Micah 6

1 Listen to what the Lord is saying. Stand up and plead your case. Let the mountains and the hills hear your voice.

Hear ye now what the LORD saith: Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.

2 And now, mountains, hear the Lord's argument. Listen, everlasting foundations of the earth, for the Lord has a case against his people. He will bring charges against Israel.

Hear, O ye mountains, the LORD’S controversy, and ye enduring foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.

3 My people, what have I done to you? What is it that I have done to make you tired of me?

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

4 For I brought you out of the land of Egypt and rescued you from slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you.

For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

5 My people, remember what Balak, king of Moab, planned to do, and what Balaam, son of Beor, told him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, so you could know all the good things the Lord does.

O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him; [remember] from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of the LORD.

6 What should I take with me when I approach the Lord, when I bow down before the God of heaven? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the 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 rams, or ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I sacrifice my firstborn child for my rebellion, my own flesh and blood for the sins I have committed?

will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 The Lord has told you what is good, and what the Lord asks from you: to do what is right, to love kindness, and to walk in humility with your God.

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

9 The voice of the Lord calls to the city—to respect your name is to be wise—pay attention to the rod and who summoned it.

The voice of the LORD crieth unto the city, and [the man of] wisdom will see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.

10 Are there still ill-gotten gains in the houses of the wicked? Are they still using dishonest measures in selling grain?

Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?

11 How can I accept those who use unfair scales and dishonest weights?

Shall I be pure with wicked balances, and with a bag of deceitful weights?

12 Your rich people make money by using violence; they tell lies and practice deceit.

For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

13 So I will strike you to make you ill; I will ruin you because of your sins.

Therefore I also have smitten thee with a grievous wound; I have made thee desolate because of thy sins.

14 You will eat, but never be satisfied; inside you will still feel hungry. Even though you try to save money, what you save won't be worth anything because I will give it to the sword.

Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy humiliation shall be in the midst of thee: and thou shalt remove, but shalt not carry away safe; and that which thou carriest away will I give up to the sword.

15 You will sow, but you won't reap; you will press your olives, but not use the oil; you will make your wine, but drink none of it.

Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap: thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine.

16 You have kept the laws of Omri, and adopted all the practices of the house of Ahab, you have followed their ways. So I will make your country desolate and the people who live there an object of scorn; you will bear the shame of my people.

For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels: that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing; and ye shall bear the reproach of my people.