1 H ear this word, O people of Israel, this song of sorrow which I sing for you:

¶ Hear ye this word, because I raise up a lamentation upon you, O house of Israel.

2 “ The young pure woman Israel has fallen, and she will not rise again. She is left alone on her land. There is no one to raise her up.”

The virgin of Israel has fallen; she shall not be able to rise again: she was forsaken upon her land; there is no one to raise her up.

3 F or the Lord God says, “The city of Israel that sends out a thousand soldiers will have a hundred left. And the one that sends out a hundred will have ten left.”

For thus hath the Lord GOD said: The city that sent out a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which sent forth a hundred shall have ten, in the house of Israel.

4 T he Lord says to the people of Israel, “Look for Me and live.

¶ But thus hath the LORD said unto the house of Israel, Seek me, and ye shall live:

5 B ut do not look for Bethel. Do not go to Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba. For the people of Gilgal will be taken away to a strange land, and Bethel will come to nothing.”

but do not seek Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and do not pass to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.

6 L ook for the Lord and live, or He will break out like fire in the family of Joseph. It will destroy, and no one in Bethel will be able to stop it.

Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph and devour it, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel.

7 Y ou turn what is right into something bitter. You throw what is right and good down to the earth.

Ye who turn judgment to wormwood and leave off doing righteousness in the earth,

8 T he Lord made the stars of Pleiades and Orion. He changes darkness into morning, and turns day into night. He calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the earth. The Lord is His name.

look unto him that makes the seven stars and Orion and turns the shadow of death into the morning and makes the day dark with night, that calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name;

9 H e destroys the strong, so that the strong city is laid waste.

that strengthens the spoiler against the strong, so that the spoiler shall come against the fortress.

10 T hey hate him who speaks strong words in the gate. They hate him who speaks the truth.

They hate him that rebukes in the gate, and they abhor him that speaks uprightly.

11 Y ou crush the poor under foot and make them pay taxes with their grain. Because of this, even though you have built houses of cut stone, you will not live in them and even though you have planted beautiful grape-fields, you will not drink their wine.

Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat, ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.

12 F or I know that you have done much wrong and your sins are many. You make trouble for those who are right and good, and you take pay in secret for wrong-doing. You will not be fair to the poor.

For I have known of your many rebellions and your great sins that afflict the just and take a ransom and turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.

13 T he wise man keeps quiet at such a time, for it is a sinful time.

Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time, for it is an evil time.

14 L ook for good and not sin, that you may live. Then the Lord God of All will be with you, just as you have said.

Seek that which is good, and not that which is evil that ye may live; and so the LORD, the God of the hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.

15 H ate sin, and love good. And let what is fair be done at the gate. It may be that the Lord God of All will show kindness to those left of Joseph. The Day of the Lord

Hate the evil and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate; it may be that the LORD God of the hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

16 S o the Lord, the Lord God of All, says, “There is a loud crying in the city. In all the streets they say, ‘It is bad! It is bad!’ They call the farmers to cry in sorrow. They call those whose work is to cry over the dead to sing songs of sorrow.

¶ Therefore the LORD, the God of the hosts, the Lord, said this: Wailing shall be in all streets, and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.

17 A nd there are cries of sorrow in all the grape-fields, because I will pass among you,” says the Lord.

And in all vineyards shall be wailing, for I will pass through the midst of thee, said the LORD.

18 I t is bad for you who want the day of the Lord to come. For what will the day of the Lord be to you? It will be darkness and not light.

Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD shall be darkness, and not light.

19 I t will be as when a man runs away from a lion and is met by a bear. It will be as when a man goes home and rests with his hand against the wall, and gets bitten by a snake.

As 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 W ill not the day of the Lord be darkness instead of light, very dark with nothing bright in it?

Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

21 “ I hate your special suppers. I will have nothing to do with them. And I am not pleased with your religious meetings.

¶ I hate, I despise your solemnities, and I will not savour your assemblies.

22 E ven if you give Me burnt gifts and grain gifts in worship, I will not receive them. I will not even look at the peace gifts of your fat animals.

Though ye offer me your burnt offerings and your presents, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

23 T ake the noise of your songs away from Me. I will not listen to the sound of your harps.

Take away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy instruments.

24 B ut let what is fair roll down like waters. Let what is right and good flow forever like a river.

But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

25 “ O people of Israel, was it to Me you gave gifts of animals and grain on the altar for forty years in the desert?

Did you perchance offer me any sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness in forty years, O house of Israel?

26 Y ou also carried with you Sikkuth your king and Kiyyun your star god, the false gods you made for yourselves.

But ye have offered unto Sicut your king, and unto Chiun your idols, the star of your gods which ye made.

27 S o I will make you go as prisoners to the other side of Damascus,” says the Lord, Whose name is the God of All.

Therefore I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, said the LORD, whose name is The God of the hosts.