Michaeas 6

1 Hear now a word: the Lord God has said; Arise, plead with the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.

Hear, I pray you, what, Yahweh, is saying, —arise thou, maintain thy controversy before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice: —

2 Hear you, O mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and [you] valleys [even] the foundations of the earth: for the Lord [has] a controversy with his people, and will plead with Israel.

Hear, ye mountains, the controversy of Yahweh, and ye lasting rocks, the foundations of the earth, —for, a controversy, hath Yahweh, with his people, and, with Israel, will he dispute.

3 O my people, what have I done to you? or wherein have I grieved you? or wherein have I troubled you? answer me.

O my people! what have I done to thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? Testify thou against me!

4 For I brought tee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, and sent before you Moses, and Aaron, and Mariam.

For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and, out of the house of slaves, I ransomed thee, —and I sent before thee, Moses, Aaron and Miriam.

5 O my people, remember now, what counsel Balac king of Moab took against you, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, from the reeds to Galgal; that the righteousness of the Lord might be known.

O my people! remember, I pray you, what Balak king of Moab, counseled, and what Balaam son of Beor, answered him, —from the Acacias as far as Gilgal, that ye may know the righteousness of Yahweh.

6 Wherewithal shall I reach the Lord, [and] lay hold of my God most high? shall I reach him by whole burnt offerings, by calves of a year old?

Wherewith, shall I come before Yahweh? bow myself to God on high? Shall I come before him with ascending-sacrifice? with calves of a year old?

7 Will the Lord accept thousands of rams, or ten thousands of fat goats? should I give my firstborn for ungodliness, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

Will Yahweh, be pleased, with thousands of rams? with myriads of torrents of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression? the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 Has it [not] been told you, O man, what [is] good? or what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and love mercy, and be ready to walk with the Lord your God?

He hath told thee, O son of earth, what is good, —what then is, Yahweh, seeking of thee, but, to do justice, to delight in lovingkindness, and humbly to walk with thy God?

9 The Lord's voice shall be proclaimed in the city, and he shall save those that fear his name: hear, O tribe; and who shall order the city?

The voice of Yahweh, to the city, crieth out, With safety for him who regardeth his name, —Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.

10 [Is there] not fire, and the house of the wicked heaping up wicked treasures, and [that] with the pride of unrighteousness?

Even yet, are there, in the house of the lawless one, the treasures of lawlessness, —and the scant measure—accurst?

11 Shall the wicked be justified by the balanced, or deceitful weights in the bag,

Shall I be pure with lawless balances? or with bag of deceitful weights?

12 whereby they have accumulated their ungodly wealth, and they that dwell in the city have uttered falsehoods, and their tongue has been exalted in their mouth?

For, her rich men, are full of violence, and, her inhabitants, have spoken falsehood, —and, their tongue, is deceitful in their mouth.

13 Therefore will I begin to strike you; I will destroy you in your sins.

Moreover also, I, have made thee sick with smiting thee, —laying thee waste because of thy sins.

14 You shall eat, and shall not be satisfied; and there shall be darkness upon you; and he shall depart from [you], and you shall not escape; and all that shall escape shall be delivered over to the sword.

Thou, shalt eat—and not be satisfied, but be shrunk with hunger within thee, —Though thou remove, yet shalt thou not set in safety, and, what thou dost set in safety, to the sword, will I deliver.

15 You shall sow, but you shall not reap; you shall press the olive, but you shall not anoint yourself with oil; and [shall make] wine, but you shall drink no wine: and the ordinances of my people shall be utterly abolished.

Thou, shalt sow, but shalt not reap, —thou, shalt tread the olive, but shalt not anoint thee with oil, also the grape, but shalt not drink the wine.

16 For you have kept the statues of Zambri, and [done] all the works of the house of Achaab; and you have walked in their ways, that I might deliver you to utter destruction, and those that inhabit the city to hissing: and you shall bear the reproach of nations.

For strictly observed are the statutes of Omri, and every doing of the house of Ahab, and ye have walked in their counsels, —to the end I may give thee up to desolation, and her inhabitants to hissing, that, the reproach of peoples, ye may bear.