5:1 Hear+ this word which I take up for a lamentation over you+, O house of Israel.
5:2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she will no more rise: she is cast down on her land; there is none to raise her up.
5:3 For thus says the Sovereign Yahweh: The city that went forth a thousand will have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred will have ten left, to the house of Israel.
5:4 For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel, Seek+ me, and you+ will live;
5:5 but don't seek Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and don't pass to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal will surely go into captivity, and Beth-el will come to nothing.
5:6 Seek Yahweh, and you+ will live; or else he will break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it will devour, and there will be none to quench it in Beth-el.
5:7 You+ who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth,
5:8 [seek him] that makes the Pleiades and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night; that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth (Yahweh is his name);
5:9 that brings sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the fortress.
5:10 They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they are disgusted by him who speaks uprightly.
5:11 Forasmuch therefore as you+ trample on the poor, and take exactions from him of wheat: you+ have built houses of cut stone, but you+ will not dwell in them; you+ have planted pleasant vineyards, but you+ will not drink their wine.
5:12 For I know how manifold are your+ transgressions, and how mighty are your+ sins--you+ who afflict the just, who take a bribe, and who turn aside the needy in the gate [from their right].
5:13 Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time.
5:14 Seek good, and not evil, that you+ may live; and so Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be with you+, as you+ say.
5:15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate: it may be that Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
5:16 Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing will be in all the broad ways; and they will say in all the streets, Alas! Alas! And they will call the husbandman to mourning, and a wailing for such as are skillful in lamentation.
5:17 And in all vineyards will be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of you, says Yahweh.
5:18 Woe to you+ who desire the day of Yahweh! Why would you+ have the day of Yahweh? It is darkness, and not light.
5:19 As if a man fled 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.
5:20 Will not the day of Yahweh be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?
5:21 I hate, I despise your+ feasts, and I will take no delight in your+ solemn assemblies.
5:22 Yes, though you+ offer me your+ burnt-offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your+ fat beasts.
5:23 Take away from me the noise of your songs; for I will not hear the melody of your viols.
5:24 But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
5:25 Did you+ bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
5:26 Yes, you+ have borne the tabernacle of your+ king and the Kewan--your+ idols, the star of your+ god which you+ made to yourselves.
5:27 Therefore I will cause you+ to go into captivity beyond Damascus, says Yahweh, whose name is the God of hosts.