“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
And let the hills hear your voice.
^2 (A)Hear, O you mountains, ^(B)the Lord’s complaint,
And you strong foundations of the earth;
For ^(C)the Lord has a complaint against His people,
And He will ^[a]contend with Israel.

³ “O My people, what ^(D)have I done to you?
And how have I ^(E)wearied you?
Testify against Me.
^4 (F)For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
I redeemed you from the house of bondage;
And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
⁵ O My people, remember now
What ^(G)Balak king of Moab counseled,
And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
From ^[b]Acacia Grove to Gilgal,
That you may know ^(H)the righteousness of the Lord.”

⁶ With what shall I come before the Lord,
And bow myself before the High God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
With calves a year old?
^7 (I)Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
Ten thousand ^(J)rivers of oil?
^(K)Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
^[c]The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

⁸ He has ^(L)shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But ^(M)to do justly,
To love ^[d]mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?

“Hear the rod!
Who has appointed it?
¹⁰ Are there yet the treasures of wickedness
In the house of the wicked,
And the short measure that is an abomination?
¹¹ Shall I count pure those with ^(N)the wicked scales,
And with the bag of deceitful weights?
¹² For her rich men are full of ^(O)violence,
Her inhabitants have spoken lies,
And ^(P)their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

¹³ “Therefore I will also ^(Q)make you sick by striking you,
By making you desolate because of your sins.
^14 (R)You shall eat, but not be satisfied;
^[e]Hunger shall be in your midst.
You may carry some away,^[f] but shall not save them;
And what you do rescue I will give over to the sword.

¹⁵ “You shall ^(S)sow, but not reap;
You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
And make sweet wine, but not drink wine.
¹⁶ For the statutes of ^(T)Omri are ^(U)kept;
All the works of Ahab’s house are done;
And you walk in their counsels,
That I may make you a ^[g]desolation,
And your inhabitants a hissing.
Therefore you shall bear the ^(V)reproach of ^[h]My people.”