Chapter 5

  Hear you this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel.  

-

  The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is cast down on her land; there is none to raise her up.  

-

  For thus says the Lord Yahweh: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth one hundred shall have ten left, to the house of Israel.  

-

  For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel, Seek you me, and you shall live;  

-

  but don't seek Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and don't pass to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nothing.  

-

  Seek Yahweh, 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 Bethel.  

-

  You who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth,  

-

  [seek 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 on the surface of the earth (Yahweh is his name);  

-

  who brings sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the fortress.  

-

  They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks blamelessly.  

-

  Forasmuch therefore as you trample on the poor, and take taxes 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 the wine of it.  

-

  For 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].  

-

  Therefore he who is prudent shall keep silence in such a time; for it is an evil time.  

-

  Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you say.  

-

  Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate: it may be that Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.  

-

  Therefore thus says Yahweh, 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 such as are skillful in lamentation to wailing.  

-

  In all vineyards shall be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of you, says Yahweh.  

-

  Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why would you have the day of Yahweh? It is darkness, and not light.  

-

  As if a man did flee 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.  

-

  Shall the day of Yahweh not be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?  

-

  I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies.  

-

  Yes, 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 animals.  

-

  Take away from me the noise of your songs; for I will not hear the melody of your viols.  

-

  But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.  

-

  Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, house of Israel?  

-

  Yes, you have borne the tent of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which you made to yourselves.  

-

  Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, says Yahweh, whose name is the God of hosts.  

-