1Heare ye this worde, which I lift vp vpon you, euen a lamentation of the 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. 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 saith the Lorde vnto the house of Israel, Seeke ye me, and ye shal liue. 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. 6Seeke the Lorde, and yee shal liue, least he breake out like fire in the house of Ioseph & deuoure it, & there be none to quench it in Beth-el. 7Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, 8[Seek 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: 9He strengtheneth the destroyer against the mightie: and the destroyer shal come against the fortresse. 10They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. 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 your manifold transgressions, and your mightie sinnes: they afflict the iust, they take rewards, & they oppresse the poore in ye gate. 13Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it [is] an evil time. 14Seeke good and not euil, that ye may liue: and the Lorde God of hostes shalbe with you, as you haue spoken. 15Hate the euil, and loue the good, and establish iudgement in the gate: it may bee that the Lorde God of hostes will be mercifull vnto the remnant of Ioseph. 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 al the vines shalbe lamentation: for I wil passe through thee, saith the Lord. 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 did flee from a lyon, & a beare met him: or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20Shal not the day of the Lord be darkenes, and not light? euen darkenes and no light in it? 21I hate and abhorre your feast dayes, and I wil not smell in your solemne 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. 23Take thou away from me the multitude of thy songs (for I wil not heare the melodie of thy violes) 24But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. 25Haue ye offered vnto me sacrifices and offrings in the wildernesse fourtie yeeres, O house of Israel? 26But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. 27Therefore wil I cause you to goe into captiuitie beyond Damascus, saith the Lorde, whose Name is the God of hostes.