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now what the Lord says:
“Stand up, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
2 Hear the Lord’s accusation, O mountains,
and you everlasting foundations of the earth.
For the Lord has a complaint against His people,
and He will contend with Israel.
3 “O My people, what have I done to you?
How have I wearied you? Answer Me.
4 I brought you up from the land of Egypt
and redeemed you from the land of slavery.
I sent Moses to lead you,
also Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O My people, remember
what Balak king of Moab counselled,
and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”
6 With what shall I come before the Lord
when I come to bow down 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,
or with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 Has He has shown you, O man, what is good?
And what it is that the Lord requires of you?
To act justly and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
9 The voice of the Lord is calling to the city—
wisdom comes from fearing Your name—
“Take heed of the rod and the One who appointed it.
10 Are there still fires burning in the houses of the wicked
from their ill-gotten gains
and their accursed short ephahs?
11 Shall I overlook wicked scales
and bags of deceptive weights?
12 For the rich men of the city
are full of violence;
the residents are all liars,
for the tongues in their mouths speak deceitfully.
13 “Therefore, I have begun to strike you down,
bringing ruin to you because of your sins.
14 You will eat but not be satisfied,
your hunger will remain within you.
You will store away, yet save nothing,
and what you do save, I will give to the sword.
15 You will sow but not reap;
you will press olives, but have no oil to anoint yourselves;
you will tread grapes, but not drink the wine.
16 For you have observed the statutes of Omri
and all the practices of the house of Ahab;
and you have walked in their counsels.
Therefore I will make you a desolation
and your residents a derision;
you will bear the scorn of My people.”