1 H ear this word, a lamentation, which I take up against you, O house of Israel.

2 T he virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more arise: she is cast down upon her land; there is none to raise her up.

3 F or thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred shall have ten left, for the house of Israel.

4 F or thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel: Seek ye me, and ye shall live.

5 A nd seek not Bethel, neither go to Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.

6 S eek Jehovah, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour, and there be none to quench in Bethel.

7 Y e who turn judgment to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth,

8 t hat made 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: Jehovah is his name.

9 H e causeth destruction to break forth suddenly upon the strong, and bringeth destruction upon the fortress.

10 T hey hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

11 F orasmuch, therefore, as ye trample upon the poor, and take from him presents of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, and ye shall not drink the wine of them.

12 F or I know how manifold are your transgressions and your sins mighty: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the needy in the gate.

13 T herefore the prudent shall keep silence in this time; for it is an evil time.

14 S eek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so Jehovah, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye say.

15 H ate evil, and love good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

16 T herefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all broadways; 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 A nd in all vineyards shall be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah.

18 W oe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! To what end is the day of Jehovah for you? It shall be darkness and not light:

19 a s if a man fled 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 S hall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

21 I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

22 F or if ye offer up unto me burnt-offerings and your oblations, I will not accept; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fatted beasts.

23 T ake away from me the noise of thy songs, and I will not hear the melody of thy lutes;

24 b ut let judgment roll down as waters, and righteousness as an ever-flowing stream.

25 D id ye bring unto me sacrifices and oblations in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

26 Y ea, ye took up the tabernacle of your Moloch, and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye had made to yourselves;

27 a nd I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts.