Micah 6

1 Listen to what the Lord says: Rise, contend in judgment against 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 Let the mountains listen to the judgment of the Lord, and the strong foundations of the earth. For the judgment of the Lord is with his people, and he will enter into judgment 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 My people, what have I done to you, or how have I assailed you? Respond to me.

“O my people, what have I done to thee, And wherein have I offended thee? Testify against me!

4 For I led you out of the land of Egypt, and I freed you from the house of servitude, and I sent before your face Moses, and 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, I ask you, what Balak the king of Moab planned, and how Balaam the son of Beor responded to him, from Shittim even to Gilgal, so that you may know the justice 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 What worthy thing might I offer to the Lord, as I bend the knee before God on high? How could I offer holocausts to him, and one 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, or with many thousands of fat he-goats? How could I give up my firstborn because of my evil deed, the fruit of my womb because of 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 I will reveal to you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires from you, and how to act with judgment, and to love mercy, and to walk carefully 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 cries out to the city, “Listen, you tribes,” and who will confirm it? And salvation will be for those who fear your name.

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 Nevertheless, there is a fire in the house of the impious, the treasury of iniquity, and a small measure, filled with wrath.

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

11 Shall I justify unfaithful balances, and the deceitful weighing of a small bag?

Shall I count her pure with the wicked balances, And with the bag of deceitful weights?

12 By this, her wealthy have been filled with iniquity, and her inhabitants have spoken lies, and their tongue was deceitful 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 And I, therefore, began to strike you with perdition because of your sins.

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

14 You will consume and not be satisfied, and your humiliation will be in your midst. And you will take hold, and not save, and those whom you will save, I will deliver 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, and not reap. You will tread the olives, and not be anointed with oil, and crush the grapes, and 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 For you have kept the precepts of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab. And you have walked according their wills, so that I should give you over to perdition and its hissing inhabitants, and you would carry the disgrace of my people.

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.