1A lamentation for Israel. 4An exhortation to repentance. 21God rejecteth their hypocritical service.
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1Hear 1ye this word which I take up against you, even a 2lamentation, O house of Israel.
2The 1virgin of Israel 2is fallen; 3she shall no more rise: 4she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
3For thus saith the Lord God; 1The 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, 1Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
5But 1seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to 2Beer-sheba: for 3Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought.
61Seek the Lord, and ye shall live; lest he break out like 2fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be3none to quench it in Beth-el.
7Ye who 1turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,
8seek him that maketh the 1seven stars and Orion, and 2turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and 3maketh the day dark with night: that 4calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lordis his name:
9That 1strengtheneth the aspoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.
10They 1hate him that rebuketh 2in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
11Forasmuch therefore as your 1treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him aburdens of wheat: 2ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted bpleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.
12For 1I know your 2manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: 3they afflict the just, they 4take aa bribe, and 5they turn aside the poor 6in the gate from their right.
13Therefore the prudent 1shall keep silence in that time; for it is an 2evil time.
141Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be 2with you, 3as ye have spoken.
151Hate the evil, and love the good, and 2establish judgment in the gate: 3it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the 4remnant of Joseph.
16Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; 1Wailing 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.
17And 1in all vineyards shall be wailing: for 2I will pass through thee, saith the Lord.
18Woe unto you that 1desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? 2the day of the Lordis darkness, and not light.
191As 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.
20shall not the day of the Lordbe1darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
21¶ 1I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not asmell in your solemn assemblies.
22Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, 1I will not accept them: neither will I regard the apeace offerings of your fat beasts.
23Take thou away from me 1the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
24But 1let judgment arun down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
251Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
26But 1ye have borne the tabernacle of ayour Moloch and Chiun your images, 2the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
271Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose name is2The God of hosts.