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Hear this word which I take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel:
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The virgin of Israel has fallen; She will rise no more. She lies forsaken on her land; There is no one to raise her up.
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For thus says the Lord God: "The city that goes out by a thousand Shall have a hundred left, And that which goes out by a hundred Shall have ten left to the house of Israel."
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For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: "Seek Me and live;
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But do not seek Bethel, Nor enter Gilgal, Nor pass over to Beersheba; For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, And Bethel shall come to nothing.
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Seek the Lord and live, Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, And devour it, With no one to quench it in Bethel--
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You who turn justice to wormwood, And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!"
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He made the Pleiades and Orion; He turns the shadow of death into morning And makes the day dark as night; He calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth; The Lord is His name.
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He rains ruin upon the strong, So that fury comes upon the fortress.
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They hate the one who rebukes in the gate, And they abhor the one who speaks uprightly.
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Therefore, because you tread down the poor And take grain taxes from him, Though you have built houses of hewn stone, Yet you shall not dwell in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, But you shall not drink wine from them.
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For I know your manifold transgressions And your mighty sins: Afflicting the just and taking bribes; Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.
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Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time, For it is an evil time.
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Seek good and not evil, That you may live; So the Lord God of hosts will be with you, As you have spoken.
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Hate evil, love good; Establish justice in the gate. It may be that the Lord God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
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Therefore the Lord God of hosts, the Lord, says this: "There shall be wailing in all streets, And they shall say in all the highways, 'Alas! Alas!' They shall call the farmer to mourning, And skillful lamenters to wailing.