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Gwrandewch y gair hwn a godaf i’ch erbyn, sef galarnad, O dŷ Israel. Y wyry Israel a syrthiodd; ni chyfyd mwy: gadawyd hi ar ei thir; nid oes a’i cyfyd. Canys y modd hyn y dywed yr Arglwydd Dduw; Y ddinas a aeth allan â mil, a weddill gant; a’r hon a aeth allan ar ei chanfed, a weddill ddeg i dŷ Israel.

Oherwydd fel hyn y dywed yr Arglwydd wrth dŷ Israel; Ceisiwch fi, a byw fyddwch. Ond nac ymgeisiwch â Bethel, ac nac ewch i Gilgal, ac na thramwywch i Beerseba: oherwydd gan gaethgludo y caethgludir Gilgal, a Bethel a fydd yn ddiddim. Ceisiwch yr Arglwydd, a byw fyddwch; rhag iddo dorri allan yn nhŷ Joseff fel tân, a’i ddifa, ac na byddo a’i diffoddo yn Bethel. Y rhai a drowch farn yn wermod, ac a adewch gyfiawnder ar y llawr, Ceisiwch yr hwn a wnaeth y saith seren, ac Orion, ac a dry gysgod angau yn foreddydd, ac a dywylla y dydd yn nos; yr hwn a eilw ddyfroedd y môr, ac a’u tywallt ar wyneb y ddaear: Yr Arglwydd yw ei enw: Yr hwn sydd yn nerthu yr anrheithiedig yn erbyn y cryf, fel y delo yr anrheithiedig yn erbyn yr amddiffynfa. 10 Cas ganddynt a geryddo yn y porth, a ffiaidd ganddynt a lefaro yn berffaith. 11 Oherwydd hynny am i chwi sathru y tlawd, a dwyn y beichiau gwenith oddi arno; chwi a adeiladasoch dai o gerrig nadd, ond ni thrigwch ynddynt; planasoch winllannoedd hyfryd, ac nid yfwch eu gwin hwynt. 12 Canys mi a adwaen eich anwireddau lawer, a’ch pechodau cryfion: y maent yn blino y cyfiawn, yn cymryd iawn, ac yn troi heibio y tlawd yn y porth. 13 Am hynny y neb a fyddo gall a ostega yr amser hwnnw: canys amser drwg yw. 14 Ceisiwch ddaioni, ac nid drygioni; fel y byddoch fyw: ac felly yr Arglwydd, Duw y lluoedd, fydd gyda chwi, fel y dywedasoch. 15 Casewch ddrygioni, a hoffwch ddaioni, a gosodwch farn yn y porth: fe allai y bydd Arglwydd Dduw y lluoedd yn raslon i weddill Joseff. 16 Am hynny fel hyn y dywed yr Arglwydd, Duw y lluoedd, yr Arglwydd; Ym mhob heol y bydd cwynfan, ac ym mhob priffordd y dywedant, O! O! a galwant yr arddwr i alaru; a’r neb a fedro alaru, i gwynfan. 17 Ac ym mhob gwinllan y bydd cwynfan: canys tramwyaf trwy dy ganol di, medd yr Arglwydd. 18 Gwae y neb sydd yn dymuno dydd yr Arglwydd! beth yw hwnnw i chwi? tywyllwch, ac nid goleuni yw dydd yr Arglwydd. 19 Megis pe ffoai gŵr rhag llew, ac arth yn cyfarfod ag ef; a myned i’r tŷ, a phwyso ei law ar y pared, a’i frathu o sarff. 20 Oni bydd dydd yr Arglwydd yn dywyllwch, ac nid yn oleuni? yn dywyll iawn, ac heb lewyrch ynddo?

21 Caseais a ffieiddiais eich gwyliau, ac nid aroglaf yn eich cymanfaoedd. 22 Canys er i chwi offrymu i mi boethoffrymau, a’ch offrymau bwyd, ni fyddaf fodlon iddynt; ac nid edrychaf ar hedd‐offrwm eich pasgedigion. 23 Symud oddi wrthyf drwst dy ganiadau: canys ni wrandawaf beroriaeth dy nablau. 24 Ond rheded barn fel dyfroedd, a chyfiawnder fel ffrwd gref. 25 A offrymasoch chwi i mi aberthau a bwyd‐offrymau yn y diffeithwch ddeugain mlynedd, tŷ Israel? 26 Ond dygasoch babell eich Moloch a Chïwn, eich delwau, seren eich duw, a wnaethoch i chwi eich hunain. 27 Am hynny y caethgludaf chwi i’r tu hwnt i Damascus, medd yr Arglwydd; Duw y lluoedd yw ei enw.

A song of lament

Hear this word—a funeral song—that I am lifting up against you, house of Israel:

    Fallen, no more to rise,
        is virgin Israel,
    deserted on her land,
        with no one to raise her up.
    The Lord God proclaims:
    The city that marched out one thousand people
        will have one hundred left,
    and the city that marched out one hundred will have ten left in the house of Israel.

Words of encouragement

    The Lord proclaims to the house of Israel:
        Seek me and live.
    But don’t seek Bethel,
        don’t enter into Gilgal,
        or cross over to Beer-sheba;
    for Gilgal will go into exile,
        and Bethel will come to nothing.
    Seek the Lord and live,
        or else God might rush like a fire against the house of Joseph.
        The fire will burn up Bethel, with no one to put it out.

