Micah

Get up, present a legal case before the mountains,

And may the hills hear your voice.+

 2 Hear, O mountains, the legal case of Jehovah,

You firm foundations of the earth,+

For Jehovah has a legal case with his people;

It is against Israel that he will argue:+

 4 For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt,+

From the house of slavery I redeemed you;+

I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Mirʹi·am.+

 5 My people, remember, please, what King Baʹlak of Moʹab proposed,+

And what Baʹlaam the son of Beʹor answered him+

—What took place from Shitʹtim+ to Gilʹgal+—

So that you may know the righteous acts of Jehovah.”

Will I come before him with whole burnt offerings,

With year-old calves?+

 7 Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams,

With tens of thousands of torrents of oil?+

Will I give my firstborn son for my revolt,

The fruit of my body for my sin?*+

Only to exercise justice,*+ to cherish loyalty,*+

And to walk in modesty+ with your God!+

 9 The voice of Jehovah calls out to the city;

Those with practical wisdom will fear your name.

10 Are there still the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked

And the incomplete eʹphah measure* that is detestable?

11 Can I be morally clean* with wicked scales,

With a bag of fraudulent stone weights?+

12 For her rich men are full of violence,

And her inhabitants speak lies;+

Their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.+

13 “Therefore, I will wound you by striking you,+

Making you desolate because of your sins.

14 You will eat but not be satisfied;

You will be empty inside.+

What you remove, you will not carry off safely,

And what you do carry off, I will give to the sword.

You will tread olives, but you will not use the oil;

And you will make new wine, but you will drink no wine.+

16 For you observe the statutes of Omʹri and all the work of the house of Aʹhab,+

And you walk in accord with their advice.

That is why I will make you an object of horror

And her inhabitants something to be whistled at;+

And you will bear the scorn of the peoples.”+