Micah 6

1 Now hear that which YHWH is saying: “Rise—strive with the mountains, And cause the hills to hear your voice.

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

2 Hear, O mountains, the strife of YHWH, You strong ones—foundations of earth! For a strife [is] to YHWH, with His people, And with Israel He reasons.

Hear ye, O mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and [ye] valleys [even] the foundations of the earth: for the Lord [has] a controversy with his people, and will plead with Israel.

3 O My people, what have I done to you? And how have I wearied you? Testify against Me.

O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I grieved thee? or wherein have I troubled thee? answer me.

4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, And I have ransomed you from the house of servants, And I send Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you.

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

5 O My people, please remember What Balak king of Moab counseled, What Balaam son of Beor answered him (From Shittim to Gilgal), In order to know the righteous acts of YHWH.”

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

6 With what do I come before YHWH? Do I bow to God Most High? Do I come before Him with burnt-offerings? With calves—sons of a year?

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?

7 Is YHWH pleased with thousands of rams? With myriads of streams of oil? Do I give my firstborn [for] my transgression? The fruit of my body [for] the sin of my soul?

Will the Lord accept thousands of rams, or ten thousands of fat goats? should I give my first-born for ungodliness, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 He has declared to you, O man, what [is] good; Indeed, what is YHWH requiring of you, Except—to do judgment, and love kindness, And to walk lowly with your God?

Has it [not] been told thee, O man, what [is] good? or what does the Lord require of thee, but to do justice, and love mercy, and be ready to walk with the Lord thy God?

9 A voice of YHWH calls to the city, And wisdom fears Your Name, “Hear the rod, and Him who appointed it.

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?

10 Are there yet [in] the house of the wicked Treasures of wickedness, And the abhorred meager ephah?

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

11 Do I reckon [it] pure with balances of wickedness? And with a bag of deceitful stones?

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

12 Whose rich ones have been full of violence, And its inhabitants have spoken falsehood, And their tongue [is] deceitful in their mouth.

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?

13 And I also, I have begun to strike you, To make desolate, because of your sins.

Therefore will I begin to smite thee; I will destroy thee in thy sins.

14 You eat, and you are not satisfied, And your pit [is] in your midst, And you remove, and do not deliver, And that which you deliver, I give to a sword.

Thou shalt eat, and shalt not be satisfied; and there shall be darkness upon thee; and he shall depart from [thee], and thou shalt not escape; and all that shall escape shall be delivered over to the sword.

15 You sow, and you do not reap, You tread the olive, And you do not pour out oil, And new wine—and you do not drink wine.

Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt press the olive, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with oil; and [shalt make] wine, but ye shall drink no wine: and the ordinances of my people shall be utterly abolished.

16 And the statutes of Omri are kept habitually, And all the work of the house of Ahab, And you walk in their counsels, For My giving you for a desolation, And its inhabitants for a hissing, And you bear the reproach of My people!”

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