| Christian Standard Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1Listen to this message that I am singing for you, a lament, house of Israel: | 1"Hear this accusation that I am bringing against you: 'A dirge, house of Israel: |
| 2She has fallen; Virgin Israel will never rise again. She lies abandoned on her land with no one to raise her up. | 2Fallen is Israel the virgin—never to rise again! She is abandoned on her own land, with no one to raise her up.' |
| 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. | 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.'" |
| 4For the LORD says to the house of Israel: Seek me and live! | 4"For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: 'Seek me and live, |
| 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. | 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. |
| 6Seek the LORD 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. | 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. |
| 7Those who turn justice into wormwood also throw righteousness to the ground. | 7Those of you who are making justice taste bitter, and who have thrown righteousness to the ground: |
| 8The one who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the water of the sea and pours it out over the surface of the earth--the LORD is his name. | 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. |
| 9He brings destruction on the strong, and it falls on the fortress. | 9It is he who is raining sudden destruction upon the strong like lightning, so that ruin comes upon the fortress. |
| 10They hate the one who convicts the guilty at the city gate, and they despise the one who speaks with integrity. | 10They have hated those who are presenting their cases in court, detesting the one who speaks truthfully. |
| 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. | 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— |
| 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 city gates. | 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 — |
| 13Therefore, those who have insight will keep silent at such a time, for the days are evil. | 13therefore the prudent person remains silent at such a time, for the time is evil. |
| 14Pursue good and not evil so that you may live, and the LORD, the God of Armies, will be with you as you have claimed. | 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. |
| 15Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the city gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. | 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.'" |
| 16Therefore the LORD, the God of Armies, 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. | 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. |
| 17There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass among you. The LORD has spoken. | 17And in all of the vineyards there will be mourning when I 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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! |
| 20Won't the day of the LORD be darkness rather than light, even gloom without any brightness in it? | 20Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness, and not light— pitch black at that, without a ray of sunshine?" |
| 21I hate, I despise, your feasts! I can't stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. | 21"I hate—I despise—your festival days, and your solemn convocations stink. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 23Take away from me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. | 23Spare me your noisy singing— I will not listen to your musical instruments. |
| 24But let justice flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream. | 24"But let justice roll on like many waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing river. |
| 25"House of Israel, was it sacrifices and grain offerings that you presented to me during the forty years in the wilderness? | 25"Was it to me that you brought offerings and gifts in the desert for 40 years, house of Israel? |
| 26But you have taken up Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, images you have made for yourselves. | 26And you carried the tent of your king — and Saturn, your star god idols that you crafted for yourselves. |
| 27So I will send you into exile beyond Damascus." The LORD, the God of Armies, is his name. He has spoken. | 27So I will cause you to be taken captive beyond Damascus," says the LORD, whose name is God of the Heavenly Armies. |
| The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
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