1Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a kinah (lamentation), O Bais Yisroel.

2The Betulat Yisroel is fallen;
she shall no more rise;
she is forsaken in her own land;
there is none to raise her up.

3For thus saith Adonoi Hashem:
The city that went out by a thousand
will be left a hundred,
and that which went forth by an hundred
will be left ten, for Bais Yisroel.

4For thus saith Hashem unto Bais Yisroel:
Seek ye Me, and live;

5But seek not Beit-El,
nor enter into Gilgal,
and pass not to Be'er-Sheva;
for Gilgal shall surely go into golus,
and Beit-El shall come to naught.

6Seek Hashem, and live;
lest He break out like eish in Bais Yosef,
and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Beit-El.

7Ye who turn mishpat into wormwood,
and cast tzedakah to the ground.

8Seek Him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion,
and turneth tzalmavet into boker,
and maketh the yom into lailah;
that calleth for the waters of the yam,
and poureth them out upon the face of ha'aretz;
Hashem Shmo;

9Who causeth shod (destruction) to flash upon the strong,
and shod upon the fortified city.

10They hate the mochiach (reprover) [of injustice] in the gate,
and they abhor him that speaketh tamim (uprightly).

11Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor,
and ye take from him burdens of wheat;
ye have built batim (houses) of hewn stone,
but ye shall not dwell in them;
ye have planted pleasant kramim (vineyards),
but ye shall not drink yayin of them.

12For I have da'as of your manifold peysha'im
and your mighty chattaim (sins);
they afflict the tzaddik, they take a bribe,
and they turn aside the poor in the sha'ar (gate, court) from their right.

13Therefore the maskil (prudent) shall keep silence in such times;
for it is an evil time.

14Seek tov, and not rah,
that ye may live;
and so Hashem Elohei Tzva'os shall be with you,
just as ye say He is.

15Hate the rah, and love the tov,
and establish mishpat in the sha'ar;
it may be that Hashem Elohei Tzava'os
will be gracious unto the she'erit Yosef.

16Therefore Hashem Adonoi Elohei Tzva'os saith thus:
Wailing shall be in all rechovot;
and they shall cry in all the public squares,
Alas! Alas! And they shall call the ikkar (farmer) to mourning,
and such as are skillful of lamentation to wailing.

17And in all kramim (vineyards) shall be wailing;
for I will pass through thee, saith Hashem.

18Hoy unto you that desire the Yom Hashem!
Why do ye seek it?
The Yom Hashem is choshech, and not ohr.

19As if a man did flee from an ari,
and a dov met him;
or went into the bais,
and leaned his hand on the kir (wall),
and a nachash bit him.

20Shall not the Yom Hashem be choshech, and not ohr?
Even very dark, and no brightness in it?

21I hate, I despise your chagim (religious festivals),
and I do not savor your atzerot (solemn assemblies).

22Though ye offer Me olot
and your minchot, I will not accept them;
neither will I regard your choice shelamim (peace offerings).

23Take thou away from Me the noise of thy shirim (songs);
for I will not hear the melody of thy nevalim (harps).

24But let mishpat run down as mayim,
and tzedakah as a never failing stream.

25Did ye offer unto Me zevakhim and minchah in the midbar arba'im shanah, O Bais Yisroel?

26But ye have borne Sikkut your king and Kiyun your tzelamim, your star g-d, which ye made for yourselves.

27Therefore will I cause you to go into golus beyond Damascus, saith Hashem, Elohei Tzva'os Shmo.