1 Hear this word which I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:

2 “Fallen, no more to rise,

is the virgin Israel;

forsaken on her land,

with none to raise her up.”

3 For thus says the Lord GOD:

“The city that went forth a thousand

shall have a hundred left,

and that which went forth a hundred

shall have ten left

to the house of Israel.”

4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:

“Seek me and live;

5 but do not seek Bethel,

and do not enter into Gilgal

or cross over to Beer-sheba;

for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,

and Bethel shall come to nought.”

6 Seek the Lord and live,

lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,

and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,

7 O you who turn justice to wormwood,

and cast down righteousness to the earth!

8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion,

and turns deep darkness into the morning,

and darkens the day into night,

who calls for the waters of the sea,

and pours them out upon the surface of the earth,

the Lord is his name,

9 who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,

so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

10 They hate him who reproves in the gate,

and they abhor him who speaks the truth.

11 Therefore because you trample upon the poor

and take from him exactions of wheat,

you have built houses of hewn stone,

but you shall not dwell in them;

you have planted pleasant vineyards,

but you shall not drink their wine.

12 For I know how many are your transgressions,

and how great are your sins—

you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,

and turn aside the needy in the gate.

13 Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time;

for it is an evil time.

14 Seek good, and not evil,

that you may live;

and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,

as you have said.

15 Hate evil, and love good,

and establish justice in the gate;

it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,

will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord:

“In all the squares there shall be wailing;

and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! alas!’

They shall call the farmers to mourning

and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,

17 and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,

for I will pass through the midst of you,”

says the Lord.

18 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!

Why would you have the day of the Lord?

It is darkness, and not light;

19 as if a man fled from a lion,

and a bear met him;

or went into the house

and leaned with his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him.

20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,

and gloom with no brightness in it?

21 “I hate, I despise your feasts,

and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and cereal offerings,

I will not accept them,

and the peace offerings of your fatted beasts

I will not look upon.

23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;

to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

24 But let justice roll down like waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 “Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 26 You shall take up Sakkuth your king, and Kaiwan your star-god, your images,k which you made for yourselves; 27 therefore I will take you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.

Chapter 6

1 “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,

and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria,

the notable men of the first of the nations,

to whom the house of Israel come!

2 Pass over to Calneh, and see;

and thence go to Hamath the great;

then go down to Gath of the Philistines.

Are they better than these kingdoms?

Or is their territory greater than your territory,

3 O you who put far away the evil day,

and bring near the seat of violence?

4 “Woe to those who lie upon beds of ivory,

and stretch themselves upon their couches,

and eat lambs from the flock,

and calves from the midst of the stall;

5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp,

and like David invent for themselves instruments of music;

6 who drink wine in bowls,

and anoint themselves with the finest oils,

but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!

7 Therefore they shall now be the first of those to go into exile,

and the revelry of those who stretch themselves shall pass away.”

8 The Lord GOD has sworn by himself

(says the Lord, the God of hosts):

“I abhor the pride of Jacob,

and hate his strongholds;

and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”

9 And if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And when a man’s kinsman, he who burns him,* shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still any one with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, “Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

11 For behold, the Lord commands,

and the great house shall be smitten into fragments,

and the little house into bits.

12 Do horses run upon rocks?

Does one plow the sea with oxen?

But you have turned justice into poison

and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—

13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,n

who say, “Have we not by our own strength

taken Karnaimo for ourselves?”

14 “For behold, I will raise up against you a nation,

O house of Israel,” says the Lord, the God of hosts;

“and they shall oppress you from the entrance of Hamath

to the Brook of the Arabah.”