5 Hear
ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house
of Israel. 2 The
virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon
her land; there is none to raise her up. 3 For
thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave
an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to
the house of Israel. 4 For
thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall
live: 5 But
seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for
Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought. 6 Seek
the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house
of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel. 7 Ye
who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, 8 Seek
him that maketh the seven stars 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:
The LORD is his name: 9 That
strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall
come against the fortress. 10 They
hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. 11 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 For
I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict
the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate
from their right.
13 Therefore
the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time. 14 Seek good,
and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall
be with you, as ye have spoken. 15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and
establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will
be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. 16 Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts,
the LORD, saith thus; 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 And in all vineyards shall be wailing:
for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD. 18 Woe unto you that desire the day of
the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and
not light. 19 As if a man did flee 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 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness,
and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? 21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and
I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. 22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and
your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace
offerings of your fat beasts. 23 Take thou away from me the noise of
thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. 24 But let judgment run down as waters,
and righteousness as a mighty stream. 25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and
offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of
your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to
yourselves. 27 Therefore will I cause you to go into
captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.