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“Seek Me that You May Live”
Hear this word which I take up for you as a dirge, O house of Israel:
Hear this word which I take up for you as a dirge, O house of Israel:
A Call to Repentance
Listen, you people of Israel! Listen to this funeral song I am singing:
Listen, you people of Israel! Listen to this funeral song I am singing:
She has fallen, she will not rise again —
The virgin Israel.
She lies neglected on her land;
There is none to raise her up.
The virgin Israel.
She lies neglected on her land;
There is none to raise her up.
“The virgin Israel has fallen,
never to rise again!
She lies abandoned on the ground,
with no one to help her up.”
never to rise again!
She lies abandoned on the ground,
with no one to help her up.”
For thus says the Lord GOD,
“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.”
“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.”
The Sovereign LORD says:
“When a city sends a thousand men to battle,
only a hundred will return.
When a town sends a hundred,
only ten will come back alive.”
“When a city sends a thousand men to battle,
only a hundred will return.
When a town sends a hundred,
only ten will come back alive.”
For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel,
“Seek Me that you may live.
“Seek Me that you may live.
Now this is what the LORD says to the family of Israel:
“Come back to me and live!
“Come back to me and live!
“But do not resort to Bethel
And do not come to Gilgal,
Nor cross over to Beersheba;
For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity
And Bethel will come to trouble.
And do not come to Gilgal,
Nor cross over to Beersheba;
For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity
And Bethel will come to trouble.
Don’t worship at the pagan altars at Bethel;
don’t go to the shrines at Gilgal or Beersheba.
For the people of Gilgal will be dragged off into exile,
and the people of Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”
don’t go to the shrines at Gilgal or Beersheba.
For the people of Gilgal will be dragged off into exile,
and the people of Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”
“Seek the LORD that you may live,
Or He will break forth like a fire, O house of Joseph,
And it will consume with none to quench it for Bethel,
Or He will break forth like a fire, O house of Joseph,
And it will consume with none to quench it for Bethel,
For those who turn justice into wormwood
And cast righteousness down to the earth.”
And cast righteousness down to the earth.”
You twist justice, making it a bitter pill for the oppressed.
You treat the righteous like dirt.
You treat the righteous like dirt.
He who made the Pleiades and Orion
And changes deep darkness into morning,
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.
And changes deep darkness into morning,
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.
It is the LORD who created the stars,
the Pleiades and Orion.
He turns darkness into morning
and day into night.
He draws up water from the oceans
and pours it down as rain on the land.
The LORD is his name!
the Pleiades and Orion.
He turns darkness into morning
and day into night.
He draws up water from the oceans
and pours it down as rain on the land.
The LORD is his name!
It is He who flashes forth with destruction upon the strong,
So that destruction comes upon the fortress.
So that destruction comes upon the fortress.
With blinding speed and power he destroys the strong,
crushing all their defenses.
crushing all their defenses.
They hate him who reproves in the gate,
And they abhor him who speaks with integrity.
And they abhor him who speaks with integrity.
How you hate honest judges!
How you despise people who tell the truth!
How you despise people who tell the truth!
Therefore because you impose heavy rent on the poor
And exact a tribute of grain from them,
Though you have built houses of well-hewn stone,
Yet you will not live in them;
You have planted pleasant vineyards, yet you will not drink their wine.
And exact a tribute of grain from them,
Though you have built houses of well-hewn stone,
Yet you will not live in them;
You have planted pleasant vineyards, yet you will not drink their wine.
You trample the poor,
stealing their grain through taxes and unfair rent.
Therefore, though you build beautiful stone houses,
you will never live in them.
Though you plant lush vineyards,
you will never drink wine from them.
stealing their grain through taxes and unfair rent.
Therefore, though you build beautiful stone houses,
you will never live in them.
Though you plant lush vineyards,
you will never drink wine from them.
For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great,
You who distress the righteous and accept bribes
And turn aside the poor in the gate.
You who distress the righteous and accept bribes
And turn aside the poor in the gate.
For I know the vast number of your sins
and the depth of your rebellions.
You oppress good people by taking bribes
and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
and the depth of your rebellions.
You oppress good people by taking bribes
and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
Therefore at such a time the prudent person keeps silent, for it is an evil time.
So those who are smart keep their mouths shut,
for it is an evil time.
for it is an evil time.
Seek good and not evil, that you may live;
And thus may the LORD God of hosts be with you,
Just as you have said!
And thus may the LORD God of hosts be with you,
Just as you have said!
Do what is good and run from evil
so that you may live!
Then the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper,
just as you have claimed.
so that you may live!
Then the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper,
just as you have claimed.
Hate evil, love good,
And establish justice in the gate!
Perhaps the LORD God of hosts
May be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
And establish justice in the gate!
Perhaps the LORD God of hosts
May be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts, the Lord,
“There is wailing in all the plazas,
And in all the streets they say, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They also call the farmer to mourning
And professional mourners to lamentation.
“There is wailing in all the plazas,
And in all the streets they say, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They also call the farmer to mourning
And professional mourners to lamentation.
Therefore, this is what the Lord, the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, says:
“There will be crying in all the public squares
and mourning in every street.
Call for the farmers to weep with you,
and summon professional mourners to wail.
“There will be crying in all the public squares
and mourning in every street.
Call for the farmers to weep with you,
and summon professional mourners to wail.
“And in all the vineyards there is wailing,
Because I will pass through the midst of you,” says the LORD.
Because I will pass through the midst of you,” says the LORD.
There will be wailing in every vineyard,
for I will destroy them all,”
says the LORD.
Warning of Coming Judgment
for I will destroy them all,”
says the LORD.
Warning of Coming Judgment
Alas, you who are longing for the day of the LORD,
For what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you?
It will be darkness and not light;
For what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you?
It will be darkness and not light;
What sorrow awaits you who say,
“If only the day of the LORD were here!”
You have no idea what you are wishing for.
That day will bring darkness, not light.
“If only the day of the LORD were here!”
You have no idea what you are wishing for.
That day will bring darkness, not light.
As when a man flees from a lion
And a bear meets him,
Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall
And a snake bites him.
And a bear meets him,
Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall
And a snake bites him.
In that day you will be like a man who runs from a lion —
only to meet a bear.
Escaping from the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house —
and he’s bitten by a snake.
only to meet a bear.
Escaping from the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house —
and he’s bitten by a snake.
Will not the day of the LORD be darkness instead of light,
Even gloom with no brightness in it?
Even gloom with no brightness in it?
Yes, the day of the LORD will be dark and hopeless,
without a ray of joy or hope.
without a ray of joy or hope.
“I hate, I reject your festivals,
Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies.
Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies.
“I hate all your show and pretense —
the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.
the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.
“Even 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 fatlings.
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings.
I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings.
I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings.
I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings.
“Take away from Me the noise of your songs;
I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.
I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.
Away with your noisy hymns of praise!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
“But let justice roll down like waters
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice,
an endless river of righteous living.
an endless river of righteous living.
“Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel?
“Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, Israel?
“You also carried along Sikkuth your king and Kiyyun, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves.
No, you served your pagan gods — Sakkuth your king god and Kaiwan your star god — the images you made for yourselves.