6 Hear what the Lord says:
    Rise, plead your case before the mountains,
    and let the hills hear your voice.
² Hear, 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.

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?
⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
    with tens of thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?’
⁸ He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?

⁹ The voice of the Lord cries to the city
    (it is sound wisdom to fear your name):
Hear, O tribe and assembly of the city!^[a]
10     Can I forget^[b] the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked,
    and the scant measure that is accursed?
¹¹ Can I tolerate wicked scales
    and a bag of dishonest weights?
¹² Your^[c] wealthy are full of violence;
    your^[d] inhabitants speak lies,
    with tongues of deceit in their mouths.
¹³ Therefore I have begun^[e] to strike you down,
    making you desolate because of your sins.
¹⁴ You shall eat, but not be satisfied,
    and there shall be a gnawing hunger within you;
you shall put away, but not save,
    and what you save, I will hand over to the sword.
¹⁵ You shall sow, but not reap;
    you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
    you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.
¹⁶ For you have kept the statutes of Omri^[f]
    and all the works of the house of Ahab,
    and you have followed their counsels.
Therefore I will make you a desolation, and your^[g] inhabitants an object of hissing;
    so you shall bear the scorn of my people.