Verse Lens · Context pointer
Micah 6:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
This verse voices the LORD's question about what he did or how he wearied the people and invites testimony.
Read It With
- Micah 6:1-8
Read Micah 6:3 with 6:1-8. This verse voices the LORD's question about what he did or how he wearied the people and invites testimony. The complete unit establishes this movement: The LORD's case begins with grace remembered—Exodus leadership and deliverance from Balak's scheme—before the human response escalates sacrifice to the horrific firstborn proposal; the answer is contextual covenant ethics: do justice, love loyal mercy, and walk humbly or carefully with God.
Why It Needs Context
Read this line within Micah 6:1-8. The surrounding lines are necessary because they complete this movement: The LORD's case begins with grace remembered—Exodus leadership and deliverance from Balak's scheme—before the human response escalates sacrifice to the horrific firstborn proposal; the answer is contextual covenant ethics: do justice, love loyal mercy, and walk humbly or carefully with God.
Read Micah 6:1–8 together
Why these verses belong together: Cosmic witnesses, saving history, sacrifice escalation, and covenant ethics are one lawsuit-dialogue argument.
Verse 1. 1 Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
Verse 2. 2 Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD’s controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.
Verse 3. 3 O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.
Verse 4. 4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
Verse 5. 5 O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD.
Verse 6. 6 Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
Verse 7. 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Verse 8. 8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Micah 6:1-8 — The Covenant Lawsuit Moves from Saving Memory to Justice, Mercy, and Humble WalkingSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Micah 6:1-8, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Micah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, wordplays, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Mic.xml, 6:1-8
Open source ↗