Micah 6 - 7
1
q Hear what the Lord says:
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2
r Hear, you mountains, s the indictment of the Lord,
and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the Lord has an indictment against his people,
and he will contend with Israel.
3
"O my people, t what have I done to you?
u How have I wearied you? Answer me!
4
For v I brought you up from the land of Egypt
and w redeemed you from the house of slavery,
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and x Miriam.
5
O my people, remember y what Balak king of Moab devised,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from z Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know a the saving acts of the Lord."
6
b "With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before c God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7
d Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
e Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"
8
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and f what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to g walk humbly with your God?
9
The voice of the Lord cries to the city -
and it is sound wisdom to fear h your name:
"Hear of i the rod and of him who appointed it!
10
Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked,
and the scant measure that is accursed?
11
Shall I acquit the man j with wicked scales
and with a bag of deceitful weights?
12
Your rich men are k full of violence;
your inhabitants l speak lies,
and m their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13
Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow,
n making you desolate because of your sins.
14
o You shall eat, but not be satisfied,
and there shall be hunger within you;
you shall put away, but not preserve,
and what you preserve I will give to the sword.
15
p You shall sow, but not reap;
you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.
16
For you have kept the statutes of q Omri,
and all the works of the house of r Ahab;
and you have walked in their counsels,
that I may make you s a desolation, and your inhabitants s a hissing;
so you shall bear t the scorn of my people."
Micah 7
1
Woe is me! For I have become
u as when the summer fruit has been gathered,
as when the grapes have been gleaned:
there is no cluster to eat,
no v first-ripe fig that my soul desires.
2
w The godly has perished from the earth,
and x there is no one upright among mankind;
y they all lie in wait for blood,
and z each hunts the other with a net.
3
a Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well;
b the prince and c the judge ask for a bribe,
and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;
thus they weave it together.
4
The best of them is d like a brier,
the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
The day of e your watchmen, of your punishment, has come;
f now their confusion is at hand.
5
g Put no trust in a neighbor;
have no confidence in a friend;
guard h the doors of your mouth
from her who lies in your arms;
6
for i the son treats the father with contempt,
the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
j a man's enemies are the men of his own house.
7
But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
k I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
8
l Rejoice not over me, O m my enemy;
n when I fall, I shall rise;
o when I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be a light to me.
9
p I will bear the indignation of the Lord
because I have sinned against him,
until q he pleads my cause
and executes judgment for me.
r He will bring me out to the light;
I shall look upon his vindication.
10
Then s my enemy will see,
and shame will cover her who t said to me,
"Where is the Lord your God?"
u My eyes will look upon her;
now she will be trampled down
v like the mire of the streets.
11
w A day for the building of your walls!
In that day the boundary shall be far extended.
12
In that day they will come to you,
y from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to z the River,
a from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.
13
But b the earth will be desolate
because of its inhabitants,
for the fruit of their deeds.
14
c Shepherd your people d with your staff,
the flock of your inheritance,
who dwell alone in a forest
e in the midst of f a garden land;
let them graze in Bashan and Gilead
as in the days of old.
15
g As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
I will show them marvelous things.
16
h The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
i they shall lay their hands on their mouths;
their ears shall be deaf;
17
j they shall lick the dust like a serpent,
like the crawling things of the earth;
k they shall come trembling out of their strongholds;
l they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God,
and they shall be in fear of you.
18
m Who is a God like you, n pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
n for the remnant of his inheritance?
o He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.
19
He will p again have compassion on us;
q he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
r You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.
20
s You will show faithfulness to Jacob
and steadfast love to Abraham,
t as you have sworn to our fathers
from the days of old.
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Cross References
Micah 1:2
Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
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Cross References
Psalms 50:1
The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Psalms 50:4
He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
Ezekiel 36:4
Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God : Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which have become a prey and derision to the rest of the nations all around.
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Cross References
Isaiah 1:18
Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord : though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
Hosea 4:1
Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land.
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Cross References
Isaiah 5:4
What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?
