Micah 6

1 Hearken ye nowe what the Lord sayth, Arise thou, and contende before the mountaines, and let the hilles heare thy voyce.

Listen to what the Lord says: Rise, contend in judgment against the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.

2 Heare ye, O mountaynes, the Lordes quarel, and ye mightie foundations of the earth: for the Lord hath a quarell against his people, and he will pleade with Israel.

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.

3 O my people, what haue I done vnto thee? or wherin haue I grieued thee? testifie against me.

My people, what have I done to you, or how have I assailed you? Respond to me.

4 Surely I brought thee vp out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of seruants, and I haue sent before thee, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

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.

5 O my people, remember nowe what Balak King of Moab had deuised, and what Balaam the sonne of Beor answered him, from Shittim vnto Gilgal, that ye may knowe the righteousnes of the Lord.

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.

6 Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bowe my selfe before the hie God? Shall I come before him with burnt offrings, and with calues of a yeere olde?

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?

7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand riuers of oyle? shall I giue my first borne for my transgression, euen the fruite of my bodie, for the sinne of my soule?

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?

8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requireth of thee: surely to doe iustly, and to loue mercie, and to humble thy selfe, to walke with thy God.

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.

9 The Lordes voyce cryeth vnto the citie, and the man of wisedome shall see thy name: Heare the rodde, and who hath appoynted it.

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.

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

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

11 Shall I iustifie the wicked balances, and the bag of deceitfull weightes?

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

12 For the rich men thereof are full of crueltie, and the inhabitants thereof haue spoken lyes, and their tongue is deceitfull in their mouth.

By this, her wealthy have been filled with iniquity, and her inhabitants have spoken lies, and their tongue was deceitful in their mouth.

13 Therefore also will I make thee sicke in smiting thee, and in making thee desolate, because of thy sinnes.

And I, therefore, began to strike you with perdition because of your sins.

14 Thou shalt eate and not be satisfied, and thy casting downe shall be in the mids of thee, and thou shalt take holde, but shalt not deliuer: and that which thou deliuerest, will I giue vp to the sworde.

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.

15 Thou shalt sowe, but not reape: thou shalt treade the oliues, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oyle, and make sweete wine, but shalt not drinke wine.

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.

16 For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the maner of the house of Ahab, and ye walke in their counsels, that I should make thee waste, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall beare the reproche of my people.

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.