1  Hear ye now what YHWH saith: Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.

1  Hear now a word: the Lord God has said; Arise, plead with the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.

1  Listen to what the Lord says: Rise, contend in judgment against the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.

2  Hear, O ye mountains, YHWH'S controversy, and ye enduring rocks, the foundations of the earth; for the YHWH hath a controversy with His people, and He will plead with Israel.

2  Let the mountains listen to the judgment of the Lord, and the strong foundations of the earth. For the judgment of the Lord is with his people, and he will enter into judgment with Israel.

2  Hear, O you mountains, the judgment of the LORD, listen, O you deep foundations of the earth; for the LORD will contend with his people, and he will judge Israel;

3  O My people, what have I done unto thee? And wherein have I wearied thee? Testify against Me.

3  My people, what have I done to you, or how have I assailed you? Respond to me.

4  For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of bondage, and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

4  For I led you out of the land of Egypt, and I freed you from the house of servitude, and I sent before your face Moses, and Aaron, and Miriam.

4  Have not I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and delivered you from the house of bondage? And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam?

5  O My people, remember now what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him; from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteous acts of YHWH.

5  My people, remember, I ask you, what Balak the king of Moab planned, and how Balaam the son of Beor responded to him, from Shittim even to Gilgal, so that you may know the justice of the Lord.

6  'Wherewith shall I come before YHWH, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old?

6  What worthy thing might I offer to the Lord, as I bend the knee before God on high? How could I offer holocausts to him, and one year-old calves?

7  Will YHWH be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?'

7  Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with many thousands of fat he-goats? How could I give up my firstborn because of my evil deed, the fruit of my womb because of the sin of my soul?

7  The LORD will not be pleased with thousands of rams, nor with ten thousands of heifers; if I should offer my first-born, it is an iniquity to myself, and the fruit of my body, it is a sin against my soul.

8  It hath been told thee, O man, what is good, and what YHWH doth require of thee: only to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.

8  Has it not been told thee, O man, what is good? or what does the Lord require of thee, but to do justice, and love mercy, and be ready to walk with the Lord thy God?

8  I will reveal to you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires from you, and how to act with judgment, and to love mercy, and to walk carefully with your God.

9  Hark! YHWH crieth unto the city--and it is wisdom to have regard for Thy name--hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.

9  The Lord’s voice shall be proclaimed in the city, and he shall save those that fear his name: hear, O tribe; and who shall order the city?

9  The voice of the Lord cries out to the city, “Listen, you tribes,” and who will confirm it? And salvation will be for those who fear your name.

10  Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?

10  For there is still fire in the house of the wicked and in the storehouses of iniquity and in the short measure of deceit.

11  'Shall I be pure with wicked balances, and with a bag of deceitful weights?'

11  Shall I justify unfaithful balances, and the deceitful weighing of a small bag?

11  How can they justify themselves with the wicked scales and with the bag of deceitful weights?

12  For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

12  whereby 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?

12  By this, her wealthy have been filled with iniquity, and her inhabitants have spoken lies, and their tongue was deceitful in their mouth.

13  Therefore I also do smite thee with a grievous wound; I do make thee desolate because of thy sins.

13  Therefore will I begin to smite thee; I will destroy thee in thy sins.

13  And I, therefore, began to strike you with perdition because of your sins.

14  Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy sickness shall be in thine inward parts; and thou shalt conceive, but shalt not bring forth; and whomsoever thou bringest forth will I give up to the sword.

14  You will consume and not be satisfied, and your humiliation will be in your midst. And you will take hold, and not save, and those whom you will save, I will deliver to the sword.

15  Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink wine.

15  You will sow, and not reap. You will tread the olives, and not be anointed with oil, and crush the grapes, and not drink the wine.

15  You shall sow, but you shall not reap; you shall tread the olives, but you shall not anoint yourselves with oil; you shall tread grapes but you shall not drink wine.

16  For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I may make thee an astonishment, and the inhabitants thereof a hissing; and ye shall bear the reproach of My people.

16  For thou hast kept the statues of Zambri, and done all the works of the house of Achaab; and ye have walked in their ways, that I might deliver thee to utter destruction, and those that inhabit the city to hissing: and ye shall bear the reproach of nations.

16  For you have kept the precepts of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab. And you have walked according their wills, so that I should give you over to perdition and its hissing inhabitants, and you would carry the disgrace of my people.