Hear, O you mountains, the Lord’s complaint, And you strong foundations of the earth; For the Lord has a complaint against His people, And He will contend with Israel.
Parallel translations
- WEB Hear, you mountains, Yahweh’s controversy, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for Yahweh has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel.
- KJV 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.
- BSB 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:
- NASB “Listen, you mountains, to the indictment by the Lord, And you enduring foundations of the earth, Because the Lord has a case against His people; And He will dispute with Israel.
- NLT And now, O mountains, listen to the Lord’s complaint! He has a case against his people. He will bring charges against Israel.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Yahweh summons the mountains and the foundations of the earth as witnesses while He brings a legal case against His covenant people. It matters because God holds Israel accountable to the relationship He established with them.
Overview
Using courtroom imagery, the LORD lodges a formal "controversy" (Hebrew rib, a lawsuit) against Israel, calling enduring creation itself to witness. This sets up the covenant-lawsuit form that structures Micah 6, where God is both wronged party and judge. The passage reminds us that God's complaints against His people are just, even as the gospel will later answer such a lawsuit in Christ, who bears the verdict we deserve.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Hos 4:1Hear Yahweh’s word, you children of Israel; for Yahweh has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.
- Hos 12:2Yahweh also has a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his deeds he will repay him.
- Isa 1:18“Come now, and let us reason together,” says Yahweh: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
- 2 Sam 22:16Then the channels of the sea appeared. The foundations of the world were laid bare by Yahweh’s rebuke, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.
- Prov 8:29when he gave to the sea its boundary, that the waters should not violate his commandment, when he marked out the foundations of the earth;
- Ps 104:5He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.
- Deut 32:22For a fire is kindled in my anger, that burns to the lowest Sheol, devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.
- Jer 25:31A noise shall come even to the end of the earth; for Yahweh has a controversy with the nations; he will enter into judgment with all flesh: as for the wicked, he will give them to the sword,”’ says Yahweh.”
- Isa 5:3“Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard.
- 2 Sam 22:8Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken, because he was angry.
- Jer 2:9“Therefore I will yet contend with you,” says Yahweh, “and I will contend with your children’s children.
- Ezek 20:35–36I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.
- Jer 31:37Yahweh says: “If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done,” says Yahweh.
- Jer 2:29–35“Why will you contend with me? You all have transgressed against me,” says Yahweh.
- Isa 43:26Put me in remembrance. Let us plead together. Declare your case, that you may be justified.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Micah names the town — 'But you, Bethlehem... from you shall come forth one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origins are from of old' — the birthplace of the eternal King.
How Micah 6:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.