Seek Me That You May Live
Hear this word which I take up for you as a funeral alament, O house of Israel:
2 She has fallen; she will anot rise again—
The bvirgin Israel.
She lies abandoned on her land;
There is cnone to raise her up.
3 For thus says Lord Yahweh,
“The city which goes forth one thousand strong
Will have one ahundred left,
And the one which goes forth one hundred strong
Will have bten left to the house of Israel.”
4 For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel,
“aSeek Me bthat you may live.
5 But do not seek aBethel,
And do not come to bGilgal,
Nor cross over to cBeersheba;
For Gilgal will certainly go into exile,
And Bethel will become evil.
6 aSeek Yahweh that you may live,
Lest He come mightily like a bfire, O house of Joseph,
And it will consume with none to quench it for Bethel,
7 For those who overturn ajustice into wormwood
And put righteousness down to the earth.”
8 He who made the aPleiades and Orion
And boverturns the shadow of death into morning,
Who also cdarkens day into night,
Who dcalls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
eYahweh is His name.
9 It is He who aflashes forth with devastation upon the strong
So that bdevastation comes upon the fortification.
10 They hate him who areproves in the gate,
And they babhor him who speaks with integrity.
11 Therefore because you impose heavy rent on the poor
And take a tribute of grain from them,
Though you have built ahouses of cut stone,
Yet you will not live in them;
You have planted desirable vineyards, yet you will bnot drink their wine.
12 For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are mighty,
You who adistress the righteous and take bribes
And turn aside the needy in the gate.
13 Therefore at such a time the one with insight akeeps silent, for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil, in order that you may live;
And thus may Yahweh God of hosts be with you,
aJust as you have said!
15 aHate evil, love good,
And set justice at the gate!
Perhaps Yahweh God of hosts
bMay be gracious to the cremnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore thus says Yahweh God of hosts, the Lord,
“There is awailing in all the plazas,
And in all the streets they say, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They also call the bfarmer to mourning
And cprofessional weepers to wailing.
17 And in all the avineyards there is wailing
Because I will pass through the midst of you,” says Yahweh.
18 Woe, you who are longing for the aday of Yahweh,
For what purpose will the day of Yahweh be to you?
It will be bdarkness and not light;
19 As when a man aflees from a lion
And a bear meets him;
Or he goes home, leans his hand against the wall,
And a snake bites him.
20 Will not the day of Yahweh be adarkness instead of light,
Even thick darkness with no brightness in it?
21 “I hate, I areject your feasts,
Nor do I bdelight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you aoffer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the bpeace offerings of your fatlings.
23 Remove from Me the tumult of your songs;
I will not even listen to the melody of your harps.
24 But let ajustice roll down like waters
And righteousness like an ever‑flowing stream.
25 “aDid you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel? 26 aYou also carried along Sikkuth your king and Kiyyun, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. 27 Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says Yahweh, whose name is the God of hosts.