Seek Me that You May Live

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

2She has fallen; she will not rise again—

The virgin Israel.

She lies abandoned on her land;

There is none to raise her up.

3For thus says Lord Yahweh,

“The city which goes forth one thousand strong

Will have one hundred left,

And the one which goes forth one hundred strong

Will have ten left to the house of Israel.”

4For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel,

“Seek Me that you may live.

5But do not seek Bethel,

And do not come to Gilgal,

Nor cross over to Beersheba;

For Gilgal will certainly go into [†]exile,

And Bethel will become [†]evil.

6Seek Yahweh that you may live,

Lest He come mightily like a fire, [†]O house of Joseph,

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

7For those who overturn justice into wormwood

And put righteousness down to the earth.”

8He who made the Pleiades and Orion

And overturns the shadow of death into morning,

[†]Who also darkens day into night,

Who calls for the waters of the sea

And pours them out on the surface of the earth,

Yahweh is His name.

9It is He who flashes forth with devastation upon the strong

So that devastation comes upon the fortification.

10They hate him who reproves in the [†]gate,

And they abhor him who speaks with integrity.

11Therefore because you [†]impose heavy rent on the poor

And take a tribute of grain from them,

Though you have built houses of cut stone,

Yet you will not live in them;

You have planted desirable vineyards, yet you will not drink their wine.

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

You who distress the righteous and take bribes

And [†]turn aside the needy in the [†]gate.

13Therefore at [†]such a time the one with insight keeps silent, for it is an evil time.

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

And thus may Yahweh God of hosts be with you,

Just as you have said!

15Hate evil, love good,

And set justice at the [†]gate!

Perhaps Yahweh God of hosts

May be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

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

“There is wailing in all the plazas,

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

They also call the farmer to mourning

And [†]professional weepers to wailing.

17And in all the vineyards there is wailing

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

18Woe, you who are longing for the day of Yahweh,

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

It will be darkness and not light;

19As when a man flees from a lion

And a bear meets him;

[†]Or he goes home, leans his hand against the wall,

And a snake bites him.

20Will not the day of Yahweh be darkness instead of light,

Even thick darkness with no brightness in it?

21“I hate, I reject your feasts,

Nor do I [†]delight in your solemn assemblies.

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

I will not accept them;

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

23Remove from Me the tumult of your songs;

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

24But let justice roll down like waters

And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25“[†]Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel? 26You also carried along [†]Sikkuth your king and [†]Kiyyun, your images, [†]the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. 27Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says Yahweh, whose name is the God of hosts.