What God Requires of Man

6With what shall I come to the Lord

And bow myself before the God on high?

Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,

With yearling calves?

7Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams,

In ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,

The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

26If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. 27Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

1) How does Micah distill יהוה’s requirements?

2) How does James call for active obedience?

3) Where is יהוה asking you to move from hearing to doing?

Contrast the Upright and the Wicked

1A false balance is an abomination to the Lord,

But a just weight is His delight.

2When pride comes, then comes dishonor,

But with the humble is wisdom.

3The integrity of the upright will guide them,

But the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them.

4Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,

But righteousness delivers from death.

5The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way,

But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.

6The righteousness of the upright will deliver them,

But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed.

7When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish,

And the hope of strong men perishes.

8The righteous is delivered from trouble,

But the wicked takes his place.

9With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor,

But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.

10When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,

And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.

11By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,

But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.

12He who despises his neighbor lacks sense,

But a man of understanding keeps silent.

13He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets,

But he who is trustworthy conceals a matter.

14Where there is no guidance the people fall,

But in abundance of counselors there is victory.

15He who is guarantor for a stranger will surely suffer for it,

But he who hates being a guarantor is secure.

16A gracious woman attains honor,

And ruthless men attain riches.

17The merciful man does himself good,

But the cruel man does himself harm.

18The wicked earns deceptive wages,

But he who sows righteousness gets a true reward.

19He who is steadfast in righteousness will attain to life,

And he who pursues evil will bring about his own death.

20The perverse in heart are an abomination to the Lord,

But the blameless in their walk are His delight.

21Assuredly, the evil man will not go unpunished,

But the descendants of the righteous will be delivered.

22As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout

So is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.

23The desire of the righteous is only good,

But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.

24There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more,

And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want.

25The generous man will be prosperous,

And he who waters will himself be watered.

26He who withholds grain, the people will curse him,

But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.

27He who diligently seeks good seeks favor,

But he who seeks evil, evil will come to him.

28He who trusts in his riches will fall,

But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.

29He who troubles his own house will inherit wind,

And the foolish will be servant to the wisehearted.

30The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,

And he who is wise wins souls.

31If the righteous will be rewarded in the earth,

How much more the wicked and the sinner!

13So also I will make you sick, striking you down,

Desolating you because of your sins.

14You will eat, but you will not be satisfied,

And your vileness will be in your midst.

You will try to remove for safekeeping,

But you will not preserve anything,

And what you do preserve I will give to the sword.

15You will sow but you will not reap.

You will tread the olive but will not anoint yourself with oil;

And the grapes, but you will not drink wine.

16The statutes of Omri

And all the works of the house of Ahab are observed;

And in their devices you walk.

Therefore I will give you up for destruction

And your inhabitants for derision,

And you will bear the reproach of My people.”