Verse 1

Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the a mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.

(a) He took the high mountains and hard rocks as witnesses against the obstinacy of his people.

Verse 4

For I b 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.

(b) I have not hurt you, but bestowed infinite benefits upon you.

Verse 5

O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from c Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the d righteousness of the LORD.

(c) That is, remember my benefits from the beginning, how I delivered you from Balaam's curse, and also spared you from Shittim which was in the plain of Moab, until I brought you into the promised land.

(d) That is, the truth of his promise and his manifold benefits toward you.

Verse 6

Wherewith e 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?

(e) Thus the people by hypocrisy ask how to please God, and are content to offer sacrifices, but will not change their lives.

Verse 7

Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, [or] with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my f firstborn [for] my transgression, the fruit of my body [for] the sin of my soul?

(f) There is nothing so dear to man, but the hypocrites will offer it to God, if they think by this to avoid his anger. But they will never by brought to mortify their own affections, and to give themselves willingly to serve God as he commands.

Verse 8

He hath shewed thee, O man, what [is] good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, g but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

(g) The Prophet in few words calls them to the observation of the second table of the ten commandments, to know if they will obey God correctly or not, saying that God has commanded them to do this.

Verse 9

The LORD'S voice crieth unto the h city, and [the man of] wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.

(h) Meaning, that when God speaks to any city or nation, the godly will acknowledge his majesty and not consider the mortal man that brings the threatening, but God that sends it.

Verse 12

For the rich men thereof i are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue [is] deceitful in their mouth.

(i) That is, of Jerusalem.

Verse 14

Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied; and k thy casting down [shall be] in the midst of thee; and thou l shalt take hold, but shalt not deliver; and [that] which thou deliverest will I give up to the sword.

(k) You will be consumed with inward grief and evils.

(l) Meaning that the city would go about to save her men, as they that lay hold of that which they would preserve.

Verse 16

For the m 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.

(m) You have received all the corruption and idolatry with which the ten tribes were infected under Omri and Ahab his son: and to excuse your doings, you allege the King's authority by his statutes, and also wisdom and policy in so doing, but you will not escape punishment. But as I have shown you great favour, and taken you for my people, so will your plagues be according as your sins; (Luke 12:47).