Micah 6

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

Now hear that which YHWH is saying: “Rise—strive with the mountains, And cause the hills to hear your voice.

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:

Hear, O mountains, the strife of YHWH, You strong ones—foundations of earth! For a strife [is] to YHWH, with His people, And with Israel He reasons.

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? And how have I wearied you? Testify 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 brought you up from the land of Egypt, And I have ransomed you from the house of servants, And I send Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you.

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, please remember What Balak king of Moab counseled, What Balaam son of Beor answered him (From Shittim to Gilgal), In order to know the righteous acts of YHWH.”

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 do I come before YHWH? Do I bow to God Most High? Do I come before Him with burnt-offerings? With calves—sons of a year?

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?

Is YHWH pleased with thousands of rams? With myriads of streams of oil? Do I give my firstborn [for] my transgression? 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 declared to you, O man, what [is] good; Indeed, what is YHWH requiring of you, Except—to do judgment, and love kindness, And to walk lowly with 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.

A voice of YHWH calls to the city, And wisdom fears Your Name, “Hear the rod, and Him who appointed it.

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

Are there yet [in] the house of the wicked Treasures of wickedness, And the abhorred meager ephah?

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

Do I reckon [it] pure with balances of wickedness? And with a bag of deceitful stones?

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

Whose rich ones have been full of violence, And its inhabitants have spoken falsehood, And their tongue [is] deceitful in their mouth.

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

And I also, I have begun to strike you, To make desolate, 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 eat, and you are not satisfied, And your pit [is] in your midst, And you remove, and do not deliver, And that which you deliver, I give to a 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 sow, and you do not reap, You tread the olive, And you do not pour out oil, And new wine—and you do not drink 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.”

And the statutes of Omri are kept habitually, And all the work of the house of Ahab, And you walk in their counsels, For My giving you for a desolation, And its inhabitants for a hissing, And you bear the reproach of My people!”