Words of doom

    Doom to you who turn justice into poison,
        and throw righteousness to the ground!
    The one who made the Pleiades and Orion,
        and turns deep darkness into the morning,
        and darkens the day into night;
    who summons the waters of the sea,
        and pours them out on the surface of the earth—
        this one’s name is the Lord
    who causes destruction to flash out against the strong,
        so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

10 They hate the one who judges at the city gate,
        and they reject the one who speaks the truth.
11 Truly, because you crush the weak,
        and because you tax their grain,
    you have built houses of carved stone,
        but you won’t live in them;
    you have planted pleasant vineyards,
        but you won’t drink their wine.
12 I know how many are your crimes,
        and how numerous are your sins—
    afflicting the righteous,
        taking money on the side,
        turning away the poor who seek help.
13 Therefore, the one who is wise will keep silent in that time;
        it is an evil time.

Words of inspiration

14 Seek good and not evil,
        that you may live;
    and so the Lord, the God of heavenly forces,
        will be with you just as you have said.
15 Hate evil, love good,
        and establish justice at the city gate.
Perhaps the Lord God of heavenly forces
        will be gracious to what is left of Joseph.

Divine wrath anticipated

16 Truly, the Lord proclaims,
        the God of heavenly forces, the Lord:
    Crying will be heard in all the squares.
        In all the streets they will say, “Oh no! Oh no!”
    They will call upon the farmers to wail,
        and those skilled in mourning to lament.
17 In all the vineyards there will be bitter crying because
        I will pass through your midst,
says the Lord.

A statement of divine disgust

18 Doom to those who desire the day of the Lord!
        Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
19     as if someone fled from a lion,
        and was met by a bear;
    or sought refuge in a house,
        rested a hand against the wall,
        and was bitten by a snake.
20 Isn’t the day of the Lord darkness, not light;
        all dark with no brightness in it?

21 I hate, I reject your festivals;
    I don’t enjoy your joyous assemblies.
22 If you bring me your entirely burned offerings and gifts of food—
        I won’t be pleased;
    I won’t even look at your offerings of well-fed animals.
23 Take away the noise of your songs;
        I won’t listen to the melody of your harps.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
        and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
        during the forty years in the wilderness, house of Israel?
26 You will take up Sakkuth your king,
        and Kaiwan your star-god,
            your images, which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore, I will take you away
        beyond Damascus, says the Lord,
            whose name is the God of heavenly forces.

All Show, No Substance

Listen to this, family of Israel,
    this Message I’m sending in bold print, this tragic warning:

“Virgin Israel has fallen flat on her face.
    She’ll never stand up again.
She’s been left where she’s fallen.
    No one offers to help her up.”

This is the Message, God’s Word:

“The city that marches out with a thousand
    will end up with a hundred.
The city that marches out with a hundred
    will end up with ten. Oh, family of Israel!”

4-5 God’s Message to the family of Israel:

“Seek me and live.
    Don’t fool around at those shrines of Bethel,
Don’t waste time taking trips to Gilgal,
    and don’t bother going down to Beer-sheba.
Gilgal is here today and gone tomorrow
    and Bethel is all show, no substance.”

So seek God and live! You don’t want to end up
    with nothing to show for your life
But a pile of ashes, a house burned to the ground.
    For God will send just such a fire,
    and the firefighters will show up too late.

Raw Truth Is Never Popular

7-9 Woe to you who turn justice to vinegar

    and stomp righteousness into the mud.
Do you realize where you are? You’re in a cosmos
    star-flung with constellations by God,
A world God wakes up each morning
    and puts to bed each night.
God dips water from the ocean
    and gives the land a drink.
    God, God-revealed, does all this.
And he can destroy it as easily as make it.
    He can turn this vast wonder into total waste.

10-12 People hate this kind of talk.
    Raw truth is never popular.
But here it is, bluntly spoken:
    Because you run roughshod over the poor
    and take the bread right out of their mouths,
You’re never going to move into
    the luxury homes you have built.
You’re never going to drink wine
    from the expensive vineyards you’ve planted.
I know precisely the extent of your violations,
    the enormity of your sins. Appalling!
You bully right-living people,
    taking bribes right and left and kicking the poor when they’re down.

13 Justice is a lost cause. Evil is epidemic.
    Decent people throw up their hands.
Protest and rebuke are useless,
    a waste of breath.

14 Seek good and not evil—
    and live!
You talk about God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
    being your best friend.
Well, live like it,
    and maybe it will happen.

15 Hate evil and love good,
    then work it out in the public square.
Maybe God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
    will notice your remnant and be gracious.

16-17 Now again, my Master’s Message, God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies:

“Go out into the streets and lament loudly!
    Fill the malls and shops with cries of doom!
Weep loudly, ‘Not me! Not us, Not now!’
    Empty offices, stores, factories, workplaces.
Enlist everyone in the general lament.
    I want to hear it loud and clear when I make my visit.”
        God’s Decree.

Time to Face Hard Reality, Not Fantasy

18-20 Woe to all of you who want God’s Judgment Day!
    Why would you want to see God, want him to come?
When God comes, it will be bad news before it’s good news,
    the worst of times, not the best of times.
Here’s what it’s like: A man runs from a lion
    right into the jaws of a bear.
A woman goes home after a hard day’s work
    and is raped by a neighbor.
At God’s coming we face hard reality, not fantasy—
    a black cloud with no silver lining.

21-24 “I can’t stand your religious meetings.
    I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
    your pretentious slogans and goals.
I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes,
    your public relations and image making.
I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
    When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
    I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
    That’s what I want. That’s all I want.

25-27 “Didn’t you, dear family of Israel, worship me faithfully for forty years in the wilderness, bringing the sacrifices and offerings I commanded? How is it you’ve stooped to dragging gimcrack statues of your so-called rulers around, hauling the cheap images of all your star-gods here and there? Since you like them so much, you can take them with you when I drive you into exile beyond Damascus.” God’s Message, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.