10-16 “Do you expect me to overlook obscene wealth
    you’ve piled up by cheating and fraud?
Do you think I’ll tolerate shady deals
    and shifty scheming?
I’m tired of the violent rich
    bullying their way with bluffs and lies.
I’m fed up. Beginning now, you’re finished.
    You’ll pay for your sins down to your last cent.
No matter how much you get, it will never be enough—
    hollow stomachs, empty hearts.
No matter how hard you work, you’ll have nothing to show for it—
    bankrupt lives, wasted souls.
You’ll plant grass
    but never get a lawn.
You’ll make jelly
    but never spread it on your bread.
You’ll press apples
    but never drink the cider.
You have lived by the standards of your king, Omri,
    the decadent lifestyle of the family of Ahab.
Because you’ve slavishly followed their fashions,
    I’m forcing you into bankruptcy.
Your way of life will be laughed at, a tasteless joke.
    Your lives will be derided as futile and fake.”

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12 Your rich people are violent;(A)
    your inhabitants are liars(B)
    and their tongues speak deceitfully.(C)
13 Therefore, I have begun to destroy(D) you,
    to ruin[a] you because of your sins.
14 You will eat but not be satisfied;(E)
    your stomach will still be empty.[b]
You will store up but save nothing,(F)
    because what you save[c] I will give to the sword.

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Footnotes

  1. Micah 6:13 Or Therefore, I will make you ill and destroy you; / I will ruin
  2. Micah 6:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  3. Micah 6:14 Or You will press toward birth but not give birth, / and what you bring to birth