Lamentation for Israel
2She has fallen;
She lies abandoned on her land
with no one to raise her up.5:2 Is 51:18
3For the Lord God says:
The city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left,5:3 Is 6:13
and the one that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left5:3 Am 6:9 in the house of Israel.
Seek God and Live
4For the Lord says to the house of Israel:
5Do not seek Bethel5:5 1Kg 12:28–29
or journey to Beer-sheba,5:5 Gn 21:31–33
for Gilgal will certainly go into exile,
and Bethel will come to nothing.
throughout the house of Joseph;
it will consume everything
also throw righteousness to the ground.
and darkens day into night,5:8 Am 8:9
who summons the water of the sea5:8 Ps 104:6–9; Jr 10:13
and pours it out over the surface of the earth5:8 Jb 36:27–30 —
and it falls on the fortress.5:9 Mc 5:11
at the city gate,
and they despise5:10 Is 59:15 the one who speaks with integrity.
and exact a grain tax from him,
you have built;
you will never drink the wine
from the lush vineyards
12For I know your crimes are many
and your sins innumerable.
and deprive the poor of justice5:12 Am 2:6–7 at the city gates.
at such a time,
for the days are evil.
14Pursue good and not evil
so that you may live,
and the Lord, the God of Armies,
will be with you
as you have claimed.5:14 Is 48:1–2
establish justice at the city gate.5:15 Is 1:17
Perhaps the Lord, the God of Armies, will be gracious5:15 Jl 2:14
16Therefore the Lord, the God of Armies, the Lord, says:
they will cry out in anguish5:16 Lit will say, “Alas! Alas!” in all the streets.
The farmer will be called on to mourn,5:16 Jl 1:11
and professional mourners5:16 Lit and those skilled in lamentation5:16 Jr 9:17 to wail.
for I will pass among you.5:17 Ex 12:12
The Lord has spoken.
The Day of the Lord
What will the day of the Lord be for you?
It will be darkness and not light.5:18 Is 5:30
only to have a bear confront him.
He goes home and rests his hand against the wall
only to have a snake bite him.
20Won’t the day of the Lord
21I hate, I despise, your feasts!5:21 Is 1:11–16; 66:3; Am 6:8
I can’t stand the stench
22Even if you offer me
your burnt offerings and grain offerings,5:22 Mc 6:6–7
I will not accept them;5:22 Jr 14:12
I will have no regard
for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle.5:22 Lv 7:11–15
23Take away from me the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.5:23 Is 5:12
24But let justice flow like water,
and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.5:21–24 Mc 6:6–8
25“House of Israel, was it sacrifices and grain offerings that you presented to me during the forty years in the wilderness?5:25 Dt 32:17; Jos 24:14; Neh 9:18–21; Ac 7:42–43
26But you have taken up5:26 Or you will lift up Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god,5:26 LXX reads taken up the tent of Molech and the star of your god Rephan; Ac 7:43 images you have made for yourselves.5:26 Is 44:12–20
27So I will send you into exile beyond Damascus.”5:25–27 2Kg 17:5–6; Ac 7:42–43 The Lord, the God of Armies, is his name.5:27 Am 4:13 He has spoken.
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