Micah 6

New International Version

The Lord’s Case Against Israel

6 Listen to what the Lord says:

“Stand up, plead my case before the mountains;^(A)
let the hills hear what you have to say.

²“Hear,^(B) you mountains, the Lord’s accusation;^(C)
listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.
For the Lord has a case^(D) against his people;
he is lodging a charge^(E) against Israel.

³“My people, what have I done to you?
    How have I burdened^(F) you?^(G) Answer me.
⁴I brought you up out of Egypt^(H)
    and redeemed you from the land of slavery.^(I)
I sent Moses^(J) to lead you,
    also Aaron^(K) and Miriam.^(L)
⁵My people, remember
    what Balak^(M) king of Moab plotted
    and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
Remember your journey from Shittim^(N) to Gilgal,^(O)
    that you may know the righteous acts^(P) of the Lord.”

⁶With what shall I come before^(Q) the Lord
    and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?^(R)
⁷Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,^(S)
    with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?^(T)
Shall I offer my firstborn^(U) for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?^(V)
⁸He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly^(W) and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly^[a]^(X) with your God.^(Y)

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

⁹Listen! The Lord is calling to the city—
    and to fear your name is wisdom—
    “Heed the rod^(Z) and the One who appointed it.^[b]
¹⁰Am I still to forget your ill-gotten treasures, you wicked house,
    and the short ephah,^[c] which is accursed?^(AA)
¹¹Shall I acquit someone with dishonest scales,^(AB)
    with a bag of false weights?^(AC)
¹²Your rich people are violent;^(AD)
    your inhabitants are liars^(AE)
    and their tongues speak deceitfully.^(AF)
¹³Therefore, I have begun to destroy^(AG) you,
    to ruin^[d] you because of your sins.
¹⁴You will eat but not be satisfied;^(AH)
    your stomach will still be empty.^[e]
You will store up but save nothing,^(AI)
    because what you save^[f] I will give to the sword.
¹⁵You will plant but not harvest;^(AJ)
    you will press olives but not use the oil,
    you will crush grapes but not drink the wine.^(AK)
¹⁶You have observed the statutes of Omri^(AL)
    and all the practices of Ahab’s^(AM) house;
    you have followed their traditions.^(AN)
Therefore I will give you over to ruin^(AO)
    and your people to derision;
    you will bear the scorn^(AP) of the nations.^[g]”

Footnotes

Micah 6:8 Or prudently
Micah 6:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
Micah 6:10 An ephah was a dry measure.
Micah 6:13 Or Therefore, I will make you ill and destroy you; / I will ruin
Micah 6:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Micah 6:14 Or You will press toward birth but not give birth, / and what you bring to birth
Micah 6:16 Septuagint; Hebrew scorn due my people

Amos 5

New International Version

A Lament and Call to Repentance

5 Hear this word, Israel, this lament^(A) I take up concerning you:

²“Fallen is Virgin^(B) Israel,
never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
with no one to lift her up.^(C)”

³This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:

“Your city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left.^(D)”

⁴This is what the Lord says to Israel:

“Seek^(E) me and live;^(F)
⁵    do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,^(G)
    do not journey to Beersheba.^(H)
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
    and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.^[a]^(I)”
⁶Seek^(J) the Lord and live,^(K)
    or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;^(L)
it will devour them,
    and Bethel^(M) will have no one to quench it.^(N)

⁷There are those who turn justice into bitterness^(O)
and cast righteousness^(P) to the ground.^(Q)

⁸He who made the Pleiades and Orion,^(R)
    who turns midnight into dawn^(S)
    and darkens day into night,^(T)
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.^(U)
⁹With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
    and brings the fortified city to ruin.^(V)

¹⁰There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court^(W)
and detest the one who tells the truth.^(X)

¹¹You levy a straw tax on the poor^(Y)
    and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,^(Z)
    you will not live in them;^(AA)
though you have planted lush vineyards,
    you will not drink their wine.^(AB)
¹²For I know how many are your offenses
    and how great your sins.^(AC)

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes^(AD)
and deprive the poor^(AE) of justice in the courts.^(AF)
¹³Therefore the prudent keep quiet^(AG) in such times,
for the times are evil.^(AH)

¹⁴Seek good, not evil,
    that you may live.^(AI)
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
    just as you say he is.
¹⁵Hate evil,^(AJ) love good;^(AK)
    maintain justice in the courts.^(AL)
Perhaps^(AM) the Lord God Almighty will have mercy^(AN)
    on the remnant^(AO) of Joseph.

¹⁶Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:

“There will be wailing^(AP) in all the streets^(AQ)
    and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers^(AR) will be summoned to weep
    and the mourners to wail.
¹⁷There will be wailing^(AS) in all the vineyards,
    for I will pass through^(AT) your midst,”
says the Lord.^(AU)

The Day of the Lord

¹⁸Woe to you who long
    for the day of the Lord!^(AV)
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?^(AW)
    That day will be darkness,^(AX) not light.^(AY)
¹⁹It will be as though a man fled from a lion
    only to meet a bear,^(AZ)
as though he entered his house
    and rested his hand on the wall
    only to have a snake bite him.^(BA)
²⁰Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,^(BB) not light—
    pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?^(BC)

²¹“I hate,^(BD) I despise your religious festivals;^(BE)
    your assemblies^(BF) are a stench to me.
²²Even though you bring me burnt offerings^(BG) and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.^(BH)
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.^(BI)
²³Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.^(BJ)
²⁴But let justice^(BK) roll on like a river,
    righteousness^(BL) like a never-failing stream!^(BM)

²⁵“Did you bring me sacrifices^(BN) and offerings
    forty years^(BO) in the wilderness, people of Israel?
²⁶You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
    the pedestal of your idols,^(BP)
    the star of your god^[b]—
    which you made for yourselves.
²⁷Therefore I will send you into exile^(BQ) beyond Damascus,”
    says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.^(BR)

Footnotes

Amos 5:5 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see Hosea 4:15.
Amos 5:26 Or lifted up Sakkuth your king / and Kaiwan your idols, / your star-gods; Septuagint lifted up the shrine of Molek / and the star of your god Rephan, / their idols