Michaeas 6

1 Hear now a word: the Lord God has said; Arise, plead with the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.

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

2 Hear you, O mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and [you] valleys [even] the foundations of the earth: for the Lord [has] a controversy with his people, and will plead 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 have I done to you? or wherein have I grieved you? or wherein have I troubled you? answer me.

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

4 For I brought tee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, and sent before you Moses, and Aaron, and Mariam.

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 now, what counsel Balac king of Moab took against you, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, from the reeds to Galgal; that the righteousness of the Lord might be known.

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 Wherewithal shall I reach the Lord, [and] lay hold of my God most high? shall I reach him by whole burnt offerings, by calves of a year old?

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 accept thousands of rams, or ten thousands of fat goats? should I give my firstborn for ungodliness, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

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 Has it [not] been told you, O man, what [is] good? or what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and love mercy, and be ready to walk with the Lord your 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 Lord's voice shall be proclaimed in the city, and he shall save those that fear his name: hear, O tribe; and who shall order the city?

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 [Is there] not fire, and the house of the wicked heaping up wicked treasures, and [that] with the pride of unrighteousness?

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

11 Shall the wicked be justified by the balanced, or deceitful weights in the bag,

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

12 whereby they have accumulated their ungodly wealth, and they that dwell in the city have uttered falsehoods, and their tongue has been exalted 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 will I begin to strike you; I will destroy you in your sins.

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

14 You shall eat, and shall not be satisfied; and there shall be darkness upon you; and he shall depart from [you], and you shall not escape; and all that shall escape shall be delivered over to the sword.

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 You shall sow, but you shall not reap; you shall press the olive, but you shall not anoint yourself with oil; and [shall make] wine, but you shall drink no wine: and the ordinances of my people shall be utterly abolished.

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 you have kept the statues of Zambri, and [done] all the works of the house of Achaab; and you have walked in their ways, that I might deliver you to utter destruction, and those that inhabit the city to hissing: and you shall bear the reproach of nations.

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.