Micah 6

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

Hear ye what Jehovah saith! Arise, contend thou before 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, O ye mountains, the controversy of Jehovah! Hear, ye strong foundations of the earth! For Jehovah hath a controversy with his people; He contendeth 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, And wherein have I offended thee? Testify against 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.

I brought thee up from the land of Egypt, And from the house of bondage I redeemed thee; I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, to go before thee.

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 what Balak the king of Moab devised. And what Balaam, the son of Beor, answered him, What happened from Shittim to Gilgal, That ye may know the mercies of Jehovah.”

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?

Wherewith shall I come before Jehovah, And bow myself before the most high God? Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, With 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 Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, Or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for the sin of my soul, The fruit of my body for my transgression?

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?

He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; What doth Jehovah require of thee, But to do justly, and to love mercy, And to walk humbly before 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 voice of Jehovah crieth to the city, And the man of wisdom will discern thee; Hear ye the rod, and who hath threatened it!

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

Are there not yet in the houses of the unrighteous the treasures of iniquity, And the scanty measure, which is abominable?

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

Shall I count her pure with the wicked balances, And with the bag of deceitful weights?

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

For her rich men are full of violence, And her inhabitants speak lies, And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

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

Therefore will I sorely smite thee, And make thee desolate on account of 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 not be satisfied, And hunger shall be within thee. Thou shalt remove, but shalt not save, And what thou savest will I give up 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 shalt not reap; Thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil, And the grapes, but shalt 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 ye keep the statutes of Omri, And all the works of the house of Ahab, And walk in their devices; Therefore will I make thee a desolation, And thine inhabitants a derision; And ye shall bear the reproach of my people.