Jeremiah 2:5
Thus says the Lord : "What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?
Jeremiah 2:31
And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of thick darkness? Why then do my people say, 'We are free, we will come no more to you'?
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Cross References
Isaiah 43:22 - 23
Yet you did not call upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel!
Malachi 1:13
But you say, 'What a weariness this is,' and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord.
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Cross References
Exodus 12:51
And on that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.
Hosea 12:13
By a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he was guarded.
Amos 2:10
Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
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Cross References
2 Samuel 7:23
And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods?
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Cross References
Exodus 15:20
Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing.
Numbers 12:1 - 2
Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.
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Cross References
Numbers 22:5
Sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the people of Amaw, to call him, saying, "Behold, a people has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me.
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Cross References
Numbers 25:1
While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab.
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Cross References
Judges 5:11
To the sound of musicians at the watering places, there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the Lord, the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel. "Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord.
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Cross References
Hosea 5:6
With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them.
Hebrews 10:4
For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
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Cross References
Isaiah 57:15
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 15:22
And Samuel said, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord ? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
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Cross References
2 Kings 3:27
Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.
2 Kings 16:3
But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel. He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.
2 Kings 21:6
And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.
2 Kings 23:10
And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech.
Leviticus 18:21
You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 10:12
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
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Cross References
Genesis 5:22
Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.
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Cross References
Isaiah 30:27
Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke; his lips are full of fury, and his tongue is like a devouring fire.
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Cross References
Isaiah 10:5
Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury!
Isaiah 30:32
And every stroke of the appointed staff that the Lord lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them.
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Cross References
Hosea 12:7
A merchant, in whose hands are false balances, he loves to oppress.
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Cross References
Amos 3:10
"They do not know how to do right," declares the Lord, "those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds."
Habakkuk 1:2 - 3
O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you "Violence!" and you will not save?
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Cross References
Hosea 7:13
Woe to them, for they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me! I would redeem them, but they speak lies against me.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 9:8
Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully; with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he plans an ambush for him.
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Cross References
Micah 7:13
But the earth will be desolate because of its inhabitants, for the fruit of their deeds.
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Cross References
Hosea 4:10
They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the Lord to cherish
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Cross References
Zephaniah 1:13
Their goods shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them.
Haggai 1:6
You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
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Cross References
1 Kings 16:25 - 26
Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil than all who were before him.
Micah 1:13
Harness the steeds to the chariots, inhabitants of Lachish; it was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion, for in you were found the transgressions of Israel.
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Cross References
1 Kings 16:30 - 33
And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him.
1 Kings 21:25 - 26
( There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited.
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Cross References
2 Chronicles 29:8
Therefore the wrath of the Lord came on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them an object of horror, of astonishment, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes.
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Cross References
2 Chronicles 29:8
Therefore the wrath of the Lord came on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them an object of horror, of astonishment, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes.
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Cross References
Isaiah 25:8
He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.
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Cross References
Isaiah 24:13
For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten, as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.
Isaiah 17:6
Gleanings will be left in it, as when an olive tree is beaten - two or three berries in the top of the highest bough, four or five on the branches of a fruit tree, declares the Lord God of Israel.
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Cross References
Hosea 9:10
Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season, I saw your fathers. But they came to Baal-peor and consecrated themselves to the thing of shame, and became detestable like the thing they loved.
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Cross References
Psalms 12:1
Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
Isaiah 57:1
The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity.
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Cross References
Psalms 14:1
The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.
Psalms 14:3
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.
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Cross References
Psalms 10:9
He lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
Hosea 6:8 - 9
Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood.
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Cross References
Isaiah 9:19
Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is scorched, and the people are like fuel for the fire; no one spares another.
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Cross References
Zephaniah 3:7
I said, 'Surely you will fear me; you will accept correction. Then your dwelling would not be cut off according to all that I have appointed against you.' But all the more they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt.
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Cross References
Psalms 82:1 - 2
God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
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Cross References
Micah 3:11
Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, "Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.
