Micah 6

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

Hear now what the Lord is saying: Arise, present your complaint before the mountains, 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.

Hear, mountains, the Lord’s accusation, listen, foundations of the earth. For the Lord has a case against his people. He has a dispute 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. How have I displeased you? Answer 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 brought you up from the land of Egypt, from the land of slavery I redeemed you. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to lead you.

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, what did Balak, king of Moab counsel? And how did Balaam, the son of Beor, answer him? Remember now the journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you might realize the just deeds 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?

With what should I come before the Lord? Bow myself before the God on high? Should I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves a year old?

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?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, With ten thousand streams of oil? Should I give him my firstborn son for my guilt, the fruit of my body for 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.

The Lord has told you what is good, what he demands of you: Only to do justice and love mercy, and to walk humbly 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.

Listen! The Lord calls to the city! Listen, tribe and assembly of the city!

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

“Can I forget the hoarded treasures in the houses of the wicked, and the accursed scant measure?

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

Can I leave her unpunished because of evil scales, and the bag of false weights?

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.

Whose rich people are full of violence, her inhabitants liars, whose tongues speak deceit?

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

“But I indeed, have begun to punish you, to lay you in ruins 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 eat but not be satisfied, your stomach empty within you. You will store up but lose everything, because whatever you save I will give 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 but not reap. You will tread the olives but have no oil for rubbing, tread grapes but drink no 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 followed the commands of Omri, and all the practices of the house of Ahab. You have acted in accord with their counsels, so I will give you up to ruin, the city’s inhabitants to derision. The nations will treat you with contempt!”