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6. The Lord's Case Against Israel

¹ Listen to what the LORD says:

“Stand up, plead my case before the mountains;
let the hills hear what you have to say.

    ² “Hear, you mountains, the LORD’s accusation;
   listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.
For the LORD has a case against his people;
   he is lodging a charge against Israel.

    ³ “My people, what have I done to you?
   How have I burdened you? Answer me.
⁴ I brought you up out of Egypt
   and redeemed you from the land of slavery.
I sent Moses to lead you,
   also Aaron and Miriam.
⁵ My people, remember
   what Balak king of Moab plotted
   and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal,
   that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD.”

    ⁶ With what shall I come before the LORD
   and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
   with calves a year old?
⁷ Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
   with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
   the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
⁸ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
   And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
   and to walk humbly Or prudently with your God.

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

    ⁹ Listen! The LORD is calling to the city—
   and to fear your name is wisdom—
   “Heed the rod and the One who appointed it. The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
¹⁰ Am I still to forget your ill-gotten treasures, you wicked house,
   and the short ephah, An ephah was a dry measure. which is accursed?
¹¹ Shall I acquit someone with dishonest scales,
   with a bag of false weights?
¹² Your rich people are violent;
   your inhabitants are liars
   and their tongues speak deceitfully.
¹³ Therefore, I have begun to destroy you,
   to ruin Or Therefore, I will make you ill and destroy you; / I will ruin you because of your sins.
¹⁴ You will eat but not be satisfied;
   your stomach will still be empty. The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
You will store up but save nothing,
   because what you save Or You will press toward birth but not give birth, / and what you bring to birth I will give to the sword.
¹⁵ You will plant but not harvest;
   you will press olives but not use the oil,
   you will crush grapes but not drink the wine.
¹⁶ You have observed the statutes of Omri
   and all the practices of Ahab’s house;
   you have followed their traditions.
Therefore I will give you over to ruin
   and your people to derision;
   you will bear the scorn of the nations. Septuagint; Hebrew scorn due my people”

Hear, ye mountains, the controversy of Jehovah, ¹⁶¹¹⁶¹ Henry says, “Sin begets a controversy between God and man. The righteous God has an action against every sinner, an action of debt, an action of trespass, an action of slander.” how? and ye strong foundations of the earth, he says. He speaks here no more of hills, but summons the whole world; as though he said, “There is not one of the elements which is not to bear witness respecting the obstinacy of this people; for the voice of God will penetrate to the farthest roots of the earth, it will reach the lowest depths: these men will at the same time continue deaf.” And he says not, the Lord threatens you, or denounces judgment on you; but Jehovah has a contention with his people. We now then see that there is no metaphor in these words; but that the Prophet merely shows how monstrous was the stupor of the people, who profited nothing by the celestial doctrine delivered to them, so that the very mountains and the whole machinery of earth and heaven, though destitute of reason, had more understanding than these men. And it is not unusual with the Prophets, we know, to turn their discourse to mute elements, when there remains no hope of success from men. But our Prophet does not abruptly address mountains and hills as Isaiah does, (Isaiah 1:2,) and as also Moses had done,

‘Hear, ye heavens, what I shall say, let the earth hear the words of my mouth,’ (Deuteronomy 32:1,)

but he prefaces his discourse by saying, that it had been specially commanded to him to summon the mountains and hills to God’s judgment. By saying then, “Hear ye what Jehovah saith,” he prepares as I have said, the Jews to hear, that they might know that something uncommon and altogether unusual was to be announced, — that the Lord, in order more fully to convict them of extreme impiety, intended to plead his cause before the mountains.

Arise, then, and plead before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. What sort of voice was this? They who think that the judges are here figuratively pointed out may be easily refuted; for Micah in the next verse mentions the substance of this pleading, namely that the Lord expostulated with his people. We hence see that God had no contention with the mountains, but that, on the contrary, the mountains were summoned, that they might understand God’s pleading, not against them, but against the people. Hear then, ye mountains, Jehovah’s controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth, that is, the very rocks. There is nothing so hard in the world, he says, that shall not be inane to hear; for this pleading shall reach the lowest depths. Jehovah then has a controversy with his people, and he will plead, or contend, with Israel It follows —