| King James Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel. | 1Listen to this message that I am singing for you, a lament, house of Israel: |
| 2The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up. | 2She has fallen; Virgin Israel will never rise again. She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise her up. |
| 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. | 3For the Lord GOD says: The city that marches out a thousand strong will have only a hundred left, and the one that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left in the house of Israel. |
| 4For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live: | 4For the LORD says to the house of Israel: Seek Me and live! |
| 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. | 5Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal or journey to Beer-sheba, for Gilgal will certainly go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing. |
| 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. | 6Seek Yahweh and live, or He will spread like fire throughout the house of Joseph; it will consume everything, with no one at Bethel to extinguish it. |
| 7Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, | 7Those who turn justice into wormwood throw righteousness to the ground. |
| 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: | 8The One who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the earth-- Yahweh is His name. |
| 9That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress. | 9He brings destruction on the strong, and it falls on the stronghold. |
| 10They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. | 10They hate the one who convicts the guilty at the city gate and despise the one who speaks with integrity. |
| 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. | 11Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact a grain tax from him, you will never live in the houses of cut stone you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted. |
| 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. | 12For I know your crimes are many and your sins innumerable. They oppress the righteous, take a bribe, and deprive the poor of justice at the gates. |
| 13Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time. | 13Therefore, the wise person will keep silent at such a time, for the days are evil. |
| 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. | 14Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed. |
| 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. | 15Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. |
| 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. | 16Therefore Yahweh, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: There will be wailing in all the public squares; they will cry out in anguish in all the streets. The farmer will be called on to mourn, and professional mourners to wail. |
| 17And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD. | 17There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass among you. The LORD has spoken. |
| 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. | 18Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light. |
| 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. | 19It will be like a man who flees from a lion only to have a bear confront him. He goes home and rests his hand against the wall only to have a snake bite him. |
| 20Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? | 20Won't the Day of the LORD be darkness rather than light, even gloom without any brightness in it? |
| 21I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. | 21I hate, I despise your feasts! I can't stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. |
| 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. | 22Even if you offer Me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will have no regard for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle. |
| 23Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. | 23Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. |
| 24But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. | 24But let justice flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream." |
| 25Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? | 25House of Israel, was it sacrifices and grain offerings that you presented to Me during the 40 years in the wilderness? |
| 26But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. | 26But you have taken up Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, images you have made for yourselves. |
| 27Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts. | 27So I will send you into exile beyond Damascus." Yahweh, the God of Hosts, is His name. He has spoken. |
|
