A similar passage from Micah helps us to understand what the Lord will be pleading. 'For the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel. O my people, what have I done unto thee? And wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me' (Micah 6:2-3). These questions are an appeal to the people much like what the Lord said to his servant in the parable of the olive-tree, 'What could I have done more for my vineyard?' (Jacob 5:41).
In spite of all that the Lord had done for the people, they had still rejected Him. They were, therefore, ripe for destruction. The judgment of God must come upon them for they have been so wicked that they had 'eaten up the vineyard,' stolen from the poor, beaten the people to pieces, and ground the faces of the poor.