Micah 6

1 Hear now what the LORD says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.

Give ear now to the words of the Lord: Up! put forward your cause before the mountains, let your voice be sounding among the hills.

2 Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel:

Give ear, O you mountains, to the Lord's cause, and take note, you bases of the earth: for the Lord has a cause against his people, and he will take it up with Israel.

3 ‘My people, what have I done to you? Testify against Me how I have wearied you!

O my people, what have I done to you? how have I been a weariness to you? give answer against me.

4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery. I sent Moses before you, as well as Aaron and Miriam.

For I took you up out of the land of Egypt and made you free from the prison-house; I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

5 My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”

O my people, keep in mind now what was designed by Balak, king of Moab, and the answer which Balaam, son of Beor, gave him; the events, from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may be certain of the upright acts of the Lord.

6 With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves?

With what am I to come before the Lord and go with bent head before the high God? am I to come before him with burned offerings, with young oxen a year old?

7 Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of sheep or with ten thousand rivers of oil? am I to give my first child for my wrongdoing, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

He has made clear to you, O man, what is good; and what is desired from you by the Lord; only doing what is right, and loving mercy, and walking without pride before your God.

9 The voice of the LORD calls out to the city (and it is sound wisdom to fear Your name): “Heed the rod and the One who ordained it.

The voice of the Lord is crying out to the town: Give ear, you tribes and the meeting of the town.

10 Can I forget any longer, O house of the wicked, the treasures of wickedness and the short ephah, which is accursed?

Am I to let the stores of the evil-doer go out of my memory, and the short measure, which is cursed?

11 Can I excuse dishonest scales or bags of false weights?

Is it possible for me to let wrong scales and the bag of false weights go without punishment?

12 For the wealthy of the city are full of violence, and its residents speak lies; their tongues are deceitful in their mouths.

For its men of wealth are cruel, and its people have said what is not true, and their tongue is false in their mouth.

13 Therefore I am striking you severely, to ruin you because of your sins.

So I have made a start with your punishment; I have made you waste because of your sins.

14 You will eat but not be satisfied, and your hunger will remain with you. What you acquire, you will not preserve; and what you save, I will give to the sword.

You will have food, but not enough; your shame will be ever with you: you will get your goods moved, but you will not take them away safely; and what you do take away I will give to the sword.

15 You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.

You will put in seed, but you will not get in the grain; you will be crushing olives, but your bodies will not be rubbed with the oil; and you will get in the grapes, but you will have no wine.

16 You have kept the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their counsel. Therefore I will make you a desolation, and your inhabitants an object of contempt; you will bear the scorn of the nations.”

For you have kept the laws of Omri and all the works of the family of Ahab, and you have been guided by their designs: so that I might make you a cause of wonder and your people a cause of hisses; and the shame of my people will be on you.