Chapter 5

1. Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation; 

I find no joy in these words,

O house of Washington: 

2. Fallen, no more to rise, 

is Lady Liberty; 

forsaken on her land, 

with no one to raise her up. 

3. For thus says the Lord God: 

The city that deployed a thousand troops 

shall have a hundred return, 

and that which deployed out a hundred troops 

shall have ten left.

4. For thus says the Lord to the American family: 

Seek me and live; 

5. but do not run to Lakewood Church, 

do not seek out the council of celebrity pastors;

who worship their prosperity 

and cheat the poor. 

for they shall surely spend their waning years 

in prison, 

and their idolatrous temples shall become

warehouses and Walmarts. 

6. Seek the Lord and live, 

or he will break out against you like fire, 

and it will devour your churches, 

with no one to quench it. 

7. