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5Now you are walled around with a wall; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the ruler of Israel upon the cheek. ⁵and he shall be the one of peace. If the Assyrians come into our land and tread upon our soil, we will raise against them seven shepherds and eight installed as rulers. ⁶They shall rule the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod with the drawn sword; they shall rescue us from the Assyrians if they come into our land or tread within our border.

⁷Then the remnant of Jacob, surrounded by many peoples, shall be like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, which do not depend upon people or wait for any mortal. ⁸And among the nations the remnant of Jacob, surrounded by many peoples, shall be like a lion among the animals of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, which, when it goes through, treads down and tears in pieces, with no one to deliver. ⁹Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries, and all your enemies shall be cut off. ¹⁰In that day, says the Lord, I will cut off your horses from among you and will destroy your chariots; ¹¹and I will cut off the cities of your land and throw down all your strongholds; ¹²and I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you shall have no more soothsayers; ¹³and 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; ¹⁴and I will uproot your sacred poles from among you and destroy your towns. ¹⁵And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance on the nations that did not obey.

6Hear what the Lord says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. ²Hear, 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! ⁴For 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. ⁵O 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.”

⁹The voice of the Lord cries to the city (it is sound wisdom to fear your name): Hear, O tribe and assembly of the city! ¹⁰Can I forget the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is accursed? ¹¹Can I tolerate wicked scales and a bag of dishonest weights? ¹²Your wealthy are full of violence; your inhabitants speak lies, with tongues of deceit in their mouths. ¹³Therefore I have begun to strike you down, making you desolate because of your sins. ¹⁴You 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. ¹⁵You shall sow, but not reap; you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine. ¹⁶For 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.