Bishops(i)
1 Heare ye this worde whiche I lift vp vpon you, [euen] a lamentation of the house of Israel
2 The virgin Israel is fallen, & shall no more rise: she is left vpon her lande, and there is none to rayse her vp
3 For thus sayth the Lorde God, The citie which went out by a thousand, shall leaue an hundreth, & that whiche went foorth by an hundreth, shall leaue ten, to the house of Israel
4 For thus sayth the Lord vnto the house of Israel, Seke ye me, and ye shall liue
5 But seke not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and go not to Beerseba: for Gilgal shall go into captiuitie, and Bethel shall come to naught
6 Seke the Lord, and ye shall liue: lest he breake out like fire in the house of Ioseph, and deuoure it, and there be noone to quenche it in Bethel
7 They turne iudgement to wormewood, and forsake righteousnesse in the earth
8 He maketh the seuen starres and Orion, and he turneth the shadowe of death into the morning, and he maketh the day darke as night: he calleth the waters of the sea, and powreth them out vpon the open earth, the Lorde is his name
9 He strengthneth the destroyer against the mightie, & the destroyer shall come against the fortresse
10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhorre him that speaketh vprightly
11 Forasmuch then as your treading is vpon the poore, and ye take from hym burdens of wheate: ye haue buylt houses of hewen stone, but ye shall not dwell in them: ye haue planted pleasaunt vineyardes, but ye shall not drinke wine of them
12 For I knowe your manyfolde transgressions, and your mightie sinnes: they afflict the iust, they take rewardes, and they oppresse the poore in the gate
13 Therfore the wise shall kepe scilence in that time: for it is an euyll time
14 Seke good and not euill, that ye may liue: & so the Lord God of hoastes shalbe with you, as you haue spoken
15 Hate the euill and loue the good, and establishe iudgement in the gate: it may be, that the Lord God of hoastes wilbe mercifull vnto the remnaunt of Ioseph
16 Therfore the Lorde God of hoastes the Lord sayth thus, Mourning shalbe in all streetes, and they shall say in al the hye wayes, Alas, alas: and they shall cal the husbandman to lamentation, and such as can mourne, to mourning
17 And in all the vines shalbe lamentation: for I will passe through thee, sayth the Lorde
18 Wo vnto you that desire the day of the Lorde, what haue ye to do with it? the day of the Lorde is darkenes, and not light
19 As if a man dyd flee from a lion, and a beare meete him, & went into the house, and leaned his hand vnto the wal, and a serpent bite hym
20 Shall not the day of the Lorde be darkenesse, and not light? euen darkenesse and no light in it
21 I hate, I abhorre your feast dayes, and I will not smell in your solemne assemblies
22 Though ye offer me burnt offeringes, and meate offeringes, I will not accept them, neither will I regarde the peace offering of your fat beastes
23 Take thou away from me the multitude of thy songues, for I will not heare the melodie of thy violes
24 And let iudgement run downe as water, and righteousnesse as a mightie riuer
25 Haue ye offered vnto me sacrifices and offringes in the wildernesse fourtie yeres, O house of Israel
26 But ye haue borne Siccuth your king, and Chiun your images, and the starre of your gods, which ye made to your selues
27 Therfore will I cause you to go into captiuitie beyonde Damascus, sayth the Lorde, whose name is the God of hoastes