The Lord calls the mountains and hills to witness His judgment against His people, Israel, asking them to recall the ways in which He has delivered and cared for them. The people are reminded of their history, including their deliverance from Egypt and the events at Shittim and Gilgal. The Lord then reveals what He truly desires from His people: to act with justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him. However, the people have instead chosen a path of iniquity and deceit, and as a result, they will face punishment and destruction.
1 Listen to what the Lord says: Rise, contend in judgment against the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice 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 3 My people, what have I done to you, or how have I assailed you? Respond to me 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 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 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 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 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 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 Nevertheless, there is a fire in the house of the impious, the treasury of iniquity, and a small measure, filled with wrath 11 Shall I justify unfaithful balances, and the deceitful weighing of a small bag 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 And I, therefore, began to strike you with perdition because of your sins 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 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 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