Micah 6:1–16

God Pleads with Israel

6Hear now what the Lord says:

“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,

And let the hills hear your voice.

^2aHear, O you mountains, ^bthe Lord’s complaint,

And you strong foundations of the earth;

For ^cthe Lord has a complaint against His people,

And He will ¹contend with Israel.

³“O My people, what ^dhave I done to you?

And how have I ^ewearied you?

Testify against Me.

^4fFor I brought you up from the land of Egypt,

I redeemed you from the house of bondage;

And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

⁵O My people, remember now

What ^gBalak king of Moab counseled,

And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,

From ²Acacia Grove to Gilgal,

That you may know ^hthe righteousness of the Lord.”

⁶With what shall I come before the Lord,

And bow myself before the High God?

Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,

With calves a year old?

⁷ⁱWill the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

Ten thousand ^jrivers of oil?

^kShall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

³The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

⁸He has ^lshown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But ^mto do justly,

To love ⁴mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?

Punishment of Israel’s Injustice

⁹The Lord’s voice cries to the city—

Wisdom shall see Your name:

“Hear the rod!

Who has appointed it?

¹⁰Are there yet the treasures of wickedness

In the house of the wicked,

And the short measure that is an abomination?

¹¹Shall I count pure those with ⁿthe wicked scales,

And with the bag of deceitful weights?

¹²For her rich men are full of ^oviolence,

Her inhabitants have spoken lies,

And ^ptheir tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

¹³“Therefore I will also ^qmake you sick by striking you,

By making you desolate because of your sins.

^14rYou shall eat, but not be satisfied;

⁵Hunger shall be in your midst.

⁶You may carry some away, but shall not save them;

And what you do rescue I will give over to the sword.

¹⁵“You shall ^ssow, but not reap;

You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;

And make sweet wine, but not drink wine.

¹⁶For the statutes of ^tOmri are ^ukept;

All the works of Ahab’s house are done;

And you walk in their counsels,

That I may make you a ⁷desolation,

And your inhabitants a hissing.

Therefore you shall bear the ^vreproach of ⁸My people.”