Micah 6

1 Hear, I pray you, what, Yahweh, is saying, —arise thou, maintain thy controversy before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice: —

Hear now what the Lord is saying: Arise, present your complaint before the mountains, let the hills hear your voice!

2 Hear, ye mountains, the controversy of Yahweh, and ye lasting rocks, the foundations of the earth, —for, a controversy, hath Yahweh, with his people, and, with Israel, will he dispute.

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 have I done to thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? Testify thou against me!

“My people, what have I done to you. How have I displeased you? Answer me!

4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and, out of the house of slaves, I ransomed thee, —and I 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, I pray you, what Balak king of Moab, counseled, and what Balaam son of Beor, answered him, —from the Acacias as far as Gilgal, that ye may know the righteousness of Yahweh.

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 Yahweh? bow myself to God on high? Shall I come before him with ascending-sacrifice? with calves of a year old?

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 Yahweh, be pleased, with thousands of rams? with myriads of torrents of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression? the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

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 told thee, O son of earth, what is good, —what then is, Yahweh, seeking of thee, but, to do justice, to delight in lovingkindness, and humbly to walk 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 voice of Yahweh, to the city, crieth out, With safety for him who regardeth his name, —Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.

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

10 Even yet, are there, in the house of the lawless one, the treasures of lawlessness, —and the scant measure—accurst?

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

11 Shall I be pure with lawless balances? or with bag of deceitful weights?

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

12 For, her rich men, are full of violence, and, her inhabitants, have spoken falsehood, —and, their tongue, is deceitful in their mouth.

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

13 Moreover also, I, have made thee sick with smiting thee, —laying thee waste because of thy sins.

“But I indeed, have begun to punish you, to lay you in ruins because of your sins.

14 Thou, shalt eat—and not be satisfied, but be shrunk with hunger within thee, —Though thou remove, yet shalt thou not set in safety, and, what thou dost set in safety, to the sword, will I deliver.

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 sow, but shalt not reap, —thou, shalt tread the olive, but shalt not anoint thee with oil, also the grape, but shalt not drink the 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 strictly observed are the statutes of Omri, and every doing of the house of Ahab, and ye have walked in their counsels, —to the end I may give thee up to desolation, and her inhabitants to hissing, that, the reproach of peoples, ye may bear.

“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!”