God Pleads with Israel

6 Hear now what the Lord says:

“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,

And let the hills hear your voice.

2 aHear, O you mountains, bthe Lord’s complaint,

And you strong foundations of the earth;

For cthe Lord has a complaint against His people,

And He will 1contend with Israel.

3 “O My people, what dhave I done to you?

And how have I ewearied you?

Testify against Me.

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

I redeemed you from the house of bondage;

And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

5 O My people, remember now

What gBalak king of Moab counseled,

And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,

From 2Acacia Grove to Gilgal,

That you may know hthe righteousness of the Lord.”

6 With what shall I come before the Lord,

And bow myself before the High God?

Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,

With calves a year old?

7 iWill the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

Ten thousand jrivers of oil?

kShall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

3The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

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

And what does the Lord require of you

But mto do justly,

To love 4mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?

Punishment of Israel’s Injustice

9 The Lord’s voice cries to the city—

Wisdom shall see Your name:

“Hear the rod!

Who has appointed it?

10 Are there yet the treasures of wickedness

In the house of the wicked,

And the short measure that is an abomination?

11 Shall I count pure those with nthe wicked scales,

And with the bag of deceitful weights?

12 For her rich men are full of oviolence,

Her inhabitants have spoken lies,

And ptheir tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

13 “Therefore I will also qmake you sick by striking you,

By making you desolate because of your sins.

14 rYou shall eat, but not be satisfied;

5Hunger shall be in your midst.

6You may carry some away, but shall not save them;

And what you do rescue I will give over to the sword.

15 “You shall ssow, but not reap;

You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;

And make sweet wine, but not drink wine.

16 For the statutes of tOmri are ukept;

All the works of Ahab’s house are done;

And you walk in their counsels,

That I may make you a 7desolation,

And your inhabitants a hissing.

Therefore you shall bear the vreproach of 8My people.”