| New King James Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Hear this word which I take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel: | 1Hear this word, O house of Israel, this lamentation I take up against you: |
| 2The virgin of Israel has fallen; She will rise no more. She lies forsaken on her land; There is no one to raise her up. | 2“Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again. She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise her up.” |
| 3For thus says the Lord GOD: “The city that goes out by a thousand Shall have a hundred left, And that which goes out by a hundred Shall have ten left to the house of Israel.” | 3This is what the Lord GOD says: “The city that marches out a thousand strong will only see a hundred return, and the one that marches out a hundred strong will have but ten left in the house of Israel.” |
| 4For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live; | 4For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live! |
| 5But do not seek Bethel, Nor enter Gilgal, Nor pass over to Beersheba; For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, And Bethel shall come to nothing. | 5Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing. |
| 6Seek the LORD and live, Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, And devour it, With no one to quench it in Bethel— | 6Seek the LORD and live, or He will sweep like fire through the house of Joseph; it will devour everything, with no one at Bethel to extinguish it. |
| 7You who turn justice to wormwood, And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!” | 7There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground. |
| 8He made the Pleiades and Orion; He turns the shadow of death into morning And makes the day dark as night; He calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth; The LORD is His name. | 8He 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 over the face of the earth—the LORD is His name— |
| 9He rains ruin upon the strong, So that fury comes upon the fortress. | 9He flashes destruction on the strong, so that fury comes upon the stronghold. |
| 10They hate the one who rebukes in the gate, And they abhor the one who speaks uprightly. | 10There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity. |
| 11Therefore, because you tread down the poor And take grain taxes from him, Though you have built houses of hewn stone, Yet you shall not dwell in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, But you shall not drink wine from them. | 11Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses 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: Afflicting the just and taking bribes; Diverting the poor from justice at the gate. | 12For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate. |
| 13Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time, For it is an evil time. | 13Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil. |
| 14Seek good and not evil, That you may live; So the LORD God of hosts will be with you, As you have spoken. | 14Seek good, not evil, so that you may live. And the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed. |
| 15Hate evil, love good; Establish justice in the gate. It may be that the LORD God of hosts Will be gracious to 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 God of hosts, the Lord, says this: “There shall be wailing in all streets, And they shall say in all the highways, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They shall call the farmer to mourning, And skillful lamenters to wailing. | 16Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: “There will be wailing in all the public squares and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets. The farmer will be summoned to mourn, and the mourners to wail. |
| 17In all vineyards there shall be wailing, For I will pass through you,” Says the LORD. | 17There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” says the LORD. |
| 18Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! For what good is the day of the LORD to you? It will be 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. |
| 19It will be as though a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, Leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him! | 19It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake. |
| 20Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it? | 20Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it? |
| 21“I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies. | 21“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. |
| 22Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. | 22Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard. |
| 23Take away from Me the noise of your songs, For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. | 23Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. |
| 24But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream. | 24But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. |
| 25“Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? | 25Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? |
| 26You also carried Sikkuth your king And Chiun, your idols, The star of your gods, Which you made for yourselves. | 26You have taken along Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, the idols you made for yourselves. |
| 27Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus,” Says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts. | 27Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts. |
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