A Lament and Call to Repentance
1Hear this word, Israel, this lament I take up concerning you:
2“Fallen is Virgin Israel,
never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
with no one to lift her up.”
3This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:
“Your city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left.”
4This is what the Lord says to Israel:
“Seek me and live;
5do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,
do not journey to Beersheba.
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.5:5 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see Hosea 4:15.”
6Seek the Lord and live,
or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;
it will devour them,
and Bethel will have no one to quench it.
7There are those who turn justice into bitterness
and cast righteousness to the ground.
8He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
who turns midnight into dawn
and darkens day into night,
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out over the face of the land—
the Lord is his name.
9With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
and brings the fortified city to ruin.
10There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court
and detest the one who tells the truth.
11You levy a straw tax on the poor
and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,
you will not live in them;
though you have planted lush vineyards,
you will not drink their wine.
12For I know how many are your offenses
and how great your sins.
There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes
and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
13Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times,
for the times are evil.
14Seek good, not evil,
that you may live.
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
just as you say he is.
15Hate evil, love good;
maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy
on the remnant of Joseph.
16Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:
“There will be wailing in all the streets
and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers will be summoned to weep
and the mourners to wail.
17There will be wailing in all the vineyards,
for I will pass through your midst,”
says the Lord.
The Day of the Lord
18Woe to you who long
for the day of the Lord!
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?
That day will be darkness, not light.
19It will be as though a man fled from a lion
only to meet a bear,
as though he entered his house
and rested his hand on the wall
only to have a snake bite him.
20Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light—
pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?
21“I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
your assemblies are a stench to me.
22Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.
23Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!
25“Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
26You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
the pedestal of your idols,
the star of your god5:26 Or lifted up Sakkuth your king / and Kaiwan your idols, / your star-gods; Septuagint lifted up the shrine of Molek / and the star of your god Rephan, / their idols—
which you made for yourselves.
27Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,”
says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.
劝以色列人悔改
1以色列家啊，
听我为你们唱哀歌：
2“少女以色列跌倒了，
再也站不起来；
她被遗弃在自己的土地上，
无人扶她起来。”
3因为主耶和华说：
“以色列家的城邑中，
出兵一千的，只有百人生还；
出兵一百的，只有十人生还。”
4耶和华对以色列家说：
“你们要寻求我，才能存活。
5不要去伯特利求问，
不要进入吉甲，
也不要前往别示巴，
因为吉甲人必被掳去，
伯特利也必化为乌有。”
6你们要寻求耶和华，才能存活。
否则，祂要在约瑟家5:6 “约瑟家”此处指约瑟的子孙以法莲和玛拿西两个支派，圣经中有时用约瑟家代指北国以色列。如烈火爆发，
吞噬伯特利，无人能扑灭。
7你们这些使正义变为苦艾、将公义丢弃在地的人啊，
8那位造昴星和参星、
使幽暗变为黎明、
使白昼变为黑夜、
召来海水浇在大地上的，
祂的名字是耶和华。
9祂使毁灭如闪电临到强者，
摧毁他们的坚城。
10你们憎恨在城门口主持公道的人，
厌恶说话正直的人。
11你们践踏穷人，
对他们横征暴敛。
因此，你们用凿过的石头建房，
却不得居住在里面；
你们栽种佳美的葡萄园，
却喝不到葡萄酒。
12我知道你们的过犯累累、罪恶无数。
你们迫害义人，收受贿赂，
在城门口冤枉穷人。
13这是邪恶的时代，
所以明智者静默不言。
14你们要弃恶从善，才能存活。
这样，万军之上帝耶和华必与你们同在，
正如你们所说的。
15你们要恨恶邪恶，喜爱良善，
在城门口伸张正义，
也许万军之上帝耶和华会恩待约瑟的余民。
16因此，主——万军之上帝耶和华说：
“哀号之声要响遍各广场，
哭喊之声将充满大街小巷。
农夫被叫来哭泣，
哭丧者被召来哀号。
17每个葡萄园都传出哀号声，
因为我要从你们中间经过。
这是耶和华说的。”
18盼望耶和华的日子到来的人有祸了！
你们为什么盼望耶和华的日子呢？
那日将带来黑暗，而非光明。
19你们的光景将好像人逃避狮子，
却遇上了熊，
逃回家里，手扶墙壁，
又被蛇咬。
20耶和华的日子将充满黑暗，毫无光明，
一片漆黑，
毫无亮光。
21“我憎恶、鄙弃你们的节期，
厌恶你们的圣会。
22即使你们献上燔祭和素祭，
我也不悦纳；
即使你们用肥美的牲畜献上平安祭，
我也不屑一顾。
23消除你们嘈杂的歌声吧，
我不想听到你们的琴音。
24唯愿公正如江河滔滔不尽，
公义如溪流绵绵不绝。
25以色列家啊，
在旷野的四十年间，
你们向我献过祭物和供物吗？
26你们抬着为自己造的神像，
就是你们的王撒固和星神迦温。
27所以我要把你们流放到比大马士革还远的地方。”
这是耶和华说的，祂的名字是万军之上帝。
