1Hear this word that I raise against you, a dirge concerning the house of Israel.2Virgin Israel has fallen; she will not rise again; she has been left upon her land, and no one raises her.3For thus says the Lord GOD: the city that goes out a thousand shall have a hundred remain, and the one that goes out a hundred shall have ten remain, for the house of Israel.4For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: seek me and live.5Do not seek Bethel, and do not come to Gilgal, and do not pass to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall become evil.6Seek the LORD and live, lest he rush like fire against the house of Joseph and consume it, with none to quench the fire for Bethel.7They turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.8He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns deep darkness into morning and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the face of the land—the LORD is his name.9He brings violence upon the strong, so that violence comes upon the fortification.10They hate the one who rebukes at the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks with integrity.11Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact a grain tax from them, you have built houses of hewn stone but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted delightful vineyards but you shall not drink their wine.12For I know your many transgressions and your mighty sins—afflicting the righteous, taking bribes, and turning aside the needy at the gate.13Therefore the prudent person keeps silent in such a time, for it is an evil time.14Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so may the LORD, the God of Hosts, be with you, as you have said.15Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.16Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Hosts, the LORD: in all the streets there shall be mourning, and in all the public places they shall say, "Alas! Alas!" They shall call the farmers to mourning and those who know lamentation to wailing.17In all the vineyards there shall be mourning, for I will pass through your midst, says the LORD.