5:1 Hear this word which I am taking up for you as a song of mourning, house of Israel:
5:2 She has fallen, she will not rise again—
The virgin Israel.
She lies unnoticed on her land;
There is no one to raise her up.
5:3 For this is what the Lord ①GOD says:
“The city which goes forth a thousand strong
Will have a hundred left,
And the one which goes forth a hundred strong
Will have ten left to the house of Israel.”
▷ ①Heb YHWH, usually rendered LORD, and so throughout the ch
5:4 For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel:
“Seek Me so that you may live.
5:5 But do not ①resort to Bethel
And do not come to Gilgal,
Nor cross over to Beersheba;
For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity
And Bethel will ②come to nothing.
▷ ①Lit seek ②Lit be
5:6 Seek the LORD so that you may live,
Or He will break through like a fire, ①house of Joseph,
And it will consume with no one to extinguish it for Bethel,
▷ ①Or in the house
5:7 For those who turn justice into wormwood,
And ①throw righteousness to the earth.”
▷ ①Lit they have thrown
5:8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
And changes deep darkness into morning,
①Who also darkens day into night,
Who calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
The LORD is His name.
▷ ①Lit And He darkened
5:9 It is He who makes destruction flash upon the strong,
So that destruction comes upon the fortress.
5:10 They hate him who rebukes in the ①gate,
And they despise him who speaks with integrity.
▷ ①I.e., the place where court was held
5:11 Therefore because you impose heavy ①rent on the poor
And take a tribute of grain from them,
Though you have built houses of cut stone,
Yet you will not live in them;
You have planted beautiful vineyards, yet you will not drink their wine.
▷ ①Or tax
5:12 For I know your offenses are many and your sins are great,
You who are hostile to the righteous and accept bribes,
And ①turn away the poor from justice at the ②gate.
▷ ①Lit they turn ②I.e., the place where court was held
5:13 Therefore at ①such a time the prudent person keeps quiet, because it is an evil time.
▷ ①Lit that time
5:14 Seek good and not evil, so that you may live;
And so may the LORD God of armies be with you,
Just as you have said!
5:15 Hate evil, love good,
And establish justice in the ①gate!
Perhaps the LORD God of armies
Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
▷ ①I.e., the place where court was held
5:16 Therefore this is what the LORD God of armies, the Lord says:
“There is mourning in all the public squares,
And in all the streets they say, ‘Oh no! Oh no!’
They also call the farmer to mourning
And ①professional mourners to mourning rites.
▷ ①Lit those who know mourning
5:17 And in all the vineyards there is mourning,
Because I will pass through the midst of you,” says the LORD.
5:18 Woe to you who are longing for the day of the LORD,
For what ①purpose will the day of the LORD be to you?
It will be darkness and not light;
▷ ①Lit will this be to you, the day
5:19 As when a man flees from a lion
And a bear confronts him,
①Or he goes home, leans with his hand against the wall,
And a snake bites him.
▷ ①Or Then
5:20 Will the day of the LORD not be darkness instead of light,
Even gloom with no brightness in it?
5:21 “I hate, I reject your festivals,
Nor do I ①delight in your festive assemblies.
▷ ①Lit like to smell your
5:22 Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fattened oxen.
5:23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs;
I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.
5:24 But let justice roll out like waters,
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
5:25 “ ①Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, house of Israel?
▷ ①Or You presented Me with the sacrifices and a grain offering
5:26 You also carried along ①Sikkuth your king and ②Kiyyun, your images, ③the star of your gods which you made for yourselves.
▷ ①Or Sakkuth (Saturn), or the tabernacle of your Moloch ②Or Kaiwan (Saturn), or stands of ③Or your star gods
5:27 Therefore I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of armies.