Micah 6:6-16

New American Standard Bible

What God Requires of Mankind

⁶^(A)With what shall I come to the Lord
And bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come to Him with ^(B)burnt offerings,
With yearling calves?
⁷Does the Lord take pleasure in ^(C)thousands of rams,
In ten thousand rivers of ^[a]oil?
Shall I give Him my ^(D)firstborn for my wrongdoings,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
⁸He has ^(E)told you, mortal one, what is good;
And ^(F)what does the Lord require of you
But to ^(G)do justice, to ^(H)love ^[b]kindness,
And to walk ^[c]^(I)humbly with your God?

⁹The voice of the Lord will call to the city—
And it is sound wisdom to fear Your name:
“^[d]Hear, you tribe. Who has designated ^[e]its time?
¹⁰Is there still a person in the wicked house,
Along with treasures of ^(J)wickedness,
And a ^[f]^(K)short measure that is cursed?
¹¹Can I justify dishonest ^(L)balances,
And a bag of fraudulent weights?
¹²For the rich people of ^[g]the city are full of ^(M)violence,
Her residents speak ^(N)lies,
And their ^(O)tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
¹³So also I will make you ^(P)sick, striking you down,
^(Q)Making you desolate because of your sins.
¹⁴You will eat, but you will ^(R)not be satisfied,
And your filth will be in your midst.
You will try to remove valuables for safekeeping,
But you will ^(S)not save it all,
And what you do save I will turn over to the sword.
¹⁵You will sow but you will ^(T)not harvest.
You will tread the olive press but will not anoint yourself with oil;
And tread out sweet wine, but you will ^(U)not drink any wine.
¹⁶The statutes of ^(V)Omri
And every work of the house of ^(W)Ahab are maintained,
And you ^(X)walk by their plans.
Therefore I will give you up for ^(Y)destruction,
And ^[h]your inhabitants for ^[i]^(Z)derision,
And you will suffer the ^(AA)taunting of My people.”