6 What should I bring to Yahweh,

≈ as I bow down to the high God?

Should I come to him with burnt offerings,

≈ with year-old calves?

7 Will Yahweh be pleased with thousands of rams,

≈ or with ten thousand rivers of oil?

Should I sacrifice my oldest child to pay for my disobedience—

≈ my biological offspring to pay for my own sin?

8 He has told humanity what is good,

≈ and what Yahweh requires from you:

Act justly,

love kindness,

and walk humbly with your god.[ref]

9 Yahweh is making an announcement to the city—

even now wisdom is calling out to you:

“Pay attention to the rod of punishment,

and to the one who has put it in place.

10 There’s dishonest wealth in wicked people’s houses,

along with hated false weights and measures.

11 Should I consider people to be innocent if they use fraudulent scales

or a bag of deceptive weights?

12 The city’s rich men are full of violence,

the inhabitants have spoken lies,

and you can’t believe a word that they say.

13 Therefore I’ll strike you with a terrible blow,

and I’ll make you into a desolate country because of your sins.

14 You’ll eat but not be satisfied—your emptiness will remain inside you.

≈ You’ll store goods away but not be able to save them, and what you do save I will be taken by force.

15 You’ll sow, but not harvest.

≈ You’ll tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with their oil.

≈ You’ll press grapes, but not drink the wine.

16 As a city, you’ve kept the regulations made by King Omri,[ref]

≈ and behaved similarly to Ahav’s evil descendants.[ref]

You walk by their advice, so I’ll make you into a ruin.

People will hiss at your inhabitants,

and my people will mock you.”