The Case against Israel

1Hear ye now what the LORD saith: Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.

2Hear, O ye mountains, the LORD'S controversy, and ye enduring foundations of the earth: for the LORD hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel.

3O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me.

4For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

5O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him; remember from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of the LORD.

6Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?

7will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

The Punishment of Israel

9The voice of the LORD crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom will see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.

10Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?

11Shall I be pure with wicked balances, and with a bag of deceitful weights?

12For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

13Therefore I also have smitten thee with a grievous wound; I have made thee desolate because of thy sins.

14Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy humiliation shall be in the midst of thee: and thou shalt remove, but shalt not carry away safe; and that which thou carriest away will I give up to the sword.

15Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap: thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine.

16For 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; and ye shall bear the reproach of my people.