6
God Pleads with Israel
1Hear now what the Lord says:
“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
And let the hills hear your voice.
2⚓Hear, O you mountains, ⚓the Lord’s complaint,
And you strong 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?
And how have I ⚓wearied you?
Testify against Me.
4⚓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.
5O My people, remember now
What ⚓Balak king of Moab counseled,
And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
From Acacia Grove to Gilgal,
That you may know ⚓the righteousness of the Lord.”
6With 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⚓Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
Ten thousand ⚓rivers of oil?
⚓Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8He has ⚓shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But ⚓to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
Punishment of Israel’s Injustice
9The Lord’s voice cries to the city—
Wisdom shall see Your name:
“Hear the rod!
Who has appointed it?
10Are there yet the treasures of wickedness
In the house of the wicked,
And the short measure that is an abomination?
11Shall I count pure those with ⚓the wicked scales,
And with the bag of deceitful weights?
12For her rich men are full of ⚓violence,
Her inhabitants have spoken lies,
And ⚓their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13“Therefore I will also ⚓make you sick by striking you,
By making you desolate because of your sins.
14⚓You shall eat, but not be satisfied;
Hunger shall be in your midst.
You may carry some away, but shall not save them;
And what you do rescue I will give over to the sword.
15“You shall ⚓sow, but not reap;
You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
And make sweet wine, but not drink wine.
16For the statutes of ⚓Omri are ⚓kept;
All the works of Ahab’s house are done;
And you walk in their counsels,
That I may make you a desolation,
And your inhabitants a hissing.
Therefore you shall bear the ⚓reproach of My people.”