Micah 6:12

The rich people in the city are still cruel. These rich people include the royal family. They include military leaders. They include people that own land. The rich leaders in the city still tell lies. They have a lot of responsibility in the courts. But they use their power wrongly. They accuse people falsely. They make wrong judgements. They deal badly with the poor people. They change the laws. They use the laws to gain their own advantage. These matters are very serious. They are especially serious to Micah and the *prophets. People were so wicked that it might affect the whole nation. It might affect how the whole nation lived. It might even affect the world.

At first, there may be only a few cruel people. But their cruelty causes trouble for everyone. At first, maybe just a few people are not honest and they tell lies. Then many other people will act in the same way. They have to act in this way merely to stay alive. Then people do not trust each other any longer. They cannot believe that anybody else is telling the truth.

Similar events are happening in our world today. Methods in business become more and more cruel. Employers do not trust their workers. Workers do not trust their employers. Many people lose their jobs. It happens at difficult times. It happens when they need money in order to look after their families. People become desperate. People do not trust each other. There are more arguments in court than there were before. Those arguments become more complex than before. Then people need more lawyers. They need to pay the lawyers. And perhaps they do not even care whether the lawyers are honest. Cruelty in business creates fear. And fear creates a situation where everyone tells lies. These messages from the *prophets are important today. The people in the world still need to hear them.

v13 Therefore I will also punish you. I will make you sick. I will ruin you because of your *sins. v14 You will eat, but it will not satisfy you. So you will always be hungry. You will store things, but people will destroy those things. If you save anything, people with swords will take it from you. v15 You will sow your seeds, but you will not gather a harvest. You will try to squeeze oil from the fruit that usually gives oil. But you will not get any oil for your own use. You will squeeze your fruit from which you make wine. But you will not get enough juice. You will not have wine to drink.