| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 1Hear this word which I take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel: | 1Listen to this funeral song I am ready to sing about you, family of Israel: |
| 2The virgin of Israel has fallen; She will rise no more. She lies forsaken on her land; There is no one to raise her up. | 2"The virgin Israel has fallen down and will not get up again. She is abandoned on her own land with no one to help her get up." |
| 3For thus says the Lord GOD: “The city that goes out by a thousand Shall have a hundred left, And that which goes out by a hundred Shall have ten left to the house of Israel.” | 3The sovereign LORD says this: "The city that marches out with a thousand soldiers will have only a hundred left; the town that marches out with a hundred soldiers will have only ten left for the family of Israel." |
| 4For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live; | 4The LORD says this to the family of Israel: "Seek me so you can live! |
| 5But do not seek Bethel, Nor enter Gilgal, Nor pass over to Beersheba; For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, And Bethel shall come to nothing. | 5Do not seek Bethel! Do not visit Gilgal! Do not journey down to Beer Sheba! For the people of Gilgal will certainly be carried into exile; and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds." |
| 6Seek the LORD and live, Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, And devour it, With no one to quench it in Bethel— | 6Seek the LORD so you can live! Otherwise he will break out like fire against Joseph's family; the fire will consume and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. |
| 7You who turn justice to wormwood, And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!” | 7The Israelites turn justice into bitterness; they throw what is fair and right to the ground. |
| 8He made the Pleiades and Orion; He turns the shadow of death into morning And makes the day dark as night; He calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth; The LORD is His name. | 8(But there is one who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion; he can turn the darkness into morning and daylight into night. He summons the water of the seas and pours it out on the earth's surface. The LORD is his name! |
| 9He rains ruin upon the strong, So that fury comes upon the fortress. | 9He flashes destruction down upon the strong so that destruction overwhelms the fortified places.) |
| 10They hate the one who rebukes in the gate, And they abhor the one who speaks uprightly. | 10The Israelites hate anyone who arbitrates at the city gate; they despise anyone who speaks honestly. |
| 11Therefore, because you tread down the poor And take grain taxes from him, Though you have built houses of hewn stone, Yet you shall not dwell in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, But you shall not drink wine from them. | 11Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops and exact a grain tax from them, you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone, nor will you drink the wine from the fine vineyards you planted. |
| 12For I know your manifold transgressions And your mighty sins: Afflicting the just and taking bribes; Diverting the poor from justice at the gate. | 12Certainly I am aware of your many rebellious acts and your numerous sins. You torment the innocent, you take bribes, and you deny justice to the needy at the city gate. |
| 13Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time, For it is an evil time. | 13For this reason whoever is smart keeps quiet in such a time, for it is an evil time. |
| 14Seek good and not evil, That you may live; So the LORD God of hosts will be with you, As you have spoken. | 14Seek good and not evil so you can live! Then the LORD, the God who commands armies, just might be with you, as you claim he is. |
| 15Hate evil, love good; Establish justice in the gate. It may be that the LORD God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. | 15Hate what is wrong, love what is right! Promote justice at the city gate! Maybe the LORD, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on those who are left from Joseph. |
| 16Therefore the LORD God of hosts, the Lord, says this: “There shall be wailing in all streets, And they shall say in all the highways, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They shall call the farmer to mourning, And skillful lamenters to wailing. | 16Because of Israel's sins this is what the LORD, the God who commands armies, the sovereign One, says: "In all the squares there will be wailing, in all the streets they will mourn the dead. They will tell the field workers to lament and the professional mourners to wail. |
| 17In all vineyards there shall be wailing, For I will pass through you,” Says the LORD. | 17In all the vineyards there will be wailing, for I will pass through your midst," says the LORD. |
| 18Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! For what good is the day of the LORD to you? It will be darkness, and not light. | 18Woe to those who wish for the day of the LORD! Why do you want the LORD's day of judgment to come? It will bring darkness, not light. |
| 19It will be as though a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, Leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him! | 19Disaster will be inescapable, as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear, then escaped into a house, leaned his hand against the wall, and was bitten by a poisonous snake. |
| 20Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it? | 20Don't you realize the LORD's day of judgment will bring darkness, not light--gloomy blackness, not bright light? |
| 21“I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies. | 21"I absolutely despise your festivals! I get no pleasure from your religious assemblies! |
| 22Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. | 22Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings, I will not be satisfied; I will not look with favor on your peace offerings of fattened calves. |
| 23Take away from Me the noise of your songs, For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. | 23Take away from me your noisy songs; I don't want to hear the music of your stringed instruments. |
| 24But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream. | 24Justice must flow like torrents of water, righteous actions like a stream that never dries up. |
| 25“Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? | 25You did not bring me sacrifices and grain offerings during the forty years you spent in the wilderness, family of Israel. |
| 26You also carried Sikkuth your king And Chiun, your idols, The star of your gods, Which you made for yourselves. | 26You will pick up your images of Sikkuth, your king, and Kiyyun, your star god, which you made for yourselves, |
| 27Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus,” Says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts. | 27and I will drive you into exile beyond Damascus," says the LORD. He is called the God who commands armies! |
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