1Hear what the LORD says:

Arise, plead your case before the mountains,

and let the hills hear your voice.

2Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the LORD,

and you enduring foundations of the earth;

for the LORD has a controversy with his people,

and he will contend with Israel.

3“O my people, what have I done to you?

In what have I wearied you? Answer me!

4For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,

and redeemed you from the house of bondage;

and I sent before you Moses,

Aaron, and Miriam.

5O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised,

and what Balaam the son of Be'or answered him,

and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,

that you may know the saving acts of the LORD.”

6“With what shall I come before the LORD,

and bow myself before God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

with calves a year old?

7Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my first-born for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

8He has showed you, O man, what is good;

and what does the LORD require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,6.8 Or steadfast love

and to walk humbly with your God?

The Lord's call to the city

9The voice of the LORD cries to the city —

and it is sound wisdom to fear thy name:

“Hear, O tribe and assembly of the city!6.9 Cn Compare Gk: Heb and who has appointed it yet

10Can I forget the6.10 Cn: Heb uncertain treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked,

and the scant measure that is accursed?

11Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales

and with a bag of deceitful weights?

12Your6.12 Heb whose rich men are full of violence;

your6.12 Heb whose inhabitants speak lies,

and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

13Therefore I have begun6.13 Gk Syr Vg: Heb have made sick to smite you,

making you desolate because of your sins.

14You shall eat, but not be satisfied,

and there shall be hunger in your inward parts;

you shall put away, but not save,

and what you save I will give to the sword.

15You shall sow, but not reap;

you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;

you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.

16For you have kept the statutes of Omri,6.16 Gk Syr Vg Tg: Heb the statutes of Omri are kept

and all the works of the house of Ahab;

and you have walked in their counsels;

that I may make you a desolation, and your6.16 Heb its inhabitants a hissing;

so you shall bear the scorn of the peoples.”6.16 Gk: Heb my people