Seek the Lord and Live
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Hear this word which I a take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel:
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The virgin of Israel has fallen;
She will rise no more.
She lies forsaken on her land;
There is no one to raise her up.
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For thus says the Lord GOD:
"The city that goes out by a thousand
Shall have a hundred left,
And that which goes out by a hundred
Shall have ten left to the house of Israel."
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For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel:
b "Seek Me c and live;
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But do not seek d Bethel,
Nor enter Gilgal,
Nor pass over to e Beersheba;
For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,
And f Bethel shall come to nothing.
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g Seek the LORD and live,
Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
And devour it,
With no one to quench it in Bethel -
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You who h turn justice to wormwood,
And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!"
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He made the i Pleiades and Orion;
He turns the shadow of death into morning
j And makes the day dark as night;
He k calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth;
l The LORD is His name.
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He rains ruin upon the strong,
So that fury comes upon the fortress.
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m They hate the one who rebukes in the gate,
And they n abhor the one who speaks uprightly.
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o Therefore, because you tread down the poor
And take grain taxes from him,
Though p you have built houses of hewn stone,
Yet you shall not dwell in them;
You have planted pleasant vineyards,
But you shall not drink wine from them.
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For I q know your manifold transgressions
And your mighty sins:
r Afflicting the just and taking bribes;
s Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.
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Therefore t the prudent keep silent at that time,
For it is an evil time.
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Seek good and not evil,
That you may live;
So the LORD God of hosts will be with you,
u As you have spoken.
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v Hate evil, love good;
Establish justice in the gate.
w It may be that the LORD God of hosts
Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
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Therefore the LORD God of hosts, the Lord, says this:
"There shall be wailing in all streets,
And they shall say in all the highways,
'Alas! Alas!'
They shall call the farmer to mourning,
x And skillful lamenters to wailing.
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In all vineyards there shall be wailing,
For y I will pass through you,"
Says the LORD.
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Cross References
Jeremiah 7:29
'Cut off your hair and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the desolate heights; for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.'
Jeremiah 9:10
I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, And for the dwelling places of the wilderness a lamentation, Because they are burned up, So that no one can pass through; Nor can men hear the voice of the cattle. Both the birds of the heavens and the beasts have fled; They are gone.
Jeremiah 9:17
Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider and call for the mourning women, That they may come; And send for skillful wailing women, That they may come.
Ezekiel 19:1
Moreover take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 4:29
But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
2 Chronicles 15:2
And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: "Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
Jeremiah 29:13
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
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Cross References
Isaiah 55:3
Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you - The sure mercies of David.
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Cross References
1 Kings 12:28
Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!
1 Kings 12:29
And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
Amos 4:4
Come to Bethel and transgress, At Gilgal multiply transgression; Bring your sacrifices every morning, Your tithes every three days.
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Cross References
Genesis 21:31 - 33
Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.
Amos 8:14
Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, Who say, 'As your god lives, O Dan!' And, 'As the way of Beersheba lives!' They shall fall and never rise again.
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Cross References
Hosea 4:15
Though you, Israel, play the harlot, Let not Judah offend. Do not come up to Gilgal, Nor go up to Beth Aven, Nor swear an oath, saying, 'As the LORD lives' -
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Cross References
Isaiah 55:3
Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you - The sure mercies of David.
Isaiah 55:6
Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.
Isaiah 55:7
Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
Amos 5:14
Seek good and not evil, That you may live; So the LORD God of hosts will be with you, As you have spoken.
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Cross References
Amos 6:12
Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow there with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into gall, And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood.
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Cross References
Job 9:9
He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south.
Job 38:31
Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the belt of Orion?
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Cross References
Psalms 104:20
You make darkness, and it is night, In which all the beasts of the forest creep about.
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Cross References
Job 38:34
Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That an abundance of water may cover you?
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Cross References
Amos 4:13
For behold, He who forms mountains, And creates the wind, Who declares to man what his thought is, And makes the morning darkness, Who treads the high places of the earth - The LORD God of hosts is His name.
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Cross References
Isaiah 29:21
Who make a man an offender by a word, And lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, And turn aside the just by empty words.
Isaiah 66:5
Hear the word of the LORD, You who tremble at His word: "Your brethren who hated you, Who cast you out for My name's sake, said, 'Let the LORD be glorified, That we may see your joy.' But they shall be ashamed.
Amos 5:15
Hate evil, love good; Establish justice in the gate. It may be that the LORD God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
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Cross References
1 Kings 22:8
So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, " There is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the LORD; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." And Jehoshaphat said, "Let not the king say such things!
Isaiah 59:15
So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice.
Jeremiah 17:16 - 18
As for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd who follows You, Nor have I desired the woeful day; You know what came out of my lips; It was right there before You.
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Cross References
Amos 2:6
Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they sell the righteous for silver, And the poor for a pair of sandals.
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Cross References
Deuteronomy 28:30
You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall...
Deuteronomy 28:38
You shall carry much seed out to the field but ...
Deuteronomy 28:39
You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but yo...
Micah 6:15
You shall sow, but not reap; You shall tread th...
Zephaniah 1:13
Therefore their goods shall become booty, And t...
Haggai 1:6
"You have sown much, and bring in little; You e...
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Cross References
Hosea 5:3
I know Ephraim, And Israel is not hidden from Me; For now, O Ephraim, you commit harlotry; Israel is defiled.
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Cross References
Isaiah 1:23
Your princes are rebellious, And companions of thieves; Everyone loves bribes, And follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.
Isaiah 5:23
Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away justice from the righteous man!
Amos 2:6
Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they sell the righteous for silver, And the poor for a pair of sandals.
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Cross References
Isaiah 29:21
Who make a man an offender by a word, And lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, And turn aside the just by empty words.
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Cross References
Amos 6:10
And when a relative of the dead, with one who will burn the bodies, picks up the bodies to take them out of the house, he will say to one inside the house, " Are there any more with you?" Then someone will say, "None." And he will say, "Hold your tongue! For we dare not mention the name of the LORD.
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Cross References
Micah 3:11
Her heads judge for a bribe, Her priests teach for pay, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the LORD, and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No harm can come upon us.
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Cross References
Psalms 97:10
You who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
Romans 12:9
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
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Cross References
Joel 2:14
Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him - A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God?
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Cross References
2 Chronicles 35:25
Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah. And to this day all the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations. They made it a custom in Israel; and indeed they are written in the Laments.
Jeremiah 9:17
Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider and call for the mourning women, That they may come; And send for skillful wailing women, That they may come.
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Cross References
Exodus 12:12
For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.