Hear - this word , O house of Israel , this lamentation I take up against you :
“ Fallen is Virgin Israel , never to rise again. She lies abandoned on her land , with no one to raise her up. ”
This is what ... the Lord GOD says : “ The city that marches out a thousand strong will only see a hundred return , and the one that marches out a hundred strong will have but ten left in the house of Israel. ”
For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel : “ Seek Me and live !
Do not seek vvv Bethel or go to Gilgal ; do not journey vvv to Beersheba , ... for Gilgal will surely go into exile , vvv and Bethel will come to nothing.
Seek - the LORD and live , or He will sweep like fire through the house of Joseph ; it will devour everything , with no one vvv at Bethel to extinguish it.
There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.
He who made the Pleiades and Orion , who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night , who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth — the LORD is His name —
He flashes destruction on the strong , so that fury comes upon the stronghold.
There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.
Therefore , because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain , you will never live in the stone houses ... you have built ; you will never drink - the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.
For I know (that) your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes ; {you deprive} the poor of justice in the gate.
Therefore , the prudent keep silent in such times , for the days are evil ....
Seek good , not evil , so that you may live. And the LORD , the God of Hosts , will be ... with you , as you have claimed.
Hate evil and love good ; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD , the God of Hosts , will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. ”
Therefore this is what the LORD , the God of Hosts , the Lord , says : “ There will be wailing in all the public squares and cries of ‘ Alas ! Alas !’ in all the streets. The farmer will be summoned to mourn , and the mourners ... to wail.
There will be wailing in all the vineyards , for I will pass through your midst , ” says the LORD.
Woe to you who long for - the Day of the LORD ! What ... will the Day of the LORD It (will be) darkness and not light.
It will be like a man who flees from a lion , only to encounter a bear , or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall , only to be bitten by a snake.
Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light , even gloom with no brightness
“ I hate , I despise your feasts ! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer burnt offerings and grain offerings , I will not accept them ; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard.
Take away from Me the noise of your songs ! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
But let justice roll on like a river , and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Did you bring sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness , O house of Israel ?
You have taken along - Sakkuth your king - and Kaiwan your star god , - the idols you made
Therefore I will send you into exile - beyond Damascus , ” says the LORD , whose name (is) the God of Hosts.