A Lament for Israel
1 Hear this word which Itake up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel:
2 The virgin of Israel has fallen;
She will rise no more.
She lies forsaken on her land;
Thereisno one to raise her up.
3 For thus says the LordGod:
“The city that goes out by a thousand
Shall have a hundred left,
And that which goes out by a hundred
Shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”
A Call to Repentance
4 For thus says theLordto the house of Israel:
# “Seek Meand live;
5 But do not seekBethel,
Nor enter Gilgal,
# Nor pass over toBeersheba;
For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,
# AndBethel shall come to nothing.
6 Seek theLordand live,
Lest He break out like fireinthe house of Joseph,
And devourit,
With no one to quenchitin Bethel—
7 You whoturn justice to wormwood,
And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!”
8 He made thePleiades and Orion;
He turns the shadow of death into morning
# And makes the day dark as night;
# Hecalls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth;
# TheLordisHis name.
9 He rains ruin upon the strong,
So that fury comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate the one who rebukes in the gate,
# And theyabhor the one who speaks uprightly.
11 Therefore, because you tread down the poor
And take grain taxes from him,
# Thoughyou have built houses of hewn stone,
Yet you shall not dwell in them;
You have planted pleasant vineyards,
But you shall not drink wine from them.
12 For Iknow your manifold transgressions
And your mighty sins:
# Afflicting the justandtaking bribes;
# Diverting the poorfromjusticeat the gate.
13 Thereforethe prudent keep silent at that time,
For itisan evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil,
That you may live;
So theLordGod of hosts will be with you,
# As you have spoken.
15 Hate evil, love good;
Establish justice in the gate.
# It may be that theLordGod of hosts
Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
The Day of the Lord
16 Therefore theLordGod of hosts, the Lord, says this:
“Thereshallbewailing in all streets,
And they shall say in all the highways,
‘Alas! Alas!’
They shall call the farmer to mourning,
# And skillful lamenters to wailing.
17 In all vineyardsthereshallbewailing,
# ForI will pass through you,”
Says theLord.
18 Woe to you who desire the day of theLord!
# For what goodisthe day of theLordto you?
Itwillbedarkness, and not light.
19 Itwillbeas though a man fled from a lion,
And a bear met him!
Orasthoughhe went into the house,
Leaned his hand on the wall,
And a serpent bit him!
20 Isnot the day of theLorddarkness, and not light?
Isitnotvery dark, with no brightness in it?
21 “Ihate, I despise your feast days,
# AndI do not savor your sacred assemblies.
22 Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not acceptthem,
Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
24 But let justice run down like water,
And righteousness like a mighty stream.
25 “Didyou offer Me sacrifices and offerings
In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
26 You also carried Sikkuthyour king
And Chiun, your idols,
The star of your gods,
Which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into captivitybeyond Damascus,”
# Says theLord,whose nameisthe God of hosts.