5:1 Hear ye this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel:
5:2 The virgin of Israel is fallen, she shall no more rise; she is cast down upon her land, there is none to raise her up.
5:3 For thus saith the Lord GOD: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred shall have ten left, of the house of Israel.
5:4 For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel: Seek ye Me, and live;
5:5 But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought.
5:6 Seek the Lord, and live--lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Bethel--
5:7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and cast righteousness to the ground;
5:8 Him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and bringeth on the shadow of death in the morning, and darkeneth the day into night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; the Lord is His name;
5:9 That causeth destruction to flash upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress.
5:10 They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
5:11 Therefore, because ye trample upon the poor, and take from him exactions of wheat; ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them, ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine thereof.
5:12 For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins; ye that afflict the just, that take a ransom, and that turn aside the needy in the gate.
5:13 Therefore the prudent doth keep silence in such a time; for it is an evil time.
5:14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, as ye say.
5:15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
5:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord: Lamentation shall be in all the broad places, and they shall say in all the streets: 'Alas! alas!' and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and proclaim lamentation to such as are skilful of wailing.
5:17 And in all vineyards shall be lamentation; for I will pass through the midst of thee, saith the Lord.
5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! Wherefore would ye have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light.
5:19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; and went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
5:20 Shall not the day of the Lord 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 Yea, though ye offer me burnt-offerings and your meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts.
5:23 Take thou away from Me the noise of thy songs; and let Me not hear the melody of thy psalteries.
5:24 But let justice well up as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
5:25 Did ye bring unto Me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
5:26 So shall ye take up Siccuth your king and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
5:27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith He, whose name is the Lord God of hosts.