Bible in Basic English
The voice of the Lord is crying out to the town: Give ear, you tribes and the meeting of the town.
Am I to let the stores of the evil-doer go out of my memory, and the short measure, which is cursed?
Is it possible for me to let wrong scales and the bag of false weights go without punishment?
For its men of wealth are cruel, and its people have said what is not true, and their tongue is false in their mouth.
So I have made a start with your punishment; I have made you waste because of your sins.
You will have food, but not enough; your shame will be ever with you: you will get your goods moved, but you will not take them away safely; and what you do take away I will give to the sword.
You will put in seed, but you will not get in the grain; you will be crushing olives, but your bodies will not be rubbed with the oil; and you will get in the grapes, but you will have no wine.
For you have kept the laws of Omri and all the works of the family of Ahab, and you have been guided by their designs: so that I might make you a cause of wonder and your people a cause of hisses; and the shame of my people will be on you.
— Micah 6:9-1964, Bible in Basic English
“The Lord’s voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it. Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable? Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins. Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword. Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine. For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people. ”
With what am I to come before the Lord and go with bent head before the high God? am I to come before him with burned offerings, with young oxen a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of sheep or with ten thousand rivers of oil? am I to give my first child for my wrongdoing, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has made clear to you, O man, what is good; and what is desired from you by the Lord; only doing what is right, and loving mercy, and walking without pride before your God.
The voice of the Lord is crying out to the town: Give ear, you tribes and the meeting of the town.
Am I to let the stores of the evil-doer go out of my memory, and the short measure, which is cursed?
Is it possible for me to let wrong scales and the bag of false weights go without punishment?
For its men of wealth are cruel, and its people have said what is not true, and their tongue is false in their mouth.
So I have made a start with your punishment; I have made you waste because of your sins.
You will have food, but not enough; your shame will be ever with you: you will get your goods moved, but you will not take them away safely; and what you do take away I will give to the sword.
You will put in seed, but you will not get in the grain; you will be crushing olives, but your bodies will not be rubbed with the oil; and you will get in the grapes, but you will have no wine.
For you have kept the laws of Omri and all the works of the family of Ahab, and you have been guided by their designs: so that I might make you a cause of wonder and your people a cause of hisses; and the shame of my people will be on you.