⁸ He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and ^(A)what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,^[a]
    and to ^(B)walk humbly with your God?

^2 (E)Hear, you peoples, all of you;^{[a]
    (F)}pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,
and ^(G)let the Lord God be a witness against you,
    ^(H)the Lord from his holy temple.
³ For behold, ^(I)the Lord is coming out of ^(J)his place,
    and will come down and ^(K)tread upon the high places of the earth.
⁴ And ^(L)the mountains will melt under him,
    and the valleys will split open,
like wax before the fire,
    like waters poured down a steep place.
⁵ All this is for ^(M)the transgression of Jacob
    and for the sins of the house of Israel.
^(N)What is the transgression of Jacob?
    Is it not ^(O)Samaria?
And what is ^(P)the high place of Judah?
    Is it not Jerusalem?
⁶ Therefore I will make ^(Q)Samaria ^(R)a heap in the open country,
    a place for planting vineyards,
and I will pour down her stones ^(S)into the valley
    and ^(T)uncover her foundations.
⁷ All ^(U)her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,
    ^(V)all her wages shall be burned with fire,
    and all her idols I will lay waste,
for from ^(W)the fee of a prostitute she gathered them,
    and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.

⁸ But as for me, ^(A)I am filled with power,
    with the Spirit of the Lord,
    and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob ^(B)his transgression
    and to Israel his sin.

^6 (A)In that day, declares the Lord,
    ^(B)I will assemble the ^(C)lame
and gather those who have been driven away
    and those whom I have afflicted;
⁷ and the lame I will make ^(D)the remnant,
    and those who were cast off, a strong nation;
and ^(E)the Lord will reign over them ^(F)in Mount Zion
    from this time forth and forevermore.

5 ^[a] Now muster your troops, O daughter^[b] of troops;
    siege is laid against us;
with a rod ^(A)they strike the judge of Israel
    on the cheek.
^{2 [c] (B)}But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    who are too little to be among the clans of ^(C)Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
    one who is to be ^(D)ruler in Israel,
^(E)whose coming forth is ^(F)from of old,
    from ancient days.
³ Therefore he shall give them up ^(G)until the time
    when she who is in labor has given birth;
then ^(H)the rest of his brothers shall return
    to the people of Israel.
⁴ And he shall stand ^(I)and shepherd his flock ^(J)in the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now ^(K)he shall be great
    to the ends of the earth.
⁵ And he shall be ^(L)their peace.

6 ^(A)Hear what the Lord says:
Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
    and let the hills hear your voice.
^2 (B)Hear, you mountains, ^(C)the indictment of the Lord,
    and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the Lord has an indictment against his people,
    and he will contend with Israel.

^18 (A)Who is a God like you, ^(B)pardoning iniquity
    and passing over transgression
    ^(C)for the remnant of his inheritance?
^(D)He does not retain his anger forever,
    because he delights in steadfast love.
¹⁹ He will ^(E)again have compassion on us;
    ^(F)he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
^(G)You will cast all our^[a] sins
    into the depths of the sea.
^20 (H)You will show faithfulness to Jacob
    and steadfast love to Abraham,
^(I)as you have sworn to our fathers
    from the days of old.