Apr 17, 2024
6 Seek the Lord and live,
or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like
a fire;
it will devour them,
and Bethel will have no one to quench
it.
7 There are those
who turn justice into bitterness
and cast righteousness to the
ground.
8 He who made the
Pleiades and Orion,
who turns midnight into dawn
and darkens day into night,
who calls for the waters of the
sea
and pours them out over the face of the
land—
the Lord is his name.
9 With a blinding flash he destroys the
stronghold
and brings the fortified city to
ruin.
10 There are
those who hate the one who upholds justice in court
and detest the one who tells the
truth.
11 You levy a
straw tax on the poor
and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone
mansions,
you will not live in them;
though you have planted lush
vineyards,
you will not drink their wine.
12 For I know how many are your
offenses
and how great your sins.
There are those who
oppress the innocent and take bribes
and deprive the poor of justice in the
courts.
13 Therefore the prudent keep quiet in
such times,
for the times are evil.
14 Seek good, not
evil,
that you may live.
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with
you,
just as you say he is.
15 Hate evil, love good;
maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have
mercy
on the remnant of Joseph.