Michaeas 6

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

Give ear now to the words of the Lord: Up! put forward your cause before the mountains, let your voice be sounding among the hills.

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.

Give ear, O you mountains, to the Lord's cause, and take note, you bases of the earth: for the Lord has a cause against his people, and he will take it up 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.

O my people, what have I done to you? how have I been a weariness to you? give answer against 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 took you up out of the land of Egypt and made you free from the prison-house; I sent before you Moses, 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.

O my people, keep in mind now what was designed by Balak, king of Moab, and the answer which Balaam, son of Beor, gave him; the events, from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may be certain of the upright acts 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?

With what am I to come before the Lord and go with bent head before the high God? am I to come before him with burned offerings, with young oxen a year old?

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?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of sheep or with ten thousand rivers of oil? am I to give my first child for my wrongdoing, the fruit of my body for 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?

He has made clear to you, O man, what is good; and what is desired from you by the Lord; only doing what is right, and loving mercy, and walking without pride before 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 is crying out to the town: Give ear, you tribes and the meeting of the town.

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

Am I to let the stores of the evil-doer go out of my memory, and the short measure, which is cursed?

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

Is it possible for me to let wrong scales and the bag of false weights go without punishment?

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?

For its men of wealth are cruel, and its people have said what is not true, and their tongue is false in their mouth.

13 Therefore will I begin to strike you; I will destroy you in your sins.

So I have made a start with your punishment; I have made you waste 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 have food, but not enough; your shame will be ever with you: you will get your goods moved, but you will not take them away safely; and what you do take away I will give 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 put in seed, but you will not get in the grain; you will be crushing olives, but your bodies will not be rubbed with the oil; and you will get in the grapes, but you will have no 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 laws of Omri and all the works of the family of Ahab, and you have been guided by their designs: so that I might make you a cause of wonder and your people a cause of hisses; and the shame of my people will be on you.