MICAH 6 [†]  q Hear what the LORD says:

Arise, plead your case before the mountains,

and let the hills hear your voice.

2[^]  r Hear, you mountains,  s the indictment of the LORD,

and you enduring foundations of the earth,

for the LORD has an indictment against his people,

and he will contend with Israel.

3[†] “O my people,  t what have I done to you?

 u How have I wearied you? Answer me!

4[†] For  v I brought you up from the land of Egypt

and  w redeemed you from the house of slavery,

and I sent before you Moses,

Aaron, and  x Miriam.

5[†] O my people, remember  y what Balak king of Moab devised,

and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,

and what happened from  z Shittim to Gilgal,

that you may know  a the righteous acts of the LORD.”

6[†]  b “With what shall I come before the LORD,

and bow myself before  c God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

with calves a year old?

7  d Will the LORD be pleased with [1] thousands of rams,

with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

 e Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

8[^][†] He has told you, O man, what is good;

and  f what does the LORD require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness, [2]

and to  g walk humbly with your God?

9[†] The voice of the LORD cries to the city—

and it is sound wisdom to fear  h your name:

“Hear of  i the rod and of him who appointed it! [3]

10[†] Can I forget any longer the treasures [4] of wickedness in the house of the wicked,

and the scant measure that is accursed?

11 Shall I acquit the man  j with wicked scales

and with a bag of deceitful weights?

12[†] Your [5] rich men are  k full of violence;

your inhabitants  l speak lies,

and  m their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

13[†] Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow,

 n making you desolate because of your sins.

14[†]  o You shall eat, but not be satisfied,

and there shall be hunger within you;

you shall put away, but not preserve,

and what you preserve I will give to the sword.

15[†]  p You shall sow, but not reap;

you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;

you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.

16[†] For you have kept the statutes of  q Omri, [6]

and all the works of the house of  r Ahab;

and you have walked in their counsels,

that I may make you  s a desolation, and your [7] inhabitants  s a hissing;

so you shall bear  t the scorn of my people.”