| Berean Study Bible | New International Version |
| 1Hear this word, O house of Israel, this lamentation I take up against you: | 1Hear this word, Israel, this lament I take up concerning you: |
| 2“Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again. She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise her up.” | 2"Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again, deserted in her own land, with no one to lift her up." |
| 3This is what the Lord GOD says: “The city that marches out a thousand strong will only see a hundred return, and the one that marches out a hundred strong will have but ten left in the house of Israel.” | 3This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Israel: "Your city that marches out a thousand strong will have only a hundred left; your town that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left." |
| 4For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live! | 4This is what the LORD says to Israel: "Seek me and live; |
| 5Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing. | 5do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing." |
| 6Seek the LORD and live, or He will sweep like fire through the house of Joseph; it will devour everything, with no one at Bethel to extinguish it. | 6Seek the LORD and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it. |
| 7There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground. | 7There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground. |
| 8He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth—the LORD is His name— | 8He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land-- the LORD is his name. |
| 9He flashes destruction on the strong, so that fury comes upon the stronghold. | 9With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold and brings the fortified city to ruin. |
| 10There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity. | 10There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth. |
| 11Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted. | 11You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine. |
| 12For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate. | 12For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts. |
| 13Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil. | 13Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil. |
| 14Seek good, not evil, so that you may live. And the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed. | 14Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. |
| 15Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.” | 15Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. |
| 16Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: “There will be wailing in all the public squares and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets. The farmer will be summoned to mourn, and the mourners to wail. | 16Therefore this is what the Lord, the LORD God Almighty, says: "There will be wailing in all the streets and cries of anguish in every public square. The farmers will be summoned to weep and the mourners to wail. |
| 17There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” says the LORD. | 17There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst," says the LORD. |
| 18Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light. | 18Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light. |
| 19It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake. | 19It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. |
| 20Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it? | 20Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light-- pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness? |
| 21“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. | 21"I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. |
| 22Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard. | 22Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. |
| 23Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. | 23Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. |
| 24But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. | 24But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! |
| 25Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? | 25"Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel? |
| 26You have taken along Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, the idols you made for yourselves. | 26You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god -- which you made for yourselves. |
| 27Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts. | 27Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus," says the LORD, whose name is God Almighty. |
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