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¹ Listen to this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel. ² "The virgin of Israel has fallen; She shall rise no more. She is cast down on her land; There is no one to raise her up." ³ For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, And that which went forth one hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel."

⁴ For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel: "Seek me, and you will live; ⁵ But don't seek Bethel, Nor enter into Gilgal, And don't pass to Beersheba: For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, And Bethel shall come to nothing. ⁶ Seek Yahweh, and you will live; Lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, And it devour, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel. ⁷ You who turn justice to wormwood, And cast down righteousness to the earth: ⁸ Seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, And turns the shadow of death into the morning, And makes the day dark with night; Who calls for the waters of the sea, And pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh is his name, ⁹ Who brings sudden destruction on the strong, So that destruction comes on the fortress. ¹⁰ They hate him who reproves in the gate, And they abhor him who speaks blamelessly. ¹¹ Forasmuch therefore as you trample on the poor, And take taxes from him of wheat: You have built houses of hewn stone, But you will not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, But you shall not drink their wine. ¹² For I know how many your offenses, And how great are your sins-- You who afflict the just, Who take a bribe, And who turn aside the needy in the courts. ¹³ Therefore he who is prudent shall keep silence in such a time; For it is an evil time. ¹⁴ Seek good, and not evil, That you may live; And so Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be with you, As you say. ¹⁵ Hate evil, love good, And establish justice in the courts. It may be that Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph."

¹⁶ Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the Lord: "Wailing will be in all the broad ways; And they will say in all the streets, 'Alas! Alas!' And they will call the farmer to mourning, And those who are skillful in lamentation to wailing. ¹⁷ In all vineyards there will be wailing; For I will pass through the midst of you," says Yahweh. ¹⁸ "Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It is darkness, And not light. ¹⁹ As if a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him; Or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, And a snake bit him. ²⁰ Will the day of Yahweh not be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?

²¹ I hate, I despise your feasts, And I can't stand your solemn assemblies. ²² Yes, though you offer me your burnt offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; Neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat animals. ²³ Take away from me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. ²⁴ But let justice roll on like rivers, And righteousness like a mighty stream. ²⁵ "Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, house of Israel? ²⁶ Yes, you have borne the tent of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves. ²⁷ Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus," says Yahweh, whose name is the God of hosts.