² “Fallen is Virgin^(B) Israel,
    never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
    with no one to lift her up.^(C)”

“Your city that marches out a thousand strong
    will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
    will have only ten left.^(D)”

“Seek^(E) me and live;^(F)
5     do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,^(G)
    do not journey to Beersheba.^(H)
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
    and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.^[a](I)”
⁶ Seek^(J) the Lord and live,^(K)
    or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;^(L)
it will devour them,
    and Bethel^(M) will have no one to quench it.^(N)

⁷ There are those who turn justice into bitterness^(O)
    and cast righteousness^(P) to the ground.^(Q)

⁸ He who made the Pleiades and Orion,^(R)
    who turns midnight into dawn^(S)
    and darkens day into night,^(T)
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.^(U)
9 With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
    and brings the fortified city to ruin.^(V)

¹⁰ There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court^(W)
    and detest the one who tells the truth.^(X)

¹¹ You levy a straw tax on the poor^(Y)
    and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,^(Z)
    you will not live in them;^(AA)
though you have planted lush vineyards,
    you will not drink their wine.^(AB)
12 For I know how many are your offenses
    and how great your sins.^(AC)

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes^(AD)
    and deprive the poor^(AE) of justice in the courts.^(AF)
13 Therefore the prudent keep quiet^(AG) in such times,
    for the times are evil.^(AH)

¹⁴ Seek good, not evil,
    that you may live.^(AI)
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
    just as you say he is.
¹⁵ Hate evil,^(AJ) love good;^(AK)
    maintain justice in the courts.^(AL)
Perhaps^(AM) the Lord God Almighty will have mercy^(AN)
    on the remnant^(AO) of Joseph.

“There will be wailing^(AP) in all the streets^(AQ)
    and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers^(AR) will be summoned to weep
    and the mourners to wail.
¹⁷ There will be wailing^(AS) in all the vineyards,
    for I will pass through^(AT) your midst,”
says the Lord.^(AU)

²¹ “I hate,^(BD) I despise your religious festivals;^(BE)
    your assemblies^(BF) are a stench to me.
²² Even though you bring me burnt offerings^(BG) and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.^(BH)
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.^(BI)
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.^(BJ)
24 But let justice^(BK) roll on like a river,
    righteousness^(BL) like a never-failing stream!^(BM)

²⁵ “Did you bring me sacrifices^(BN) and offerings
    forty years^(BO) in the wilderness, people of Israel?
²⁶ You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
    the pedestal of your idols,^(BP)
    the star of your god^[b]—
    which you made for yourselves.
²⁷ Therefore I will send you into exile^(BQ) beyond Damascus,”
    says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.^(BR)

“I abhor^(CM) the pride of Jacob^(CN)
    and detest his fortresses;^(CO)
I will deliver up^(CP) the city
    and everything in it.^(CQ)”

¹¹ For the Lord has given the command,
    and he will smash^(CU) the great house^(CV) into pieces
    and the small house into bits.^(CW)

¹² Do horses run on the rocky crags?
    Does one plow the sea^[d] with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison^(CX)
    and the fruit of righteousness^(CY) into bitterness^(CZ)—
¹³ you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar^[e]
    and say, “Did we not take Karnaim^[f] by our own strength?^(DA)”

¹⁴ For the Lord God Almighty declares,
    “I will stir up a nation^(DB) against you, Israel,
that will oppress you all the way
    from Lebo Hamath^(DC) to the valley of the Arabah.^(DD)”

⁹ “The high places^(DU) of Isaac will be destroyed
    and the sanctuaries^(DV) of Israel will be ruined;
    with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.^(DW)”

⁴ Hear this, you who trample the needy
    and do away with the poor^(H) of the land,^(I)

“When will the New Moon^(J) be over
    that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
    that we may market^(K) wheat?”^(L)—
skimping on the measure,
    boosting the price
    and cheating^(M) with dishonest scales,^(N)
6 buying the poor^(O) with silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals,
    selling even the sweepings with the wheat.^(P)

⁸ “Will not the land tremble^(T) for this,
    and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise like the Nile;
    it will be stirred up and then sink
    like the river of Egypt.^(U)

“I will make the sun go down at noon
    and darken the earth in broad daylight.^(V)
10 I will turn your religious festivals^(W) into mourning
    and all your singing into weeping.^(X)
I will make all of you wear sackcloth^(Y)
    and shave^(Z) your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son^(AA)
    and the end of it like a bitter day.^(AB)

¹¹ “The days are coming,”^(AC) declares the Sovereign Lord,
    “when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
    but a famine^(AD) of hearing the words of the Lord.^(AE)
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
    and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
    but they will not find it.^(AF)

“the lovely young women and strong young men^(AG)
    will faint because of thirst.^(AH)
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria^(AI)—
    who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’^(AJ)
    or, ‘As surely as the god^[b] of Beersheba^(AK) lives’—
    they will fall,^(AL) never to rise again.^(AM)”

“Strike the tops of the pillars
    so that the thresholds shake.
Bring them down on the heads^(AN) of all the people;
    those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
    none will escape.^(AO)
2 Though they dig down to the depths below,^(AP)
    from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens above,^(AQ)
    from there I will bring them down.^(AR)
3 Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,^(AS)
    there I will hunt them down and seize them.^(AT)
Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea,^(AU)
    there I will command the serpent^(AV) to bite them.^(AW)
4 Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
    there I will command the sword^(AX) to slay them.

“I will keep my eye on them
    for harm^(AY) and not for good.^(AZ)”^(BA)

⁵ The Lord, the Lord Almighty—
he touches the earth and it melts,^(BB)
    and all who live in it mourn;
the whole land rises like the Nile,
    then sinks like the river of Egypt;^(BC)
6 he builds his lofty palace^[c](BD) in the heavens
    and sets its foundation^[d] on the earth;
he calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.^(BE)

⁷ “Are not you Israelites
    the same to me as the Cushites^[e]?”^(BF)
declares the Lord.
“Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt,
    the Philistines^(BG) from Caphtor^[f](BH)
    and the Arameans from Kir?^(BI)

⁸ “Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord
    are on the sinful kingdom.
I will destroy^(BJ) it
    from the face of the earth.
Yet I will not totally destroy
    the descendants of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.^(BK)
9 “For I will give the command,
    and I will shake the people of Israel
    among all the nations
as grain^(BL) is shaken in a sieve,^(BM)
    and not a pebble will reach the ground.^(BN)
10 All the sinners among my people
    will die by the sword,^(BO)
all those who say,
    ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’^(BP)

“I will restore David’s^(BQ) fallen shelter^(BR)—
    I will repair its broken walls
    and restore its ruins^(BS)—
    and will rebuild it as it used to be,^(BT)
12 so that they may possess the remnant of Edom^(BU)
    and all the nations that bear my name,^[g](BV)”
declares the Lord, who will do these things.^(BW)

“when the reaper^(BY) will be overtaken by the plowman^(BZ)
    and the planter by the one treading^(CA) grapes.
New wine^(CB) will drip from the mountains
    and flow from all the hills,^(CC)
14     and I will bring^(CD) my people Israel back from exile.^[h](CE)

“They will rebuild the ruined cities^(CF) and live in them.
    They will plant vineyards^(CG) and drink their wine;
    they will make gardens and eat their fruit.^(CH)
15 I will plant^(CI) Israel in their own land,^(CJ)
    never again to be uprooted^(CK)
    from the land I have given them,”^(CL)

says the Lord your God.^(CM)