Turn Back to the Lord
1 Listen, nation of Israel,
to my mournful message:
2 You, dearest Israel, have fallen,
never to rise again—
you lie deserted in your own land,
with no one to help you up.
3 The Lord God has warned,
“From every ten soldiers
only one will be left;
from a thousand troops,
only a hundred will survive.”
4 The Lord keeps saying,
“Israel, turn back to me
and you will live!
5 Don't go to Gilgal or Bethel
or even to Beersheba.
Gilgal will be dragged away,
and Bethel will end up
as nothing.”
6 Turn back to the Lord,
you descendants of Joseph,
and you will live.
If you don't, the Lord
will attack like fire.
Bethel will burn to the ground,
and no one can save it.
7 You people are doomed!
You twist the truth
and trample on justice.
8 But the Lord created the stars
and put them in place.
He turns darkness to dawn
and daylight to darkness;
he scoops up the ocean
and empties it on the earth.
9 God destroys mighty soldiers
and strong fortresses.
Choose Good Instead of Evil!
The Lord said:
10 You people hate judges
and honest witnesses;
11 you abuse the poor and demand
heavy taxes from them.
You have built expensive homes,
but you won't enjoy them;
you have planted vineyards,
but you will get no wine.
12 I am the Lord, and I know
your terrible sins.
You cheat honest people
and take bribes;
you rob the poor of justice.
13 Times are so evil
that anyone with good sense
will keep quiet.
14 If you really want to live,
you must stop doing wrong
and start doing right.
I, the Lord God All-Powerful,
will then be on your side,
just as you claim I am.
15 Choose good instead of evil!
See that justice is done.
Maybe I, the Lord All-Powerful,
will be kind to what's left
of your people.
Judgment Is Coming
16 This is what the Lord has sworn:
Noisy crying will be heard
in every town and street.
Even farmers will be told
to mourn for the dead,
together with those
who are paid to mourn.
17 Your vineyards will be filled
with crying and weeping,
because I will punish you.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
When the Lord Judges
18 You look forward to the day
when the Lord comes to judge.
But you are in for trouble!
It won't be a time of sunshine;
all will be darkness.
19 You will run from a lion,
only to meet a bear.
You will escape to your house,
rest your hand on the wall,
and be bitten by a snake.
20 The day when the Lord judges
will be dark, very dark,
without a ray of light.
What the Lord Demands
21 I, the Lord, hate and despise
your religious celebrations
and your times of worship.
22 I won't accept your offerings
or animal sacrifices—
not even your very best.
23 No more of your noisy songs!
I won't listen
when you play your harps.
24 But let justice and fairness
flow like a river
that never runs dry.
25 Israel, for forty years
you wandered in the desert,
without bringing offerings
or sacrifices to me.
26 Now you will have to carry
the two idols you made—
Sakkuth, the one you call king,
and Kaiwan, the one you built
in the shape of a star.
27 I will force you to march
as captives beyond Damascus.
I, the Lord God All-Powerful,
have spoken!
1 Heare ye this worde, which I lift vp vpon you, euen a lamentation of the house of Israel. 2 The virgine Israel is fallen, and shall no more rise: shee is left vpon her lande, and there is none to raise her vp. 3 For thus saith ye Lord God, The citie which went out by a thousand, shall leaue an hundreth: and that which went forth by an hundreth, shall leaue ten to the house of Israel. 4 For thus saith the Lord vnto the house of Israel, Seeke ye me, and ye shall liue. 5 But seeke not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and go not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall goe into captiuitie, and Beth-el shall come to nought. 6 Seeke the Lord, and yee shall liue, least he breake out like fire in the house of Ioseph and deuoure it, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el. 7 They turne iudgement to wormewood, and leaue off righteousnes in the earth. 8 He maketh Pleiades, and Orion, and he turneth the shadowe of death into the morning, and he maketh the day darke as night: he calleth the waters of the sea, and powreth them out vpon the open earth: the Lord is his Name. 9 He strengtheneth the destroyer against the mightie: and the destroyer shall come against the fortresse. 10 They haue hated him, that rebuked in the gate: and they abhorred him that speaketh vprightly. 11 Forasmuch then as your treading is vpon the poore, and yee take from him burdens of wheate, ye haue built houses of hewen stone, but ye shall not dwel in them: ye haue plated pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drinke wine of them. 12 For I know your manifold transgressions, and your mightie sinnes: they afflict the iust, they take rewards, and they oppresse the poore in ye gate. 13 Therefore the prudent shall keepe silence in that time, for it is an euill time. 14 Seeke good and not euil, that ye may liue: and the Lord God of hostes shalbe with you, as you haue spoken. 15 Hate the euil, and loue the good, and establish iudgement in the gate: it may bee that the Lord God of hostes will be mercifull vnto the remnant of Ioseph. 16 Therfore the Lord God of hosts, the Lord saith thus, Mourning shalbe in all streetes: and they shall say in al the hie wayes, Alas, alas: and they shall call the husbandman to lamentation, and such as can mourne, to mourning. 17 And in al the vines shalbe lamentation: for I wil passe through thee, saith the Lord. 18 Woe vnto you, that desire the day of the Lord: what haue you to do with it? the day of the Lord is darkenes and not light. 19 As if a man did flee from a lyon, and a beare met him: or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20 Shal not the day of the Lord be darkenes, and not light? euen darkenes and no light in it? 21 I hate and abhorre your feast dayes, and I wil not smelll in your solemne assemblies. 22 Though ye offer me burnt offrings and meat offrings, I wil not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offrings of your fat beasts. 23 Take thou away from me the multitude of thy songs (for I wil not heare the melodie of thy violes) 24 And let iudgement runne downe as waters, and righteousnesse as a mightie riuer. 25 Haue ye offered vnto me sacrifices and offrings in the wildernesse fourtie yeeres, O house of Israel? 26 But you haue borne Siccuth your King, and Chiun your images, and the starre of your gods, which ye made to your selues. 27 Therefore wil I cause you to goe into captiuitie beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose Name is the God of hostes.