1. Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel.
2. The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise! she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
3. For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave a hundred, and that which went forth by a hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.
4. For thus saith the LORD to the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
5. But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to naught.
6. Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el.
7. Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness on the earth,