< 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, I pray you, what, Yahweh, is saying, —arise thou, maintain thy controversy 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, 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 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 to thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? Testify thou 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, out of the house of slaves, I ransomed thee, —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, 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Yahweh, to the city, crieth out, With safety for him who regardeth his 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?
Even yet, are there, in the house of the lawless one, the treasures of lawlessness, —and the scant measure—accurst?
11 How can I accept those who use unfair scales and dishonest weights?
Shall I be pure with lawless balances? or with bag of deceitful weights?
12 Your rich people make money by using violence; they tell lies and practice deceit.
For, her rich men, are full of violence, and, her inhabitants, have spoken falsehood, —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.
Moreover also, I, have made thee sick with smiting thee, —laying thee waste 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—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 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 olive, but shalt not anoint thee with oil, also the grape, 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 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.