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.

Hear ye what Jehovah 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, 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 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 to thee, And wherein have I offended 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.

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 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, 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 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 Jehovah, And bow myself before the most high God? 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 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 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 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 is crying out to the town: Give ear, you tribes and the meeting of the town.

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

Are there not yet in the houses of the unrighteous the treasures of iniquity, And the scanty measure, which is abominable?

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

Shall I count her pure with the wicked balances, And with the bag of deceitful 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 speak lies, And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

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

Therefore will I sorely smite thee, And make thee desolate on account 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 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 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 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 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 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.