Lamentation for Israel
1 Listen to this message that I am singing for you, a lament, i house of Israel:
Virgin Israel j will never rise again. k
She lies abandoned on her land
with no one to raise her up. l
The city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left, m
and the one that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left n in the house of Israel.
Seek God and Live
4 For the LORD says to the house of Israel:
Seek me and live! o
5 Do not seek Bethel p
or go to Gilgal q
or journey to Beer-sheba, r
for Gilgal will certainly go into exile,
and Bethel will come to nothing.
6 Seek the LORD s and live,
or he will spread like fire t
throughout the house of Joseph;
it will consume everything
with no one at Bethel to extinguish it. u
7 Those who turn justice into wormwood v
also throw righteousness to the ground.
8 The one who made the Pleiades and Orion, w
who turns darkness L into dawn x
and darkens day into night, y
who summons the water of the sea z
and pours it out over the surface of the earth a—
the LORD is his name. b
9 He brings destruction M on the strong, N,c
and it falls on the fortress. d
10 They hate the one who convicts the guilty e
at the city gate,
and they despise f the one who speaks with integrity.
11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor g
and exact a grain tax from him,
you will never live in the houses of cut stone h
you have built;
you will never drink the wine
from the lush vineyards
you have planted. i
12 For I know your crimes are many
and your sins innumerable.
They oppress the righteous, j take a bribe,
and deprive the poor of justice k at the city gates.
13 Therefore, those who have insight will keep silent O,l
at such a time,
for the days are evil.
so that you may live,
and the LORD, the God of Armies,
will be with you
as you have claimed. m
15 Hate evil and love good; n
establish justice in the city gate. o
Perhaps the LORD, the God of Armies, will be gracious p
to the remnant of Joseph. q
16 Therefore the LORD, the God of Armies, the Lord, says:
There will be wailing in all the public squares; r
they will cry out in anguish P in all the streets.
The farmer will be called on to mourn, s
and professional mourners Q,t to wail.
17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards, u
for I will pass among you. v
The LORD has spoken.
The Day of the LORD
18 Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! w
What will the day of the LORD be for you?
It will be darkness and not light. x
19 It will be like a man who flees from a lion y
only to have a bear confront him.
He goes home and rests his hand against the wall
only to have a snake bite him.
be darkness rather than light, z
even gloom without any brightness in it? a
21 I hate, I despise, your feasts! b
I can’t stand the stench
of your solemn assemblies. c
your burnt offerings and grain offerings, d
I will not accept them; e
I will have no regard
for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle. f
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps. g
24 But let justice flow like water,
and righteousness, like an unfailing stream. h
25 “House of Israel, was it sacrifices and grain offerings that you presented to me during the forty years in the wilderness? i 26 But you have taken up R Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, S images you have made for yourselves. j 27 So I will send you into exile beyond Damascus.” k The LORD, the God of Armies, is his name. l He has spoken.