1 Hear ye now what the LORD saith: Arise, contend thou with the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice. 2 Hear ye, O mountains, the LORD’s controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth; for the LORD has a controversy with his people, and he will reprove Israel.
3 O my people, what have I done unto thee? and in what have I wearied thee? testify against me. 4 For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt and ransomed thee out of the house of slaves; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 5 O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal: that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD.
6 With what shall I present myself before the LORD, and how shall I worship the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my rebellion, the fruit of my bowels for the sin of my soul? 8 He has declared unto thee, O man, what is good and what the LORD requires of thee: only to do right judgment, and to love mercy, and to humble thyself to walk with thy God.
9 The LORD’s voice cries out unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and he who has established it. 10 Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked and the scant measure that is abominable? 11 Can I be pure with false balances and with a bag of deceitful weights? 12 With which their rich men are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. 13 Therefore I have also made thee weak in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins. 14 Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee; and thou shalt take, but shalt not be saved; and that which thou dost save, I will give it up to the sword. 15 Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with the oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink the wine. 16 For the statutes of Omri have been kept and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye have walked in their counsels that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people.