6  “I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,

and lack of bread in all your places,

yet you did not ^areturn to me,”

declares the Lord.

7  “I also ^bwithheld the rain from you

when there were yet three months to the harvest;

I would send rain on one city,

and send no rain on another city;

one field would have rain,

and the field on which it did not rain would wither;

8  so two or three cities would wander to another city

to drink water, ^cand would not be satisfied;

yet you did not return to me,”

declares the Lord.

9  “I struck you with ^dblight and mildew;

your many gardens and your vineyards,

your fig trees and your olive trees the ^elocust devoured;

yet you did not return to me,”

declares the Lord.

10  “I sent among you a pestilence ^fafter the manner of Egypt;

^gI killed your young men with the sword,

and carried away your horses,¹

and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;

yet you did not return to me,”

declares the Lord.

11  “I overthrew some of you,

^has when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,

and you were as a brand² plucked out of the burning;

yet you did not return to me,”

declares the Lord.

12  “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;

because I will do this to you,

prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

13  For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind,

and declares to man what is his thought,

who ⁱmakes the morning darkness,

and ^jtreads on the heights of the earth—

^kthe Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!

2  “Fallen, no more to rise,

is the virgin Israel;

forsaken on her land,

with none to raise her up.”

“The city that went out a thousand

shall have a hundred left,

and that which went out a hundred

shall have ten left

to the house of Israel.”

^m“Seek me and live;

5  but do not seek ⁿBethel,

and do not enter into Gilgal

or cross over to ^oBeersheba;

for Gilgal shall surely go into ^pexile,

and Bethel shall come to nothing.”

6  Seek the Lord and live,

^qlest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,

and it devour, with none to quench it for Bethel,

7  O you who ^rturn justice to wormwood³

and cast down righteousness to the earth!

8  He who made the ^sPleiades and Orion,

and ^tturns deep darkness into the morning

and ^udarkens the day into night,

^vwho calls for the waters of the sea

and pours them out on the surface of the earth,

^wthe Lord is his name;

9  who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,

so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

10  They hate him who ^xreproves in the gate,

and they abhor him who speaks the truth.

11  Therefore because you trample on⁴ the poor

and you exact taxes of grain from him,

^yyou have built houses of hewn stone,

but you shall not dwell in them;

^zyou have planted pleasant vineyards,

but you shall not drink their wine.

12  For I know how many are your transgressions

and how great are your sins—

you who afflict the righteous, who take a ^abribe,

and turn aside the needy in the gate.

13  Therefore he who is prudent will keep silent in such a time,

^bfor it is an evil time.

14  Seek good, and not evil,

that you may live;

and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,

as you have said.

15  ^cHate evil, and love good,

and establish justice in the gate;

^dit may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,

will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

“In all the squares there shall be wailing,

and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’

They shall call the ^efarmers to mourning

and to wailing ^fthose who are skilled in lamentation,

17  and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,

for ^gI will pass through your midst,”

says the Lord.

18  Woe to you who desire the ^hday of the Lord!

Why would you have the day of the Lord?

ⁱIt is darkness, and not light,

19  ^jas if a man fled from a lion,

and a bear met him,

or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,

and a serpent bit him.

20  Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,

and gloom with no brightness in it?

21  ^k“I hate, I despise your feasts,

and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

22  Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,

^lI will not accept them;

and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,

I will not look upon them.

23  Take away from me the noise of your songs;

to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

24  But let ^mjustice roll down like waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.