Chapter 6

1 Listen to what the Lord says: “Get up! Defend yourself before the mountains. Present your case before the hills.” 2 Hear the Lord’s accusation, you mountains, you enduring foundations of the earth.⁠ For the Lord has a case against his people; he has a dispute with Israel! 3 “My people, how have I wronged you? How have I wearied you? Answer me! 4 In fact, I brought you up from the land of Egypt; I delivered you from that place of slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you.⁠ 5 My people, recall how King Balak of Moab planned to harm you, how Balaam son of Beor responded to him.⁠ Recall how you journeyed from Shittim to Gilgal, in order to know the just acts of the Lord.⁸” 6 With what should I enter the Lord’s presence? With what should I bow before the sovereign God? Should I enter his presence with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? 7 Will the Lord accept a thousand rams or ten thousand streams of olive oil? Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion, my offspring—my own flesh and blood—for my sin? 8 He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord really wants from you: He wants you to carry out justice, to love faithfulness, and to live obediently before your God.⁠ 9 Listen! The Lord is calling to the city! It is wise to respect your authority, O Lord.⁠ Listen, O nation, and those assembled in the city! 10 “I will not overlook, O sinful house, the dishonest gain you have hoarded away or the smaller-than-standard measure I hate so much.⁠ 11 I do not condone the use of rigged scales or a bag of deceptive weights. 12 The city’s wealthy people readily resort to violence; her inhabitants tell lies; their tongues speak deceptive words. 13 I will strike you brutally and destroy you because of your sin. 14 You will eat, but not be satisfied. Even if you have the strength to overtake some prey, you will not be able to carry it away; if you do happen to carry away something, I will deliver it over to the sword. 15 You will plant crops, but will not harvest them;⁠ you will squeeze oil from the olives, but you will have no oil to rub on your bodies; you will squeeze juice from the grapes, but you will have no wine to drink. 16 You follow Omri’s edicts and all the practices of Ahab’s dynasty; you follow their policies. Therefore I will make you an appalling sight; the city’s inhabitants will be taunted derisively, and nations will mock all of you.”⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Micah 6:8 and Zephaniah 2:3

Hebrew Bible

Summary

Humility in Micah and Zephaniah is shown through deference, restraint, and service. These connect humility with justice, loyalty, and obedience and present it as a relational ethic that supports the health and stability of the community.

Passages

Micah 6:8

Hebrew Bible

6 With what should I enter the Lord’s presence? With what should I bow before the sovereign God? Should I enter his presence with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? 7 Will the Lord accept a thousand rams or ten thousand streams of olive oil? Should I give him my firstborn child as payment for my rebellion, my offspring—my own flesh and blood—for my sin? 8 He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord really wants from you: He wants you to carry out justice, to love faithfulness, and to live obediently before your God. 9 Listen! The Lord is calling to the city! It is wise to respect your authority, O Lord. Listen, O nation, and those assembled in the city! 10 “I will not overlook, O sinful house, the dishonest gain you have hoarded away or the smaller-than-standard measure I hate so much.

600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Micah

Zephaniah 2:3

Hebrew Bible

1 Bunch yourselves together like straw, you undesirable nation, 2 before God’s decree becomes reality and the day of opportunity disappears like windblown chaff, before the Lord’s raging anger overtakes you—before the day of the Lord’s angry judgment overtakes you! 3 Seek the Lord’s favor, all you humble people of the land who have obeyed his commands! Strive to do what is right! Strive to be humble! Maybe you will be protected on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment. 4 Indeed, Gaza will be deserted and Ashkelon will become a heap of ruins. Invaders will drive away the people of Ashdod by noon, and Ekron will be overthrown. 5 Beware, you who live by the sea, the people who came from Crete. The Lord’s message is against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines: “I will destroy everyone who lives there!”

600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Zephaniah

References

"... Humility as a virtue can be defined as that disposition which is the opposite of pride, and which has three mutually interacting aspects. Towards God it is a recognition of one dependence upon him and a subjection of oneself to him. Towards oneself is a realistic assessment of one's place and a curbing of undue ambition. Towards others it is a regard for them and a willingness to give oneself in service to them. This positive understanding of humility can be illustrated from early Jewish literature, including the apocrypha, the documents from Qumran, the Talmud, the Midrash, and from the New Testament. The Old Testament vocabulary of humility and the concept of humility in the Old Testament itself can be examined by plotting the associative field of the key words ... This can be set out under the headings of poverty, victimization, humiliation, and deference, etc... A discussion of the vocabulary of pride is relevant here. The few occurrences in the Old Testament are to be noted. From this survey and examination, a number of key texts can be isolated: Numbers 12:3, Isaiah 66:2, 57:15 and 61:1, Micah 6:8, Zephaniah 2:3 and 3:12, Zechariah 9:9, Psalm 131 and seven sayings in Proverbs. A study of these selected texts provides examples of the place and importance of humility as a virtue ..."

Stephen B. Dawes, “Humility in the Old Testament” (PhD diss., The University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1986), 4.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Micah7 chapters

Compare Micah 6:8 and Zephaniah 2:3

Summary

Passages

Micah 6:8

Zephaniah 2:3

References

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