The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Hear this word that I take up against you in lament, house of Isra'el:
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Give ear to this word, my song of sorrow over you, O children of Israel.
2 The virgin of Isra'el has fallen; she will not rise again. She lies abandoned on her own soil with no one to lift her up.
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The virgin of Israel has been made low, never again to be lifted up: she is stretched out by herself on her land; there is no one to put her on her feet again.
3 For thus says Adonai ELOHIM: "The city from which a thousand marched will be left with a hundred, and the one from which a hundred marched will be left with ten from the house of Isra'el."
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For these are the words of the Lord God: The town which was able to send out a thousand, will have only a hundred; and that which sent out a hundred, will have only ten, in Israel.
4 For here is what ADONAI says to the house of Isra'el: "If you seek me, you will survive;
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For these are the words of the Lord to the children of Israel: Let your hearts be turned to me, so that you may have life:
5 but don't seek Beit-El, or enter Gilgal or pass on into Be'er-Sheva; for Gilgal will certainly go into exile, and Beit-El will come to nothing."
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Do not be looking for help to Beth-el, and do not go to Gilgal, or make your way to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal will certainly be taken prisoner, and Beth-el will come to nothing.
6 If you seek ADONAI, you will survive. Otherwise, he will break out against the house of Yosef like fire, devouring Beit-El, with no one to quench the flames.
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Go to the Lord for help so that you may have life; for fear that he may come like fire bursting out in the family of Joseph, causing destruction, and there will be no one to put it out in Beth-el.
7 You who turn justice to bitter wormwood and throw righteousness to the ground!
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You who make the work of judging a bitter thing, crushing down righteousness to the earth;
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who brings deathlike shadows over the morning, who darkens the day into night, who calls for the water in the sea and with it floods the earth - ADONAI is his name
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Go for help to him who makes Orion and the Pleiades, by whom the deep dark is turned into morning, who makes the day black with night; whose voice goes out to the waters of the sea, sending them out over the face of the earth: the Lord is his name;
9 he flashes destruction on the strong, so that destruction overcomes the fortress.
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Who sends sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the walled town.
10 They hate anyone promoting justice at the city gate, they detest anyone who speaks the truth.
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They have hate for him who makes protest against evil in the public place, and he whose words are upright is disgusting to them.
11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor and extort from them levies of grain; although you have built houses of cut stone, you will not live in them; and though you have planted pleasant vineyards, you will not drink their wine.
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So because the poor man is crushed under your feet, and you take taxes from him of grain: you have made for yourselves houses of cut stone, but you will not take your rest in them; the fair vine-gardens planted by your hands will not give you wine.
12 For I know how numerous are your crimes and how outrageous your sins - bullying the innocent, extorting ransoms pushing the poor aside at the gate.
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For I have seen how your evil-doing is increased and how strong are your sins, you troublers of the upright, who take rewards and do wrong to the cause of the poor in the public place.
13 At times like these a prudent person stays silent, for it is an evil time.
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So the wise will say nothing in that time; for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil, so that you will survive. Then Adonai ELOHEI-Tzva'ot will be with you, as you say he is.
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Go after good and not evil, so that life may be yours: and so the Lord, the God of armies, will be with you, as you say.
15 Hate evil, love good, and uphold justice at the gate. Maybe Adonai ELOHEI-Tzva'ot will take pity on the survivors of Yosef.
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Be haters of evil and lovers of good, and let right be done in the public place: it may be that the Lord, the God of armies, will have mercy on the rest of Joseph.
16 Therefore thus says Adonai ELOHEI-Tzva'ot, Adonai: "In all public squares there will be lamentation, in all the streets they will cry, 'Oh, no!' They will summon farmers to mourn and professional mourners to wail.
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So these are the words of the Lord, the God of armies, the Lord: There will be weeping in all the open spaces; and in all the streets they will say, Sorrow! sorrow! and they will get in the farmer to the weeping, and the makers of sad songs to give cries of grief.
17 There will be wailing in every vineyard, for I will pass through among you," says ADONAI.
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In all the vine-gardens there will be cries of grief: for I will go through among you, says the Lord.
18 Woe to you who want the Day of ADONAI! Why do you want it, this Day of ADONAI? It is darkness, not light;
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Sorrow to you who are looking for the day of the Lord! what is the day of the Lord to you? it is dark and not light.
19 as if someone were to run from a lion, just to be met by a bear; as if he entered a house, put his hand on the wall, just to be bitten by a snake.
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As if a man, running away from a lion, came face to face with a bear; or went into the house and put his hand on the wall and got a bite from a snake.
20 Won't the Day of ADONAI be darkness, not light, completely dark, with no brightness at all?
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Will not the day of the Lord be dark and not light? even very dark, with no light shining in it?
21 "I hate, I utterly loathe your festivals; I take no pleasure in your solemn assemblies.
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Your feasts are disgusting to me, I will have nothing to do with them; I will take no delight in your holy meetings.
22 If you offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; nor will I consider the peace offerings of your stall-fed cattle.
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Even if you give me your burned offerings and your meal offerings, I will not take pleasure in them: I will have nothing to do with the peace-offerings of your fat beasts.
23 Spare me the noise of your songs! I don't want to hear the strumming of your lutes!
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Take away from me the noise of your songs; my ears are shut to the melody of your instruments.
24 Instead, let justice well up like water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
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But let the right go rolling on like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings in the desert forty years, house of Isra'el?
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Did you come to me with offerings of beasts and meal offerings in the waste land for forty years, O Israel?
26 No, but now you will bear Sikkut as your king and Kiyun, your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves;
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Truly, you will take up Saccuth your king and Kaiwan your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.
27 as I exile you beyond Dammesek," says Adonai ELOHEI-Tzva'ot - that is his name.
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And I will send you away as prisoners farther than Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of armies.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.