¹Do listen to what the Lord is saying:

“Rise and contend with the mountains,

And let the hills hear your voice.

²Hear, O mountains, the Lord's contention,

And you firm foundations of the earth,

For the Lord has a contention with his people,

And he will argue with Israel.

³My people, what have I done to you?

And in what way have I wearied you?

Testify the case against me.

⁴For I brought you out of the land of Egypt,

And I redeemed you from a house of slavery,

When I sent Moses, Aaron and Miriam before you.

⁵My people, do remember how Balak king of Moab took counsel,

And how Balaam the son of Beor answered him,

From Shittim to Gilgal,

In order to know the righteous ways of the Lord.”

⁶With what shall I come before the Lord,

And bow to God on high?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,

With one-year-old calves?

⁷Is the Lord pleased with thousands of rams?

Or with tens of thousands of streams of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression

– The fruit of my belly –

For my personal sins?

⁸He has told you, O man,

What is good,

And what the Lord requires from you,

Which is rather to exercise justice,

And to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God.

⁹The voice of the Lord calls to the city,

And your name provides wisdom:

“Hear the rod of chastisement.

And who appointed the matter?

¹⁰Are there still in the house of the wicked

Treasures obtained by wickedness?

And a short-measured ephah

Causing indignation?

¹¹Will I be found pure with dishonest balances?

Or will I be found with the bag of false weights?

¹²For her rich men are full of violence,

And her inhabitants speak falsely,

And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

¹³I will also afflict you,

By striking you and making you desolate

For your sins.

¹⁴You will eat,

But not be satisfied,

And you will have dissatisfaction inside you.

And should you take hold of something,

You will not carry it away safely.

And whoever would escape

I will give up to the sword.

¹⁵You will sow,

But you will not reap.

You will tread the olive,

But you will not anoint yourself with its oil,

And you will prepare must,

But you will not drink the wine.

¹⁶So let a man beware

Of the statutes of Omri

And all the works of the house of Ahab

– For you have walked in their counsels –

Lest I make you a desolation,

And its inhabitants an object of jeering,

And they bear the reproach of my people.”