My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me!
Parallel translations
- KJV O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.
- BSB ‘My people, what have I done to you? Testify against Me how I have wearied you!
- NKJV “O My people, what have I done to you? And how have I wearied you? Testify against Me.
- NASB “My people, what have I done to you, And how have I wearied you? Answer Me.
- NLT “O my people, what have I done to you? What have I done to make you tired of me? Answer me!
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
God tenderly asks His people what He has done to weary them, exposing that their unfaithfulness has no just cause. It shows that Israel's rebellion is against a God who has only blessed them.
Overview
Rather than opening with accusation, the LORD pleads with disarming gentleness, "My people, what have I done to you?" This rhetorical question highlights that God's covenant has been a burden of grace, not oppression, and that the fault lies entirely with Israel. It anticipates the heart of a God who would later be wounded by those He loved, supremely at the cross.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Jer 2:5Yahweh says, “What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, and have walked after worthless vanity, and have become worthless?
- Isa 43:22–23Yet you have not called on me, Jacob; but you have been weary of me, Israel.
- Jer 2:31Generation, consider Yahweh’s word. Have I been a wilderness to Israel? Or a land of thick darkness? Why do my people say, ‘We have broken loose. We will come to you no more?’
- Ps 81:13Oh that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!
- Ps 50:7“Hear, my people, and I will speak; Israel, and I will testify against you. I am God, your God.
- Mic 6:5My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of Yahweh.”
- Rom 3:19Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God.
- Rom 3:4–5May it never be! Yes, let God be found true, but every man a liar. As it is written, “That you might be justified in your words, and might prevail when you come into judgment.”
- Ps 81:8“Hear, my people, and I will testify to you, Israel, if you would listen to me!
- Ps 51:4Against you, and you only, I have sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight; that you may be proved right when you speak, and justified when you judge.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 6:3 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.