⁶ “I gave you empty stomachs in every city
    and lack of bread in every town,
    yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.^(R)

⁷ “I also withheld^(S) rain from you
    when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
    but withheld it from another.^(T)
One field had rain;
    another had none and dried up.
⁸ People staggered from town to town for water^(U)
    but did not get enough^(V) to drink,
    yet you have not returned^(W) to me,”
declares the Lord.^(X)

⁹ “Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
    destroying them with blight and mildew.^(Y)
Locusts^(Z) devoured your fig and olive trees,^(AA)
    yet you have not returned^(AB) to me,”
declares the Lord.

¹⁰ “I sent plagues^(AC) among you
    as I did to Egypt.^(AD)
I killed your young men^(AE) with the sword,
    along with your captured horses.
I filled your nostrils with the stench^(AF) of your camps,
    yet you have not returned to me,”^(AG)
declares the Lord.^(AH)

¹¹ “I overthrew some of you
    as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.^(AI)
You were like a burning stick^(AJ) snatched from the fire,
    yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.^(AK)

¹² “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,
    and because I will do this to you, Israel,
    prepare to meet your God.”

¹³ He who forms the mountains,^(AL)
    who creates the wind,^(AM)
    and who reveals his thoughts^(AN) to mankind,
who turns dawn to darkness,
    and treads on the heights of the earth^(AO)—
    the Lord God Almighty is his name.^(AP)

² “Fallen is Virgin^(AR) Israel,
    never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
    with no one to lift her up.^(AS)”

“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.^(AT)”

“Seek^(AU) me and live;^(AV)
5     do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,^(AW)
    do not journey to Beersheba.^(AX)
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
    and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.^[d](AY)”
⁶ Seek^(AZ) the Lord and live,^(BA)
    or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;^(BB)
it will devour them,
    and Bethel^(BC) will have no one to quench it.^(BD)

⁷ There are those who turn justice into bitterness^(BE)
    and cast righteousness^(BF) to the ground.^(BG)

⁸ He who made the Pleiades and Orion,^(BH)
    who turns midnight into dawn^(BI)
    and darkens day into night,^(BJ)
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.^(BK)
9 With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
    and brings the fortified city to ruin.^(BL)

¹⁰ There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court^(BM)
    and detest the one who tells the truth.^(BN)

¹¹ You levy a straw tax on the poor^(BO)
    and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,^(BP)
    you will not live in them;^(BQ)
though you have planted lush vineyards,
    you will not drink their wine.^(BR)
12 For I know how many are your offenses
    and how great your sins.^(BS)

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes^(BT)
    and deprive the poor^(BU) of justice in the courts.^(BV)
13 Therefore the prudent keep quiet^(BW) in such times,
    for the times are evil.^(BX)

¹⁴ Seek good, not evil,
    that you may live.^(BY)
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
    just as you say he is.
¹⁵ Hate evil,^(BZ) love good;^(CA)
    maintain justice in the courts.^(CB)
Perhaps^(CC) the Lord God Almighty will have mercy^(CD)
    on the remnant^(CE) of Joseph.

“There will be wailing^(CF) in all the streets^(CG)
    and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers^(CH) will be summoned to weep
    and the mourners to wail.
¹⁷ There will be wailing^(CI) in all the vineyards,
    for I will pass through^(CJ) your midst,”
says the Lord.^(CK)

²¹ “I hate,^(CT) I despise your religious festivals;^(CU)
    your assemblies^(CV) are a stench to me.
²² Even though you bring me burnt offerings^(CW) and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.^(CX)
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.^(CY)
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.^(CZ)
24 But let justice^(DA) roll on like a river,
    righteousness^(DB) like a never-failing stream!^(DC)

²⁵ “Did you bring me sacrifices^(DD) and offerings
    forty years^(DE) in the wilderness, people of Israel?
²⁶ You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
    the pedestal of your idols,^(DF)
    the star of your god^[e]—
    which you made for yourselves.
²⁷ Therefore I will send you into exile^(DG) beyond Damascus,”
    says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.^(DH)

²⁶ Many seek an audience with a ruler,^(A)
    but it is from the Lord that one gets justice.^(B)