New International Version NIV
The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
1 Hear this word, Israel, this lament I take up concerning you:
1
Hear this word that I take up against you in lament, house of Isra'el:
2 “Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again, deserted in her own land, with no one to lift her up.”
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.
3 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Israel: “Your city that marches out a thousand strong will have only a hundred left; your town that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left.”
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."
4 This is what the LORD says to Israel: “Seek me and live;
4
For here is what ADONAI says to the house of Isra'el: "If you seek me, you will survive;
5 do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing. ”
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."
6 Seek the LORD and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it.
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.
7 There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground.
7
You who turn justice to bitter wormwood and throw righteousness to the ground!
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land— the LORD is his name.
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
9 With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold and brings the fortified city to ruin.
9
he flashes destruction on the strong, so that destruction overcomes the fortress.
10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth.
10
They hate anyone promoting justice at the city gate, they detest anyone who speaks the truth.
11 You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine.
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.
12 For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
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.
13 Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil.
13
At times like these a prudent person stays silent, for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.
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.
15 Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.
15
Hate evil, love good, and uphold justice at the gate. Maybe Adonai ELOHEI-Tzva'ot will take pity on the survivors of Yosef.
16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the LORD God Almighty, says: “There will be wailing in all the streets and cries of anguish in every public square. The farmers will be summoned to weep and the mourners to wail.
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.
17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” says the LORD.
17
There will be wailing in every vineyard, for I will pass through among you," says ADONAI.
18 Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? That day will be darkness, not light.
18
Woe to you who want the Day of ADONAI! Why do you want it, this Day of ADONAI? It is darkness, not light;
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him.
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.
20 Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light— pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?
20
Won't the Day of ADONAI be darkness, not light, completely dark, with no brightness at all?
21 “I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me.
21
"I hate, I utterly loathe your festivals; I take no pleasure in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.
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.
23 Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
23
Spare me the noise of your songs! I don't want to hear the strumming of your lutes!
24 But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!
24
Instead, let justice well up like water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 “Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
25
Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings in the desert forty years, house of Isra'el?
26 You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god — which you made for yourselves.
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;
27 Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is God Almighty.
27
as I exile you beyond Dammesek," says Adonai ELOHEI-Tzva'ot - that is his name.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.