| Berean Study Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Hear this word, O house of Israel, this lamentation I take up against you: | 1Listen to this message that I am singing for you, a lament, house of Israel: |
| 2“Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again. She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise her up.” | 2She has fallen; Virgin Israel will never rise again. She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise 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.” | 3For the Lord GOD says: The city that marches out a thousand strong will have only a hundred left, and the one that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left in the house of Israel. |
| 4For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live! | 4For the LORD says to the house of 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 or go to Gilgal or journey to Beer-sheba, for Gilgal will certainly go into exile, and Bethel will come 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 Yahweh and live, or He will spread like fire throughout the house of Joseph; it will consume everything, with no one at Bethel to extinguish it. |
| 7There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground. | 7Those who turn justice into wormwood throw 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— | 8The One 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 out over the face of the earth-- Yahweh is His name. |
| 9He flashes destruction on the strong, so that fury comes upon the stronghold. | 9He brings destruction on the strong, and it falls on the stronghold. |
| 10There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity. | 10They hate the one who convicts the guilty at the city gate and despise the one who speaks with integrity. |
| 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. | 11Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact a grain tax from him, you will never live in the houses of cut stone you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted. |
| 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 your crimes are many and your sins innumerable. They oppress the righteous, take a bribe, and deprive the poor of justice at the gates. |
| 13Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil. | 13Therefore, the wise person will keep silent at such a time, for the days 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 and not evil so that you may live, and the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed. |
| 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 and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to 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 Yahweh, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: There will be wailing in all the public squares; they will cry out in anguish in all the streets. The farmer will be called on to mourn, and professional 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 among you. The LORD has spoken. |
| 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! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and 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 like a man who flees from a lion only to have a bear confront him. He goes home and rests his hand against 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? | 20Won't the Day of the LORD be darkness rather than light, even gloom without any brightness in it? |
| 21“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. | 21I hate, I despise your feasts! I can't stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. |
| 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 if you offer Me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will have no regard for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle. |
| 23Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. | 23Take away from Me 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 flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream." |
| 25Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? | 25House of Israel, was it sacrifices and grain offerings that you presented to Me during the 40 years in the wilderness? |
| 26You have taken along Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, the idols you made for yourselves. | 26But you have taken up Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, images you have made for yourselves. |
| 27Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts. | 27So I will send you into exile beyond Damascus." Yahweh, the God of Hosts, is His name. He has spoken. |
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