^(A)“Seek me and live;
⁵     but do not seek ^(B)Bethel,
and do not enter into ^(C)Gilgal
    or cross over to ^(D)Beersheba;
for ^(E)Gilgal shall surely go into exile,
    and ^(F)Bethel shall come to nothing.”
^6 (G)Seek the Lord and live,
    ^(H)lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
    and it devour, with none to quench it for ^(I)Bethel,
⁷ O ^(J)you who turn justice to wormwood^[a]
    and cast down righteousness to the earth!
⁸ He who made the ^(K)Pleiades and Orion,
    and turns deep darkness into the morning
    and ^(L)darkens the day into night,
who ^(M)calls for the waters of the sea
    ^(N)and pours them out on the surface of the earth,
^(O)the Lord is his name;
^9 (P)who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,
    so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
^10 (Q)They hate him who reproves ^(R)in the gate,
    and they ^(S)abhor him who speaks the truth.
¹¹ Therefore because you ^(T)trample on^[b] the poor
    and you exact taxes of grain from him,
^(U)you have built houses of hewn stone,
    but you shall not dwell in them;
^(V)you have planted pleasant vineyards,
    but you shall not drink their wine.
¹² For I know how many are your transgressions
    and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who ^(W)take a bribe,
    and ^(X)turn aside the needy ^(Y)in the gate.
¹³ Therefore he who is prudent will ^(Z)keep silent in such a time,
    ^(AA)for it is an evil time.
^14 (AB)Seek good, and not evil,
    that you may live;
and so the Lord, ^(AC)the God of hosts, will be with you,
    as you have said.
^15 (AD)Hate evil, and love good,
    and establish justice ^(AE)in the gate;
^(AF)it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
    will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

“In all the squares ^(AH)there shall be wailing,
    and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They shall call the farmers to mourning
    and ^(AI)to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,
¹⁷ and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,
    for ^(AJ)I will pass through your midst,”
says the Lord.

¹⁸ Woe to you who desire ^(AK)the day of the Lord!
    Why would you have the day of the Lord?
^(AL)It is darkness, and not light,
^{19     (AM)}as if a man fled from a lion,
    and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,
    and a serpent bit him.
^20 (AN)Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,
    and gloom with no brightness in it?
^21 (AO)“I hate, I despise your feasts,
    and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
^22 (AP)Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
    I will not look upon them.
²³ Take away from me the noise of your songs;
    to ^(AQ)the melody of your harps I will not listen.
²⁴ But let justice roll down like waters,
    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

¹¹ “In that day ^(A)I will raise up
    the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
    and raise up its ruins
    and rebuild it as in the days of old,
^12 (B)that they may possess the remnant of Edom
    and ^(C)all the nations who are called by my name,”^[a]
    declares the Lord who does this.
¹³ “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    ^(D)“when the ploughman shall overtake the reaper
    and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
^(E)the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
    and all the hills shall flow with it.
^14 (F)I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
    and ^(G)they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
^(H)they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
    and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
^15 (I)I will plant them on their land,
    ^(J)and they shall never again be uprooted
    out of the land ^(K)that I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.