| English Standard Version | King James Bible |
| 1Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel: | 1Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel. |
| 2“Fallen, no more to rise, is the virgin Israel; forsaken on her land, with none to raise her up.” | 2The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up. |
| 3For thus says the Lord GOD: “The city that went out a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went out a hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel.” | 3For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel. |
| 4For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live; | 4For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live: |
| 5but do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing.” | 5But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought. |
| 6Seek the LORD and live, lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel, | 6Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel. |
| 7O you who turn justice to wormwood and cast down righteousness to the earth! | 7Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, |
| 8He who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning and darkens the 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; | 8Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name: |
| 9who makes destruction flash forth against the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress. | 9That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress. |
| 10They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks the truth. | 10They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. |
| 11Therefore because you trample on the poor and you exact taxes of grain from him, 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. | 11Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them. |
| 12For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and turn aside the needy in the gate. | 12For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. |
| 13Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time, for it is an evil time. | 13Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time. |
| 14Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. | 14Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. |
| 15Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. | 15Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. |
| 16Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord: “In all the squares there shall be wailing, and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They shall call the farmers to mourning and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation, | 16Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. |
| 17and in all vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through your midst,” says the LORD. | 17And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD. |
| 18Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light, | 18Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD 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 against the wall, and a serpent bit him. | 19As 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. |
| 20Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? | 20Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? |
| 21“I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. | 21I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. |
| 22Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. | 22Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat 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; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. | 23Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. |
| 24But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. | 24But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. |
| 25“Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? | 25Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? |
| 26You shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, | 26But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. |
| 27and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts. | 27Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. |
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