^{1 Ref} Hear, I pray you, that which Jehovah is saying: `Rise -- strive thou with the mountains, And cause thou the hills to hear thy voice.'

^{2 Ref} Hear, O mountains, the strife of Jehovah, Ye strong ones -- foundations of earth! For a strife `is' to Jehovah, with His people, And with Israel He doth reason.

^{3 Ref} O My people, what have I done to thee? And what -- have I wearied thee? Testify against Me.

^{4 Ref} For I brought thee up from the land of Egypt, And from the house of servants I have ransomed thee, And I send before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

^{5 Ref} O My people, remember, I pray you, What counsel did Balak king of Moab, What answer him did Balaam son of Beor, (From Shittim unto Gilgal,) In order to know the righteous acts of Jehovah.'

^{6 Ref} With what do I come before Jehovah? Do I bow to God Most High? Do I come before Him with burnt-offerings? With calves -- sons of a year?

^{7 Ref} Is Jehovah pleased with thousands of rams? With myriads of streams of oil? Do I give my first-born `for' my transgression? The fruit of my body `for' the sin of my soul?

^{8 Ref} He hath declared to thee, O man, what `is' good; Yea, what is Jehovah requiring of thee, Except -- to do judgment, and love kindness, And lowly to walk with thy God?

^{9 Ref} A voice of Jehovah to the city calleth, And wisdom doth fear Thy name, Hear ye the rod, and Him who appointed it.

^{10 Ref} Are there yet `in' the house of the wicked Treasures of wickedness, And the abhorred scanty ephah?

^{11 Ref} Do I reckon `it' pure with balances of wickedness? And with a bag of deceitful stones?

^{12 Ref} Whose rich ones have been full of violence, And its inhabitants have spoken falsehood, And their tongue `is' deceitful in their mouth.

^{13 Ref} And I also, I have begun to smite thee, To make desolate, because of thy sins.

^{14 Ref} Thou -- thou eatest, and thou art not satisfied, And thy pit `is' in thy midst, And thou removest, and dost not deliver, And that which thou deliverest, to a sword I give.

^{15 Ref} Thou -- thou sowest, and thou dost not reap, Thou -- thou treadest the olive, And thou pourest not out oil, And new wine -- and thou drinkest not wine.

^{16 Ref} And kept habitually are the statutes of Omri, And all the work of the house of Ahab, And ye do walk in their counsels, For My giving thee for a desolation, And its inhabitants for a hissing, And the reproach of My people ye do bear!

^{1 Ref} Give ear now to the words of the Lord: Up! put forward your cause before the mountains, let your voice be sounding among the hills.

^{2 Ref} Give ear, O you mountains, to the Lord's cause, and take note, you bases of the earth: for the Lord has a cause against his people, and he will take it up with Israel.

^{3 Ref} O my people, what have I done to you? how have I been a weariness to you? give answer against me.

^{4 Ref} For I took you up out of the land of Egypt and made you free from the prison-house; I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

^{5 Ref} O my people, keep in mind now what was designed by Balak, king of Moab, and the answer which Balaam, son of Beor, gave him; the events, from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may be certain of the upright acts of the Lord.

^{6 Ref} With what am I to come before the Lord and go with bent head before the high God? am I to come before him with burned offerings, with young oxen a year old?

^{7 Ref} Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of sheep or with ten thousand rivers of oil? am I to give my first child for my wrongdoing, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

^{8 Ref} He has made clear to you, O man, what is good; and what is desired from you by the Lord; only doing what is right, and loving mercy, and walking without pride before your God.

^{9 Ref} The voice of the Lord is crying out to the town: Give ear, you tribes and the meeting of the town.

^{10 Ref} Am I to let the stores of the evil-doer go out of my memory, and the short measure, which is cursed?

^{11 Ref} Is it possible for me to let wrong scales and the bag of false weights go without punishment?

^{12 Ref} For its men of wealth are cruel, and its people have said what is not true, and their tongue is false in their mouth.

^{13 Ref} So I have made a start with your punishment; I have made you waste because of your sins.

^{14 Ref} You will have food, but not enough; your shame will be ever with you: you will get your goods moved, but you will not take them away safely; and what you do take away I will give to the sword.

^{15 Ref} You will put in seed, but you will not get in the grain; you will be crushing olives, but your bodies will not be rubbed with the oil; and you will get in the grapes, but you will have no wine.

^{16 Ref} For you have kept the laws of Omri and all the works of the family of Ahab, and you have been guided by their designs: so that I might make you a cause of wonder and your people a cause of hisses; and the shame of my people will be on you.