Micah 6:1
in Micah 6Hear now what the LORD says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Hear ye now what Jehovah saith: Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
KJV
Hear ye now what the Lord saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
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This verse in Micah 6
Commentary
7 notes on this verse(Chapter VI—Verses 1, 2.) Listen to what the Lord is saying: Rise up, contend with the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Listen, O mountains, to the Lord's judgment, and you mighty foundations of the earth, for the Lord will judge with his people and with Israel. Septuagint: Listen to what the Lord has spoken: Rise up, judge among the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Listen, O mountains, to the Lord's judgment, and you valleys, foundations of the earth, for the Lord will judge his people and with Israel.
This site's exposition
Arise, plead your case before the mountains
on Micah 6:1-2
The Lord summons Israel to court: "Arise, plead your case before the mountains". The mountains hear the case, as heaven and earth are called in Deuteronomy 32:1 and Isaiah 1:2 to witness the covenant. The case is "against His people", and the mountains sit as the jury.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Arise - This is God's command to Micah. Contend thou - Argue the case between God and thy people; and speak as if thou wouldst make the mountains hear thee, to testify for me.
Hear ye now what the Lord saith,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Hear ye now what the Lord saith - If ye will not hear the rebuke of man, hear now at last the word of God. “Arise thou, Micah.” The prophet was not willing to be the herald of woe to his people; but had to arise at the bidding of God, that he might not “be rebellious like that rebellious house” Eze 2:8. Stand up; as one having all authority to rebuke, and daunted by none.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Mic 5:11-13 suggested the transition from those happy times described in the fourth and fifth chapters, to the prophet's own degenerate times and people. before the mountains--in their presence; personified as if witnesses (compare Mic 1:2; Not as the Margin, "with"; as God's controversy is with Israel, not with them.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Arise, contend thou - This chapter is a sort of dialogue between God and the people. God speaks the five first verses, and convicts the people of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The People, convinced of their iniquity, deprecate God’s judgments, in the sixth and seventh verses. In the eighth verse God prescribes the way in which they are to be saved; and then the prophet, by the command of God, goes on to remonstrate from the ninth verse to the end of the chapter.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שִׁמְעוּ־ | shimu- | hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| נָ֕א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| אֵ֥ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | [that] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֹמֵ֑ר | ʾomer | [is] saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| ק֚וּם | kum | arise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| רִ֣יב | riv | conduct a case | H7378 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| הֶהָרִ֔ים | heharim | the mountains | H2022 → | 546 times |
| וְתִשְׁמַ֥עְנָה | vetishma'nah | so they may hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| הַגְּבָע֖וֹת | hagevaot | the hills | H1389 → | |
| קוֹלֶֽךָ׃ | kolecha | voice your | H6963 → |
שִׁמְעוּ־hear
shimu-H8085 →1159 times
נָ֕אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
אֵ֥ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
אֲשֶׁר־[that] which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֹמֵ֑ר[is] saying
ʾomerH559 →5305 times
ק֚וּםarise
kumH6965 →628 times
רִ֣יבconduct a case
rivH7378 →
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
הֶהָרִ֔יםthe mountains
heharimH2022 →546 times
וְתִשְׁמַ֥עְנָהso they may hear
vetishma'nahH8085 →1159 times
הַגְּבָע֖וֹתthe hills
hagevaotH1389 →
קוֹלֶֽךָ׃voice your
kolechaH6963 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 32:1Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
it leads to
- Isaiah 1:2
Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 4:26
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 22:29
O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 30:19
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 49:1
Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all inhabitants of the world,
- Isaiah 1:2
Through
Jeremiah 22:29O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:1
Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Micah 1:2
Hear, O peoples, all of you; listen, O earth, and everyone in it! May the Lord GOD bear witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple.
- Jeremiah 6:19
Hear, O earth! I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their own schemes, because they have paid no attention to My word and have rejected My instruction.
- Deuteronomy 32:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies12
On this verse
On this chapter
About Micah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Twelve Minor Prophets; Edward Bouverie Pusey, The Minor Prophets: A Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Micah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.