“Seek Me So That You May Live”
1Hear this word which I am taking up for you as a song of mourning, house of Israel:
2She has fallen, she will not rise again—
The virgin Israel.
She lies unnoticed on her land;
There is no one to raise her up.
“The city which goes forth a thousand strong
Will have a hundred left,
And the one which goes forth a hundred strong
Will have ten left to the house of Israel.”
4For this is what the Lord says to the house of Israel:
“Seek Me so that you may live.
5But do not Lit seekresort to Bethel
And do not come to Gilgal,
Nor cross over to Beersheba;
For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity
And Bethel will Lit become to nothing.
6Seek the Lord so that you may live,
Or He will break through like a fire, Or in the househouse of Joseph,
And it will consume with no one to extinguish it for Bethel,
7
For those who turn justice into wormwood,
And Lit they have thrownthrow righteousness to the earth.”
8He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
And changes deep darkness into morning,
Lit And He darkened
Who also darkens day into night,
Who calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
The Lord is His name.
9
It is He who makes destruction flash upon the strong,
So that destruction comes upon the fortress.
10They hate him who rebukes in the I.e., the place where court was heldgate,
And they despise him who speaks with integrity.
11Therefore because you impose heavy Or taxrent on the poor
And take a tribute of grain from them,
Though you have built houses of cut stone,
Yet you will not live in them;
You have planted beautiful vineyards, yet you will not drink their wine.
12For I know your offenses are many and your sins are great,
You who are hostile to the righteous and accept bribes,
And Lit they turnturn away the poor from justice at the I.e., the place where court was heldgate.
13Therefore at Lit that timesuch a time the prudent person keeps quiet, because it is an evil time.
14Seek good and not evil, so that you may live;
And so may the Lord God of armies be with you,
Just as you have said!
15Hate evil, love good,
And establish justice in the I.e., the place where court was heldgate!
Perhaps the Lord God of armies
Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16Therefore this is what the Lord God of armies, the Lord says:
“There is mourning in all the public squares,
And in all the streets they say, ‘Oh no! Oh no!’
They also call the farmer to mourning
And Lit those who know mourningprofessional mourners to mourning rites.
17And in all the vineyards there is mourning,
Because I will pass through the midst of you,” says the Lord.
For what Lit will this be to you, the daypurpose will the day of the Lord be to you?
It will be darkness and not light;
19As when a man flees from a lion
And a bear confronts him,
Or Then
Or he goes home, leans with his hand against the wall,
And a snake bites him.
Even gloom with no brightness in it?
21“I hate, I reject your festivals,
Nor do I Lit like to smell yourdelight in your festive assemblies.
22Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fattened oxen.
23Take away from Me the noise of your songs;
I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.
24But let justice roll out like waters,
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25“Or You presented Me with the sacrifices and a grain offeringDid you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, house of Israel?
26You also carried along Or Sakkuth (Saturn), or the tabernacle of your MolochSikkuth your king and Or Kaiwan (Saturn), or stands ofKiyyun, your images, Or your star godsthe star of your gods which you made for yourselves.
27Therefore I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of armies.
New American Standard Bible
Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020
by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved.
For Permission to Quote Information visit www.lockman.org
