Israel Called to Court: Chapter 6 begins the third section of the prophecies of Micah, each of which opens with an imperative to “hear.” The first “hear!” was a command to all the peoples of the earth (1:2), the second to the leaders of Israel (3:1). The third is now directed to the Israelite populace as a whole (6:1) and forms a command to listen to all that follows in chapters 6–7.

Scholars differ as to whether 6:1–8 is a unit or whether two separate oracles, verses 1–5 and 6–8, are involved. Certainly the two parts are very different in form. Verses 1b–5 are clearly a covenant lawsuit or rîb, in which Yahweh presents his complaint against his covenant people (his people, v. 2c, my people, verses 3a and 5a) before a jury made up of the mountains and everlasting foundations of the earth, v…