“Quit your preaching,” they preach.
“They should not preach these things;
shame will not overtake us.”

House of Jacob, should it be asked,
“Is the Spirit of the Lord impatient?
Are these the things He does?”
Don’t My words bring good
to the one who walks uprightly?

What should I bring before the Lord
when I come to bow before God on high?
Should I come before Him with burnt offerings,
with year-old calves?

Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams
or with ten thousand streams of oil?
Should I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the child of my body for my own sin?