Micah 6

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

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? And how have I wearied you? Testify against Me.

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

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 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?

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 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?

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 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?

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 A voice of YHWH calls to the city, And wisdom fears Your Name, “Hear the rod, and Him who appointed 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 there yet [in] the house of the wicked Treasures of wickedness, And the abhorred meager ephah?

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

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

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

12 Whose rich ones have been full of violence, And its inhabitants have spoken falsehood, And their tongue [is] deceitful 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 And I also, I have begun to strike you, To make desolate, because of your sins.

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

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 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.

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 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 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.