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¹ Hear ye this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel.² The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is cast down upon her land; there is none to raise her up.³ For thus saith the Lord GOD: The city that went forth a thousand shall have an hundred left, and that which went forth an hundred shall have ten left, to the house of Israel.

⁴ For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:⁵ but seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought.⁶ Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour and there be none to quench it in Beth-el:⁷ Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth;⁸ seek him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; the LORD is his name;⁹ that bringeth sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress.¹⁰ They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.¹¹ Forasmuch therefore as ye trample upon the poor, and take exactions from him of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink the wine thereof.¹² For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins; ye that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy in the gate from their right.¹³ Therefore he that is prudent shall keep silence in such a time; for it is an evil time.¹⁴ Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye say.¹⁵ Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

¹⁶ Therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all the broad ways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.¹⁷ And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through the midst of thee, saith the LORD.¹⁸ Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! wherefore would ye have the day of the LORD? it is darkness, and not light.¹⁹ As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.²⁰ Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

²¹ I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies.²² Yea, though ye offer me your burnt offerings and meal offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.²³ Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.²⁴ But let judgment roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.²⁵ Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? ²⁶ Yea, ye have borne Siccuth your king and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. ²⁷ Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.