1Hear ye this word, for I raise on you a wailing. [Hear ye, house of Israel, this word, that I raise on you a wailing.]

2The house of Israel fell down, he shall not put to, that it rise again; the virgin of Israel is cast down into her land, none is that shall raise her (up). [The maiden of Israel fell down, she shall not put to, that she rise again; she is cast down into her earth (or she is cast down onto the ground), there is not that shall raise her (up again).]

3For the Lord God saith these things, The city of which a thousand went out, an hundred shall be left therein; and of which an hundred went out, ten shall be left therein, in the house of Israel.

4For the Lord saith these things to the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live;

5and do not ye seek (out) Bethel, and do not ye enter into Gilgal, and ye shall not pass to Beersheba; for why Gilgal shall be led (away) captive, and Bethel shall be unprofitable. (and do not ye go to Bethel, and do not ye enter into Gilgal, and ye shall not go on to Beersheba; because Gilgal shall be led away captive, and Bethel shall come to nothing.)

6Seek ye the Lord, and live ye, lest peradventure the house of Joseph be burnt as fire; and it shall devour Bethel, and there shall none be, that shall quench. (Seek ye the Lord, and live ye, lest perhaps the house of Joseph shall burn like fire; and it shall devour Bethel, and there shall be no one, who shall quench it.)

7Which convert doom into wormwood, and forsake rightwiseness in the land, (Ye who change justice, or judgement, into wormwood, and desert righteousness in all the land,)

8and forsake him that maketh Arcturus and Orion, and him that turneth (the) darknesses into the morrowtide, and him that changeth day into night; which calleth waters of the sea, and poureth out them on the face of [the] earth; the Lord is name of him. (and desert him who maketh Arcturus, or the Pleiades, and Orion, and him who turneth the darkness into the morning, and him who changeth the day into the night; he who calleth to the waters of the sea, and poureth them out onto the face of the earth; the Lord is his name.)

9Which scorneth destroying on the strong, and bringeth robbing on the mighty. (Who bringeth destruction and destitution, to the strong and the mighty.)

10They hated a man reproving in the gate, and they loathed a man speaking perfectly. (They hated the man who rebuked them in the court, and they loathed the man who spoke truthfully.)

11Therefore for that that ye robbed a poor man, and took from him the chosen prey, ye shall build houses with square stone, and ye shall not dwell in them; ye shall plant most loved vineyards, and ye shall not drink the wine of them. (And so for ye robbed the poor, and took away the chosen prey from them, ye shall build houses with square stones, but ye shall not live in them; ye shall plant the most beautiful vineyards, but ye shall not drink their wine.)

12For I knew your great trespasses many, and your strong sins; enemies of the rightwise man, taking a gift, and bearing down poor men in the gate. (For I know of your great many trespasses, and of your strong, or your mighty, sins; ye, the enemies of the righteous, taking bribes, and oppressing the poor in the courts.)

13Therefore a prudent man shall be still in that time, for the time is evil. (And so the prudent shall be silent at that time, for the time is evil.)

14Seek ye good, and not evil, (so) that ye live, and the Lord God of hosts shall be with you, as ye said (that he is).

15Hate ye evil, and love ye good, and ordain ye in the gate doom (or and ordain ye justice in the court); if peradventure the Lord God of hosts have mercy on the remnants of Joseph.

16Therefore the Lord God of hosts, having lordship, (or And so the Lord God of hosts, who ruleth, or who is sovereign), saith these things, Wailing shall be in all streets, and in all things that be withoutforth it shall be said, Woe! woe! and they shall call an earth-tiller to mourning, and them that know how to wail, to wailing.

17And wailing shall be in all ways, for I shall pass forth in the middle of thee, saith the Lord. (And there shall be wailing on all the ways, for I shall pass through in the midst of thee, saith the Lord.)

18Woe to them that desire the day of the Lord; whether to desire ye it to you? This day of the Lord shall be darknesses, and not light. (Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord; do ye desire it for yourselves? or do ye desire that it come to you? This day of the Lord shall be darkness, and not light.)

19As if a man run from the face of a lion, and a bear run to him; and he enter into the house, and lean with his hand on the wall, and a serpent dwelling in (the) shadow bite him.

20Whether the day of the Lord shall not be darknesses, and not light; and mist, and not shining therein? (Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light; and cloud, or fog, and not sunshine, or brightness.)

21I hated and casted away your feast days, and I shall not take the odour of your companies. (I hated and threw away your feast days, and I shall not receive the aroma from your offerings.)

22That if ye offer to me your burnt sacrifices, and gifts, I shall not receive, and I shall not behold the avows of your fat things. (And if ye offer me your burnt sacrifices, and gifts, I shall not receive them, and I shall not look upon the fat beasts of your vows, or of your offerings.)

23Do thou away from me the noise of thy songs, and I shall not hear the songs of thine harp.

24And doom shall be showed as water, and rightwiseness as a strong stream. (Let justice flow like a river, and righteousness like a strong stream.)

25Whether ye offered to me hosts, and sacrifices in desert forty years, ye house of Israel? (Did ye offer me gifts, and sacrifices, for forty years in the wilderness, ye house of Israel?)

26And ye have borne tabernacles to Moloch, your god, and (the) image of your idols, the star of your god, which ye made to you. (No! but now ye carry about the tent, (or the shrine), of your god Moloch, and your images of Chiun, the star of your god or your star god, which ye made for yourselves.)

27And I shall make you for to pass over Damascus, said the Lord; God of hosts is the name of him. (And so I shall make you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord; the God of hosts is his name.)