Read the Bible

¹ Listen, nation of Israel,
    to my mournful message:
² You, dearest Israel, have fallen,
    never to rise again—
you lie deserted in your own land,
    with no one to help you up.

³ The Lord God has warned,
"From every ten soldiers
    only one will be left;
from a thousand troops,
    only a hundred will survive."

⁴ The Lord keeps saying,
"Israel, turn back to me
    and you will live!
⁵ Don't go to Gilgal or Bethel
    or even to Beersheba.^[a]
Gilgal will be dragged away,
and Bethel will end up
    as nothing."^[b]

⁶ Turn back to the Lord,
you descendants of Joseph,^[c]
    and you will live.
If you don't, the Lord
    will attack like fire.
Bethel will burn to the ground,
    and no one can save it.
⁷ You people are doomed!
You twist the truth
    and stomp on justice.
⁵ Don't go to Gilgal or Bethel
    or even to Beersheba.^[a]
Gilgal will be dragged away,
and Bethel will end up
    as nothing."^[b]

⁶ Turn back to the Lord,
you descendants of Joseph,^[c]
    and you will live.
If you don't, the Lord
    will attack like fire.
Bethel will burn to the ground,
    and no one can save it.
⁷ You people are doomed!
You twist the truth
    and stomp on justice.

⁸ But the Lord created the stars
    and put them in place.^[d]
He turns darkness to dawn
    and daylight to darkness;
he scoops up the ocean
    and empties it on the earth.
⁹ God destroys mighty soldiers
    and strong fortresses.

¹⁰ You people hate judges
    and honest witnesses;
¹¹ you abuse the poor and demand
    heavy taxes from them.
You have built expensive homes,
    but you won't enjoy them;
you have planted vineyards,
    but you will get no wine.
¹² I am the Lord, and I know
    your terrible sins.
You cheat honest people
and take bribes;
    you rob the poor of justice.
¹³ Times are so evil
that anyone with good sense
    will keep quiet.

¹⁴ If you really want to live,
you must stop doing wrong
    and start doing right.
I, the Lord God All-Powerful,
will then be on your side,
    just as you claim I am.
¹⁵ Choose good instead of evil!
    See that justice is done.
Maybe I, the Lord All-Powerful,
will be kind to what's left
    of your people.^[e]

Noisy crying will be heard
    in every town and street.
Even farmers will be told
    to mourn for the dead,
together with those
    who are paid to mourn.^[f]
17 Your vineyards will be filled
with crying and weeping,^[g]
    because I will punish you.
I, the Lord, have spoken!

¹⁸ You look forward to the day
when the Lord comes to judge.
    But you are in for trouble!
It won't be a time of sunshine;
    all will be darkness.
¹⁹ You will run from a lion,
    only to meet a bear.
You will escape to your house,
rest your hand on the wall,
    and be bitten by a snake.
²⁰ The day when the Lord judges
will be dark, very dark,
    without a ray of light.

²¹ I, the Lord, hate and despise
your religious celebrations
    and your times of worship.
²² I won't accept your offerings
or animal sacrifices—
    not even your very best.
²³ No more of your noisy songs!
I won't listen
    when you play your harps.
²⁴ But let justice and fairness
flow like a river
    that never runs dry.

²⁵ Israel, for forty years
    you wandered in the desert,
without bringing offerings
    or sacrifices to me.
²⁶ Now you will have to carry
    the two idols you made—
Sakkuth, the one you call king,
and Kaiwan,
the one you built
    in the shape of a star.^[h]
27 I will force you to march
    as captives beyond Damascus.
I, the Lord God All-Powerful,
    have spoken!^[i]