| International Standard Version | English Standard Version |
| 1"Hear this accusation that I am bringing against you: 'A dirge, house of Israel: | 1Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel: |
| 2Fallen is Israel the virgin—never to rise again! She is abandoned on her own land, with no one to raise her up.' | 2“Fallen, no more to rise, is the virgin Israel; forsaken on her land, with none to raise her up.” |
| 3"For this is what the Lord GOD says: 'The city that is sending out a thousand will have a hundred left; The city that is sending out a hundred will have ten left of the house of Israel.'" | 3For thus says the Lord GOD: “The city that went out a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went out a hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel.” |
| 4"For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: 'Seek me and live, | 4For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live; |
| 5but don't seek Bethel. Don't go to Gilgal, and don't pass over to Beer-sheba. Because Gilgal will surely go into captivity, and Bethel will come to nothing. | 5but do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing.” |
| 6Seek the LORD and live! Otherwise, he may break out like a fire in the house of Joseph and devour Bethel, and there will be no one to extinguish it. | 6Seek 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, |
| 7Those of you who are making justice taste bitter, and who have thrown righteousness to the ground: | 7O you who turn justice to wormwood and cast down righteousness to the earth! |
| 8Seek the one who fashions the Pleiades and Orion, who turns the deep darkness into morning, who darkens day into night, who calls out to the waters of the sea, pouring them out onto the surface of the earth— the LORD is his name. | 8He 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 on the surface of the earth, the LORD is his name; |
| 9It is he who is raining sudden destruction upon the strong like lightning, so that ruin comes upon the fortress. | 9who makes destruction flash forth against the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress. |
| 10They have hated those who are presenting their cases in court, detesting the one who speaks truthfully. | 10They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks the truth. |
| 11Therefore, since you trample the poor continuously, taxing his grain, building houses of stone in which you won't live and planting fine vineyards from which you won't drink— | 11Therefore because you trample on the poor and you exact taxes of grain from him, 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. |
| 12and because I know that your transgressions are many, and your sins are numerous as you oppose the righteous, taking bribes as a ransom, and turning away the poor in court — | 12For 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. |
| 13therefore the prudent person remains silent at such a time, for the time is evil. | 13Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, for it is an evil time. |
| 14Pursue good and not evil, so that you may live, and this is what will happen: The LORD God of the Heavenly Armies will be with you, as you have been claiming. | 14Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. |
| 15Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in court— perhaps the LORD, the God of the Heavenly Armies, will be gracious to the survivors of Joseph.'" | 15Hate 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. |
| 16Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of the Heavenly Armies, the Lord, says: 'There will be dirges in all of the streets; and in all of the highways they will cry out in anguish. They will call the farmer to mourning and those who lament to grieve. | 16Therefore 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, |
| 17And in all of the vineyards there will be mourning when I pass through your midst,' says the LORD." | 17and in all vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through your midst,” says the LORD. |
| 18"Woe to those who are craving the Day of the LORD! How is it to your benefit, this Day of the LORD? It's a day of darkness to you, and not light. | 18Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light, |
| 19It will be like a man who runs from a lion, only to encounter a bear; or who comes home, leans his hand against a wall, and a serpent bites him! | 19as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. |
| 20Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness, and not light— pitch black at that, without a ray of sunshine?" | 20Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? |
| 21"I hate—I despise—your festival days, and your solemn convocations stink. | 21“I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. |
| 22And if you send up burnt offerings to me as well as your grain offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I consider your peace offerings of fattened cattle. | 22Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. |
| 23Spare me your noisy singing— I will not listen to your musical instruments. | 23Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. |
| 24"But let justice roll on like many waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing river. | 24But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. |
| 25"Was it to me that you brought offerings and gifts in the desert for 40 years, house of Israel? | 25“Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? |
| 26And you carried the tent of your king — and Saturn, your star god idols that you crafted for yourselves. | 26You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, |
| 27So I will cause you to be taken captive beyond Damascus," says the LORD, whose name is God of the Heavenly Armies. | 27and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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