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Cross References
2 Samuel 23:6 - 7
But worthless men are all like thorns that are thrown away, for they cannot be taken with the hand.
Nahum 1:10
For they are like entangled thorns, like drunkards as they drink; they are consumed like stubble fully dried.
Ezekiel 2:6
And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.
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Cross References
Ezekiel 33:2
Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman.
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Cross References
Micah 3:6 - 7
Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them.
Isaiah 22:5
For the Lord God of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the valley of vision, a battering down of walls and a shouting to the mountains.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 9:4
Let everyone beware of his neighbor, and put no trust in any brother, for every brother is a deceiver, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.
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Cross References
Psalms 141:3
Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!
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Cross References
Ezekiel 22:7
Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.
Matthew 10:21
Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.
Matthew 10:35
For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
Luke 12:53
They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.
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Cross References
Matthew 10:36
And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.
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Cross References
Lamentations 3:26
It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 50:11
Though you rejoice, though you exult, O plunderers of my heritage, though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture, and neigh like stallions.
Lamentations 4:21
Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup shall pass; you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
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Cross References
Micah 7:10
Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, "Where is the Lord your God?" My eyes will look upon her; now she will be trampled down like the mire of the streets.
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Cross References
Psalms 37:24
Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.
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Cross References
Psalms 112:4
Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 10:19
Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is grievous. But I said, "Truly this is an affliction, and I must bear it.
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Cross References
1 Samuel 24:15
May the Lord therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.
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Cross References
Psalms 37:6
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
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Cross References
Micah 7:8
Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.
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Cross References
Joel 2:17
Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, "Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'
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Cross References
Micah 4:11
Now many nations are assembled against you, saying, "Let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.
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Cross References
Psalms 18:42
I beat them fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets.
2 Samuel 22:43
I beat them fine as the dust of the earth; I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets.
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Cross References
Psalms 102:13
You will arise and have pity on Zion; it is the time to favor her; the appointed time has come.
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Cross References
Isaiah 11:11
In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a...
Isaiah 11:16
And there will be a highway from Assyria for th...
Isaiah 19:23 - 24
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt ...
Isaiah 27:13
And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, ...
Hosea 11:11
They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt...
Zechariah 10:10
I will bring them home from the land of Egypt, ...
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Cross References
Genesis 31:21
He fled with all that he had and arose and crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.
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Cross References
Zechariah 9:10
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
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Cross References
Micah 6:13
Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins.
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Cross References
Psalms 28:9
Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.
Micah 5:4
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.
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Cross References
Psalms 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 50:19
I will restore Israel to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and in Bashan, and his desire shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.
Zechariah 10:10
I will bring them home from the land of Egypt, and gather them from Assyria, and I will bring them to the land of Gilead and to Lebanon, till there is no room for them.
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Cross References
Joshua 19:26
Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. On the west it touches Carmel and Shihor-libnath.
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Cross References
Psalms 78:12
In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
Isaiah 11:16
And there will be a highway from Assyria for the remnant that remains of his people, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.
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Cross References
Isaiah 26:11
O Lord, your hand is lifted up, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed. Let the fire for your adversaries consume them.
Isaiah 52:15
So shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.
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Cross References
Judges 18:19
And they said to him, "Keep quiet; put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?
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Cross References
Psalms 72:9
May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust!
Isaiah 49:23
Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord ; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.
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Cross References
Psalms 18:45
Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses.
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Cross References
Micah 4:1
It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it.
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Cross References
Exodus 15:11
Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
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Cross References
Jeremiah 50:20
In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.
Exodus 34:7
Keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 50:20
In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.
Exodus 34:7
Keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.
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Cross References
Psalms 103:9
He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
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Cross References
Psalms 80:14
Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine.
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Cross References
Romans 6:14
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
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Cross References
Isaiah 38:17
Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
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Cross References
Luke 1:72 - 73
To show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant.
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Cross References
Psalms 105:9 - 10
The covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.