< Micah 6 >
1 Hear now what the LORD says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.
Hear ye what Jehovah saith! Arise, contend thou before the mountains, And let the hills hear thy 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 ye mountains, the controversy of Jehovah! Hear, ye strong foundations of the earth! For Jehovah hath a controversy with his people; He contendeth 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 thee, And wherein have I offended thee? 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.
I brought thee up from the land of Egypt, And from the house of bondage I redeemed thee; I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, to go before thee.
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, remember what Balak the king of Moab devised. And what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him, What happened from Shittim to Gilgal, That ye may know the mercies of Jehovah.”
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?
Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah, And bow myself before the most high God? Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, With calves of 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 Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, Or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for the sin of my soul, The fruit of my body for my transgression?
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 hath showed thee, O man, what is good; What doth Jehovah require of thee, But to do justly, and to love mercy, And to walk humbly before thy 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 Jehovah crieth to the city, And the man of wisdom will discern thee; Hear ye the rod, and who hath threatened 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 not yet in the houses of the unrighteous the treasures of iniquity, And the scanty measure, which is abominable?
11 Can I excuse dishonest scales or bags of false weights?
Shall I count her pure with the wicked balances, And with the bag of deceitful weights?
12 For the wealthy of the city are full of violence, and its residents speak lies; their tongues are deceitful in their mouths.
For her rich men are full of violence, And her inhabitants speak lies, And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 Therefore I am striking you severely, to ruin you because of your sins.
Therefore will I sorely smite thee, And make thee desolate on account of thy 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.
Thou shalt eat and not be satisfied, And hunger shall be within thee. Thou shalt remove, but shalt not save, And what thou savest will I give up 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.
Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap; Thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil, And the grapes, but shalt not drink the 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 ye keep the statutes of Omri, And all the works of the house of Ahab, And walk in their devices; Therefore will I make thee a desolation, And thine inhabitants a derision; And ye shall bear the reproach of my people.