“Yet You Have Not Returned to Me”

1 Hear this word, you cows of aBashan who are on the bmountain of Samaria,

Who coppress the poor, who crush the needy,

Who say to 1your husbands, “Bring now, that we may ddrink!”

2 The Lord 1God has asworn by His bholiness,

“Behold, the days are coming upon you

When 2they will take you away with cmeat hooks,

And the last of you with dfish hooks.

3 “You will ago out through breaches in the walls,

Each one straight before her,

And you 1will be cast to Harmon,” declares the Lord.

4 “Enter Bethel and transgress;

In Gilgal multiply transgression!

aBring your sacrifices every morning,

Your tithes every three days.

5 “1Offer a athank offering also from that which is leavened,

And proclaim bfreewill offerings, make them known.

For so you clove to do, you sons of Israel,”

Declares the Lord God.

6 “But I gave you also acleanness of teeth in all your cities

And lack of bread in all your places,

Yet you have bnot returned to Me,” declares the Lord.

7 “Furthermore, I awithheld the rain from you

While there were still three months until harvest.

Then I would send rain on one city

And on banother city I would not send rain;

One part would be rained on,

While the part not rained on would dry up.

8 “So two or three cities would stagger to another city to drink awater,

But would bnot be satisfied;

Yet you have cnot returned to Me,” declares the Lord.

9 “I asmote you with scorching wind and mildew;

And the bcaterpillar was devouring

Your many gardens and vineyards, fig trees and olive trees;

Yet you have cnot returned to Me,” declares the Lord.

10 “I sent a aplague among you after the manner of Egypt;

I bslew your young men by the sword along with your ccaptured horses,

And I made the dstench of your camp rise up in your nostrils;

Yet you have enot returned to Me,” declares the Lord.

11 “I overthrew you, as aGod overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,

And you were like a bfirebrand snatched from a blaze;

Yet you have cnot returned to Me,” declares the Lord.

12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;

Because I will do this to you,

Prepare to ameet your God, O Israel.”

13 For behold, He who aforms mountains and bcreates the wind

And cdeclares to man what are His thoughts,

He who dmakes dawn into darkness

And etreads on the high places of the earth,

fThe Lord God of hosts is His name.

Chapter 5

“Seek Me that You May Live”

1 Hear this word which I take up for you as a adirge, O house of Israel:

2 She has fallen, she will anot rise again—

The bvirgin Israel.

She lies neglected on her land;

There is cnone to raise her up.

3 For thus says the Lord 1God,

“The city which goes forth a thousand strong

Will have a ahundred left,

And the one which goes forth a hundred strong

Will have bten left to the house of Israel.”

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

“aSeek Me bthat you may live.

5 “But do not 1resort to aBethel

And do not come to bGilgal,

Nor cross over to cBeersheba;

For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity

And Bethel will 2come to trouble.

6 “aSeek the Lord that you may live,

Or He will break forth like a bfire, 1O house of Joseph,

And it will consume with none to quench it for Bethel,

7 For those who turn ajustice into wormwood

And 1cast righteousness down to the earth.”

8 He who made the aPleiades and Orion

And bchanges deep darkness into morning,

1Who also cdarkens day into night,

Who dcalls for the waters of the sea

And pours them out on the surface of the earth,

The eLord is His name.

9 It is He who aflashes forth with destruction upon the strong,

So that bdestruction comes upon the fortress.

10 They hate him who areproves in the 1gate,

And they babhor him who speaks with integrity.

11 Therefore because you 1impose heavy rent on the poor

And exact a tribute of grain from them,

Though you have built ahouses of well-hewn stone,

Yet you will not live in them;

You have planted pleasant vineyards, yet you will bnot drink their wine.

12 For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great,

You who adistress the righteous and accept bribes

And 1turn aside the poor in the 2gate.

13 Therefore at 1such a time the prudent person akeeps silent, for it is an evil time.

14 Seek good and not evil, that you may live;

And thus may the Lord God of hosts be with you,

aJust as you have said!

15 aHate evil, love good,

And establish justice in the 1gate!

Perhaps the Lord God of hosts

bMay be gracious to the cremnant of Joseph.

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

“There is awailing in all the plazas,

And in all the streets they say, ‘Alas! Alas!’

They also call the bfarmer to mourning

And 1cprofessional mourners to lamentation.

17 “And in all the avineyards there is wailing,

Because I will pass through the midst of you,” says the Lord.

18 Alas, you who are longing for the aday of the Lord,

For what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you?

It will be bdarkness and not light;

19 As when a man aflees from a lion

And a bear meets him,

1Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall

And a snake bites him.

20 Will not the day of the Lord be adarkness instead of light,

Even gloom with no brightness in it?

21 “I hate, I areject your festivals,

Nor do I 1bdelight in your solemn assemblies.

22 “Even though you aoffer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,

I will not accept them;

And I will not even look at the bpeace offerings of your fatlings.

23 “Take away from Me the noise of your songs;

I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.

24 “But let ajustice roll down like waters

And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 “1aDid you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel?

26 “aYou also carried along 1Sikkuth your king and 2Kiyyun, your images, 3the star of your gods which you made for yourselves.

27 “Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.