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"The city which goes forth a thousand strong
Will have a ^(C1)hundred left,
And the one which goes forth a hundred strong
Will have ^(C2)ten left to the house of Israel."

⁴ For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel:

"^(C1)Seek Me ^(C2)so that you may live.

⁵ "But do not ^(F1)resort to ^(C1)Bethel
And do not come to ^(C2)Gilgal,
Nor cross over to ^(C3)Beersheba;
For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity
And Bethel will ^(F2)come to nothing.

⁶ "^(C1)Seek the LORD so that you may live,
Or He will break through like a ^(C2)fire, ^(F1)house of Joseph,
And it will consume with no one to extinguish it for Bethel,

⁷ For those who turn ^(C1)justice into wormwood,
And ^(F1)throw righteousness to the earth."

⁸ He who made the ^(C1)Pleiades and Orion,
And ^(C2)changes deep darkness into morning,
^(F1)Who also ^(C3)darkens day into night,
Who ^(C4)calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
The ^(C5)LORD is His name.

⁹ It is He who ^(C1)makes destruction flash upon the strong,
So that ^(C2)destruction comes upon the fortress.

¹⁰ They hate him who ^(C1)rebukes in the ^(F1)gate,
And they ^(C2)despise him who speaks with integrity.

¹¹ Therefore because you impose heavy ^(F1)rent on the poor
And take a tribute of grain from them,
Though you have built ^(C1)houses of cut stone,
Yet you will not live in them;
You have planted beautiful vineyards, yet you will ^(C2)not drink their wine.

¹² For I know your offenses are many and your sins are great,
You who are ^(C1)hostile to the righteous and accept bribes,
And ^(F1)turn away the poor from justice at the ^(F2)gate.

¹³ Therefore at ^(F1)such a time the prudent person ^(C1)keeps quiet, because it is an evil time.

¹⁴ Seek good and not evil, so that you may live;
And so may the LORD God of armies be with you,
^(C1)Just as you have said!

^15 (C1)Hate evil, love good,
And establish justice in the ^(F1)gate!
Perhaps the LORD God of armies
^(C2)Will be gracious to the ^(C3)remnant of Joseph.

¹⁶ Therefore this is what the LORD God of armies, the Lord says:

"There is ^(C1)mourning in all the public squares,
And in all the streets they say, 'Oh no! Oh no!'
They also call the ^(C2)farmer to mourning
And ^(F1)(C3)professional mourners to mourning rites.

¹⁷ "And in all the ^(C1)vineyards there is mourning,
Because I will pass through the midst of you," says the LORD.

¹⁸ Woe to you who are longing for the ^(C1)day of the LORD,
For what ^(F1)purpose will the day of the LORD be to you?
It will be ^(C2)darkness and not light;

¹⁹ As when a man ^(C1)flees from a lion
And a bear confronts him,
^(F1)Or he goes home, leans with his hand against the wall,
And a snake bites him.

²⁰ Will the day of the LORD not be ^(C1)darkness instead of light,
Even gloom with no brightness in it?

²¹ "I hate, I ^(C1)reject your festivals,
Nor do I ^(F1)(C2)delight in your festive assemblies.

²² "Even though you ^(C1)offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the ^(C2)peace offerings of your fattened oxen.

²³ "Take away from Me the noise of your songs;
I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.

²⁴ "But let ^(C1)justice roll out like waters,
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

²⁵ "^(F1)(C1)Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, house of Israel?²⁶ "^(C1)You also carried along ^(F1)Sikkuth your king and ^(F2)Kiyyun, your images, ^(F3)the star of your gods which you made for yourselves.²⁷ "Therefore I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus," says the LORD, whose name is the God of armies.