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God's Indictment of His People

¹ Hear now what the LORD is saying,
"Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
And let the hills as witnesses hear your voice.

² "Hear, O mountains, the indictment of the LORD,
And you enduring ^(C1)foundations of the earth,
For the ^(C2)LORD has a case (a legal complaint) against His people,
And He will dispute (challenge) Israel.

³ "O ^(C1)My people, ^(C2)what have I done to you since you have turned away from Me?
And ^(C3)how have I wearied you? Answer Me.

⁴ "For I ^(C1)brought you up from the land of Egypt
And ^(C2)ransomed you from the house of slavery,
And I sent before you ^(C3)Moses to lead you, Aaron the high priest, and ^(C4)Miriam the prophetess.

⁵ "My people, remember now
What ^(C1)Balak king of Moab devised with his evil plan against Israel
And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him turning the curse into blessing for Israel,
Remember what the LORD did for you from ^(F1)(C2)Shittim to ^(C3)Gilgal,
So that you may know the ^(C4)righteous and saving acts displaying the power of the LORD." ^(VR1)

What God Requires of Man

^6 (C1)With what shall I come before the LORD to honor Him
And bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before Him with ^(C2)burnt offerings,
With yearling calves?

⁷ Will the LORD be delighted with ^(C1)thousands of rams,
Or with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I present my ^(C2)firstborn for my acts of rebellion,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

⁸ He has ^(C1)told you, O man, what is good;
And ^(C2)what does the LORD require of you
Except to ^(C3)be just, and to ^(C4)love and to diligently practice kindness (compassion),
And to ^(C5)walk humbly with your God setting aside any overblown sense of importance or self-righteousness? ^(VR1)

⁹ The voice of the LORD shall call to the city of Jerusalem—
And it is sound wisdom to heed solemnly and fear Your name with awe-filled reverence;
"Hear, O tribe the rod of punishment. Who has appointed its time?

¹⁰ "Are there not still treasures gained by ^(C1)wickedness
In the house of the wicked,
And a ^(C2)short (inaccurate) measure for grain that is cursed? ^(VR1)

¹¹ "Can I be guiltless and justify deceptive ^(C1)scales
And a bag of dishonest weights? ^(VR1)

¹² "For the rich men of the city are full of ^(C1)violence of every kind;
Her inhabitants speak ^(C2)lies
And their ^(C3)tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

¹³ "So also I will make you ^(C1)sick, striking you down,
^(C2)Desolating and devastating you, because of your sins.

¹⁴ "You shall eat, but you will ^(C1)not be satisfied,
And your ^(F1)emptiness shall be among you;
You will try to remove your goods and those you love for safekeeping
But you will ^(C2)fail to save anything,
And what you do save I shall give to the sword.

¹⁵ "You shall sow but you shall ^(C1)not reap;
You shall tread olives, but shall not anoint yourself with oil,
And you will extract juice from the grapes, but you shall ^(C2)not drink the wine.

¹⁶ "For you have kept the statutes of ^(C1)Omri the idolatrous king,
And all the works of the wicked house (dynasty) of ^(C2)Ahab;
And you ^(C3)walk in their counsels and policies.
Therefore, I shall hand you over for ^(C4)destruction and horror
And your city's inhabitants for ^(C5)ridicule,
And you shall bear the ^(C6)rebuke and scorn of My people."