Micah 6 (ESV)

 Micah 6                    (ESV)

The Indictment of the LORD

1Hear what the LORD says:�Arise, plead your case before the mountains,�and let the hills hear your voice.�2Hear, you mountains, 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, what have I done to you?�How have I wearied you? Answer ME!�4For I brought you up from the land of Egypt�and redeemed you from the house of slavery,�and I sent before you Moses,�Aaron, and Miriam.�5O MY people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,�and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,�and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,�that you may know the righteous acts of the LORD.”

What Does the LORD Require?

6“With what shall I come before the LORD,�and bow myself before GOD on high?�Shall I come before HIM with burnt offerings,�with calves a year old?�7Will the LORD be pleased witha thousands of rams,�with ten thousands of rivers of oil?�Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,�the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”�8HE has told you, O man, what is good;�and what does the LORD require of you�but to do justice, and to love kindness,b�and to walk humbly with your GOD?

Destruction of the Wicked

9The voice of the LORD cries to the city—�and it is sound wisdom to fear YOUR name:�“Hear of the rod and of HIM WHO appointed it!c�10Can I forget any longer the treasuresd of wickedness in the house of the wicked,�and the scant measure that is accursed?�11Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales�and with a bag of deceitful weights?�12Youre rich men are full of violence;�your inhabitants speak lies,�and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.�13Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow,�making you desolate because of your sins.�14You 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.�15You shall sow, but not reap;�you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;�you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.�16For you have kept the statutes of Omri,f�and all the works of the house of Ahab;�and you have walked in their counsels,�that I may make you a desolation, and yourg inhabitants a hissing;�so you shall bear the scorn of MY people.”