1Hear this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel. 2The virgin of Israel has fallen; she shall no more rise: she is cast down upon her land; there is none to raise her up. 3For thus says the Lord Yehovah: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred shall have ten left, to the house of Israel. 4For thus says Yehovah to the house of Israel, Seek me, and you shall live; 5but do not seek Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and do not pass over to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nothing. 6Seek Yehovah, and you shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el. 7You who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth, 8seek him who makes the Pleiades and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night; who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth (Yehovah is his name); 9who brings sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress. 10They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks uprightly. 11Therefore since you trample upon the poor, and take exactions from him of wheat: 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. 12For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins—you who afflict the just, who take a bribe, and who turn aside the needy in the gate from their right. 13Therefore he who is prudent shall keep silence in such a time; for it is an evil time. 14Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so Yehovah, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you say. 15Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate: it may be that Yehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. 16Therefore thus says Yehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all the broad ways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! alas! and they shall call the farmer to mourning, and those who are skillful in lamentation to wailing. 17And in all vineyards there shall be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of you, says Yehovah. 18Woe to you who desire the day of Yehovah! Why would you have the day of Yehovah? It is darkness, and not light. 19As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20Shall not the day of Yehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? 21I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 22Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts. 23Take away from me the noise of your songs; for I will not hear the melody of your viols. 24But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. 25Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 26Indeed, you have borne the tabernacle of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves. 27Therefore I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, says Yehovah, whose name is the God of hosts.