1 Heare ye this worde, which I lift vp vpon you, euen a lamentation of the house of Israel. 2 The virgine Israel is fallen, and shall no more rise: shee is left vpon her lande, and there is none to raise her vp. 3 For thus saith ye Lord God, The citie which went out by a thousand, shall leaue an hundreth: and that which went forth by an hundreth, shall leaue ten to the house of Israel. 4 For thus saith the Lord vnto the house of Israel, Seeke ye me, and ye shall liue. 5 But seeke not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and go not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall goe into captiuitie, and Beth-el shall come to nought. 6 Seeke the Lord, and yee shall liue, least he breake out like fire in the house of Ioseph and deuoure it, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el. 7 They turne iudgement to wormewood, and leaue off righteousnes in the earth. 8 He maketh Pleiades, and Orion, and he turneth the shadowe of death into the morning, and he maketh the day darke as night: he calleth the waters of the sea, and powreth them out vpon the open earth: the Lord is his Name. 9 He strengtheneth the destroyer against the mightie: and the destroyer shall come against the fortresse. 10 They haue hated him, that rebuked in the gate: and they abhorred him that speaketh vprightly. 11 Forasmuch then as your treading is vpon the poore, and yee take from him burdens of wheate, ye haue built houses of hewen stone, but ye shall not dwel in them: ye haue plated pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drinke wine of them. 12 For I know your manifold transgressions, and your mightie sinnes: they afflict the iust, they take rewards, and they oppresse the poore in ye gate. 13 Therefore the prudent shall keepe silence in that time, for it is an euill time. 14 Seeke good and not euil, that ye may liue: and the Lord God of hostes shalbe with you, as you haue spoken. 15 Hate the euil, and loue the good, and establish iudgement in the gate: it may bee that the Lord God of hostes will be mercifull vnto the remnant of Ioseph. 16 Therfore the Lord God of hosts, the Lord saith thus, Mourning shalbe in all streetes: and they shall say in al the hie wayes, Alas, alas: and they shall call the husbandman to lamentation, and such as can mourne, to mourning. 17 And in al the vines shalbe lamentation: for I wil passe through thee, saith the Lord. 18 Woe vnto you, that desire the day of the Lord: what haue you to do with it? the day of the Lord is darkenes and not light. 19 As if a man did flee from a lyon, and a beare met him: or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20 Shal not the day of the Lord be darkenes, and not light? euen darkenes and no light in it? 21 I hate and abhorre your feast dayes, and I wil not smelll in your solemne assemblies. 22 Though ye offer me burnt offrings and meat offrings, I wil not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offrings of your fat beasts. 23 Take thou away from me the multitude of thy songs (for I wil not heare the melodie of thy violes) 24 And let iudgement runne downe as waters, and righteousnesse as a mightie riuer. 25 Haue ye offered vnto me sacrifices and offrings in the wildernesse fourtie yeeres, O house of Israel? 26 But you haue borne Siccuth your King, and Chiun your images, and the starre of your gods, which ye made to your selues. 27 Therefore wil I cause you to goe into captiuitie beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose Name is the God of hostes.
A Call to Repentance
1 Listen, people of Israel, to this funeral song which I sing over you:
2 Virgin Israel has fallen,
Never to rise again!
She lies abandoned on the ground,
And no one helps her up.
3 The Sovereign Lord says, “A city in Israel sends out a thousand soldiers, but only a hundred return; another city sends out a hundred, but only ten come back.”
4 The Lord says to the people of Israel, “Come to me, and you will live. 5 Do not go to Beersheba to worship. Do not try to find me at Bethel—Bethel will come to nothing. Do not go to Gilgal—her people are doomed to exile.”
6 Go to the Lord, and you will live. If you do not go, he will sweep down like fire on the people of Israel. The fire will burn up the people of Bethel, and no one will be able to put it out. 7 You are doomed, you that twist justice and cheat people out of their rights!
8 The Lord made the stars,
the Pleiades and Orion.
He turns darkness into daylight
and day into night.
He calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out on the earth.
His name is the Lord.
9 He brings destruction on the mighty and their strongholds.
10 You people hate anyone who challenges injustice and speaks the whole truth in court. 11 You have oppressed the poor and robbed them of their grain. And so you will not live in the fine stone houses you build or drink wine from the beautiful vineyards you plant. 12 I know how terrible your sins are and how many crimes you have committed. You persecute good people, take bribes, and prevent the poor from getting justice in the courts. 13 And so, keeping quiet in such evil times is the smart thing to do!
14 Make it your aim to do what is right, not what is evil, so that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty really will be with you, as you claim he is. 15 Hate what is evil, love what is right, and see that justice prevails in the courts. Perhaps the Lord will be merciful to the people of this nation who are still left alive.
16 And so the Sovereign Lord Almighty says, “There will be wailing and cries of sorrow in the city streets. Even farmers will be called to mourn the dead along with those who are paid to mourn. 17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards. All this will take place because I am coming to punish you.” The Lord has spoken.
18 How terrible it will be for you who long for the day of the Lord! What good will that day do you? For you it will be a day of darkness and not of light. 19 It will be like someone who runs from a lion and meets a bear! Or like someone who comes home and puts his hand on the wall—only to be bitten by a snake! 20 The day of the Lord will bring darkness and not light; it will be a day of gloom, without any brightness.
21 The Lord says, “I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them! 22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. 23 Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. 24 Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.
25 “People of Israel, I did not demand sacrifices and offerings during those forty years that I led you through the desert. 26 But now, because you have worshiped images of Sakkuth, your king god, and of Kaiwan, your star god, you will have to carry those images 27 when I take you into exile in a land beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is Almighty God.