Micah 6

1 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.

Do but hear now what the Lord saith, Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.

2 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.

Hear ye, O mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and ye strong foundations of the earth! for the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and with Israel will he plead.

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

O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherewith have I wearied thee? testify against me.

4 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.

Although I had brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bond-men; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

5 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.

O my people, do but remember what Balak the king of Moab resolved, and what Bil'am the son of Be'or answered him, from Shittim unto Gilgal, in order that ye may know the gracious benefits of the Lord.

6 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?

Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, bow myself before the God on high? shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old!

7 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?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with myriads of streams of oil? shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 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.

He hath told thee, O man, what is good; and what the Lord doth require of thee: [nothing] but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God.

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

The voice of the Lord calleth unto the city, —and [the man of] wisdom shall see thy name: —hear ye the rod [of punishment], and who hath ordained it.

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

Are there yet in the house of the wicked man the treasures of wickedness, and the scant accursed measure?

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

Can I be pure with wicked balances, and with a bag [full] of deceptive weights?

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

For her rich men are full of violence, and her inhabitants have spoken falsehood, and their tongue is deceit [itself] in their mouth.

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

Therefore have I also smitten thee with sore wounds, making [thee] desolate because of thy sins.

14 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.

Thou wilt indeed eat, but not be satisfied; and what thou hast eaten shall bend thee down; and thou wilt overtake [the enemy], but thou shalt not deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword.

15 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.

Thou wilt indeed sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou wilt indeed tread out olives, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with oil; and the juice of the grapes, but thou shalt not drink wine.

16 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.

For there are observed the statutes of 'Omri, and all the works of the house of Achab, and ye walk in their counsels: in order that I should give thee up unto desolation, and thy inhabitants to derision; and ye shall bear the reproach of my people.