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⁴ Do not seek from the Lord high office,
   or the seat of honour from the king.
⁵ Do not assert your righteousness before the Lord,
   or display your wisdom before the king.
⁶ Do not seek to become a judge,
   or you may be unable to root out injustice;
you may be partial to the powerful,
   and so mar your integrity.
⁷ Commit no offence against the public,
   and do not disgrace yourself among the people.

⁸ Do not commit a sin twice;
   not even for one will you go unpunished.
⁹ Do not say, ‘He will consider the great number of my gifts,
   and when I make an offering to the Most High God, he will accept it.’
¹⁰ Do not grow weary when you pray;
   do not neglect to give alms.
¹¹ Do not ridicule a person who is embittered in spirit,
   for there is One who humbles and exalts.
¹² Do not devise^* a lie against your brother,
   or do the same to a friend.
¹³ Refuse to utter any lie,
   for it is a habit that results in no good.
¹⁴ Do not babble in the assembly of the elders,
   and do not repeat yourself when you pray.

5^*Now you are walled around with a wall;^*
   siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the ruler of Israel
   upon the cheek.

The Ruler from Bethlehem

^{2 *}But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
   who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
   one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
   from ancient days.
³ Therefore he shall give them up until the time
   when she who is in labour has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return
   to the people of Israel.
⁴ And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,
   in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
   to the ends of the earth;
¹⁰ On that day, says the Lord,
   I will cut off your horses from among you
   and will destroy your chariots;
¹¹ and I will cut off the cities of your land
   and throw down all your strongholds;
¹² and I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
   and you shall have no more soothsayers;
¹³ and I will cut off your images
   and your pillars from among you,
and you shall bow down no more
   to the work of your hands;
¹⁴ and I will uproot your sacred poles^* from among you
   and destroy your towns.
¹⁵ And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance
   on the nations that did not obey.

God Challenges Israel

6Hear what the Lord says:
   Rise, plead your case before the mountains,
   and let the hills hear your voice.
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.

³ ‘O my people, what have I done to you?
   In what have I wearied you? Answer 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.
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.’

What God Requires

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?
⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
   with tens of thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
   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?