6 Hear what the Lord says:
    Rise, plead your case before the mountains,
    and let the hills hear your voice.^(A)
2 Hear, you mountains, the case of the Lord,
    and you enduring foundations of the earth,
for the Lord has a case against his people,
    and he will contend with Israel.^(B)

⁶ “With what shall I come before the Lord
    and bow myself 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,
    with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”^(F)
8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good,
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice and to love kindness
    and to walk humbly with your God?^(G)

⁹ The voice of the Lord cries to the city
    (and he shall save those who fear his name^[a]):
Hear, O tribe and assembly of the city!^[b]
10     Can I forget^[c] the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked
    and the despicable false measure?^(H)
11 Can I tolerate wicked scales
    and a bag of dishonest weights?^(I)
12 Your^[d] wealthy are full of violence;
    your^[e] inhabitants speak lies
    with tongues of deceit in their mouths.
¹³ Therefore I have begun^[f] to strike you down,
    making you desolate because of your sins.^(J)
14 You shall eat but not be satisfied,
    and there shall be a gnawing hunger within you;
you shall put away but not save,
    and what you save, I will hand over to the sword.^(K)
15 You shall sow but not reap;
    you shall tread olives but not anoint yourselves with oil;
    you shall tread grapes but not drink wine.^(L)
16 For you have kept the statutes of Omri^[g]
    and all the works of the house of Ahab,
    and you have followed their counsels.
Therefore I will make you a desolation and your^[h] inhabitants an object of hissing,
    so you shall bear the scorn of my people.^(M)

7 Woe is me! For I have become like one who,
    after the summer fruit has been gathered,
    after the vintage has been gleaned,
finds no cluster to eat;
    there is no first-ripe fig for which I hunger.^(N)
2 The faithful have disappeared from the land,
    and there is no one left who is upright;
they all lie in wait for blood,
    and they hunt each other with nets.^(O)
3 Their hands are skilled to do evil;
    the official and the judge ask for a bribe,
and the powerful dictate what they desire;
    thus they pervert justice.^[i](P)
4 The best of them is like a brier,
    the most upright of them a thorn hedge.
The day of their^[j] sentinels, of their^[k] punishment, has come;
    now their confusion is at hand.^(Q)
5 Put no trust in a friend;
    have no confidence in a loved one;
guard the doors of your mouth
    from her who lies in your embrace,
⁶ for the son treats the father with contempt,
    the daughter rises up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
    your enemies are members of your own household.^(R)
7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
    I will wait for the God of my salvation;
    my God will hear me.^(S)

⁸ Do not rejoice over me, my enemies;^[l]
    when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness,
    the Lord will be a light to me.^(T)
9 I must bear the indignation of the Lord
    because I have sinned against him,
until he takes my side
    and executes judgment for me.
He will bring me out to the light;
    I shall see his vindication.^(U)
10 Then my enemies^[m] will see,
    and shame will cover those^[n] who said to me,
    “Where is the Lord your God?”
My eyes will see their^[o] downfall;^[p]
    now they^[q] will be trodden down
    like the mire of the streets.^(V)

¹¹ A day for the building of your walls!
    On that day the boundary shall be far extended.^(W)
12 On that day they will come to you
    from Assyria to^[r] Egypt
and from Egypt to the River,
    from sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.^(X)
13 But the earth will be desolate
    because of its inhabitants,
    for the fruit of their doings.^(Y)

¹⁸ Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
    and passing over the transgression
    of the remnant of his possession?
He does not retain his anger forever
    because he delights in showing steadfast love.^(AC)
19 He will again have compassion upon us;
    he will tread our iniquities under foot.
You will cast all our^[t] sins
    into the depths of the sea.^(AD)
20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob
    and steadfast love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our ancestors
    from the days of old.^(AE)