israel. Then the people of the LORD went down to the gates:
- 2 Peter 2:15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.
- Deuteronomy 16:3 You must not eat leavened bread with it; for seven days you are to eat with it unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left the land of Egypt in haste—so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt.
- Joshua 4:19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.
- Joshua 24:9 Then Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab, set out to fight against Israel. He sent for Balaam son of Beor to curse you,
- Numbers 22:1 Then the Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho.
- Deuteronomy 8:18 But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.
- Deuteronomy 9:7 Remember this, and never forget how you provoked the LORD your God in the wilderness. From the day you left the land of Egypt until you reached this place, you have been rebelling against the LORD.