New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Hear what the Lord says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.
1
Give ear now to the words of the Lord: Up! put forward your cause before the mountains, let your voice be sounding among the hills.
2 Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for the Lord has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel.
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Give ear, O you mountains, to the Lord's cause, and take note, you bases of the earth: for the Lord has a cause against his people, and he will take it up with Israel.
3 "O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!
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O my people, what have I done to you? how have I been a weariness to you? give answer against me.
4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
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For I took you up out of the land of Egypt and made you free from the prison-house; I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the Lord."
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O my people, keep in mind now what was designed by Balak, king of Moab, and the answer which Balaam, son of Beor, gave him; the events, from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may be certain of the upright acts of the Lord.
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?
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With what am I to come before the Lord and go with bent head before the high God? am I to come before him with burned offerings, with young oxen 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?"
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Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of sheep or with ten thousand rivers of oil? am I to give my first child for my wrongdoing, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
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?
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He has made clear to you, O man, what is good; and what is desired from you by the Lord; only doing what is right, and loving mercy, and walking without pride before your God.
9 The voice of the Lord cries to the city (it is sound wisdom to fear your name): Hear, O tribe and assembly of the city!
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The voice of the Lord is crying out to the town: Give ear, you tribes and the meeting of the town.
10 Can I forget the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is accursed?
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Am I to let the stores of the evil-doer go out of my memory, and the short measure, which is cursed?
11 Can I tolerate wicked scales and a bag of dishonest weights?
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Is it possible for me to let wrong scales and the bag of false weights go without punishment?
12 Your wealthy are full of violence; your inhabitants speak lies, with tongues of deceit in their mouths.
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For its men of wealth are cruel, and its people have said what is not true, and their tongue is false in their mouth.
13 Therefore I have begun to strike you down, making you desolate because of your sins.
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So I have made a start with your punishment; I have made you waste because of your sins.
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.
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You will have food, but not enough; your shame will be ever with you: you will get your goods moved, but you will not take them away safely; and what you do take away I will give to the sword.
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.
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You will put in seed, but you will not get in the grain; you will be crushing olives, but your bodies will not be rubbed with the oil; and you will get in the grapes, but you will have no wine.
16 For you have kept the statutes of Omri and all the works of the house of Ahab, and you have followed their counsels. Therefore I will make you a desolation, and your inhabitants an object of hissing; so you shall bear the scorn of my people.
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For you have kept the laws of Omri and all the works of the family of Ahab, and you have been guided by their designs: so that I might make you a cause of wonder and your people a cause of hisses; and the shame of my people will be on you.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.