1 | Hear ye now what the Lord saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains,
and let the hills hear thy voice.
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2 | Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord's controversy, and ye strong foundations of
the earth: for the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead
with Israel.
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3 | O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee?
testify against me.
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4 | For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of
the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
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5 | O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what
Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know
the righteousness of the Lord.
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6 | Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high
God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
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7 | Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or 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?
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8 | He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require
of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
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9 | The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see
thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.
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10 | Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and
the scant measure that is abominable?
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11 | Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of
deceitful weights?
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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.
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13 | Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee
desolate because of thy sins.
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14 | Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and thy casting down shall be in
the midst of thee; and thou shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and that
which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword.
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15 | Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but
thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine.
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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 should make thee a desolation, and the
inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my
people.
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