1 Hear now the word of the Lord: the Lord has said; Arise, plead with the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. 2 Hear, hills, the controversy of the Lord, and you valleys even the foundations of the earth: for the Lord has a controversy with his people, and will plead with Israel. 3 My people, what have I done to you? or how have I grieved you? or how have I troubled you? answer me. 4 For I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, and sent before you Moses, and Aaron, and Miriam. 5 My people, remember now, what counsel Balak king of Moab took against you, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, from the reeds to Gilgal; that the righteousness of the Lord might be known. 6 With what shall I reach the Lord, and lay hold of my God most high? shall I reach him by whole burnt offerings, by calves of a year old? 7 Will the Lord accept thousands of rams, or ten thousands of streams of fat? should I give my firstborn for ungodliness, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 Has it not been told you, man, what is good? or what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and love mercy, and be ready to walk with the Lord your God? 9 The Lord's voice shall be proclaimed in the city, and he shall save those that fear his name:⁠a hear, tribe; and who shall order the city? 10 Is there not fire, and the house of the wicked heaping up wicked treasures, and that with the pride of unrighteousness? 11 Shall the wicked be justified by the balance, or deceitful weights in the bag, 12 by which they have accumulated their ungodly wealth, and they that dwell in the city have uttered falsehoods, and their tongue has been exalted in their mouth? 13 Therefore I will begin to strike you; I will destroy you in your sins. 14 You shall eat, and shall not be satisfied; and there shall be darkness upon you; and he shall depart from you, and you shall not escape; and all that shall escape shall be delivered over to the sword. 15 You shall sow, but you shall not reap; you shall press the olive, but you shall not anoint yourself with oil; and shall make wine, but you shall drink no wine: and the ordinances of my people shall be utterly abolished. 16 For you have kept the statutes of Zimri, and done all the works of the house of Ahab; and you have walked in their counsels, that I might deliver you to utter destruction, and those that inhabit the city to hissing: and you shall bear the reproach of nations.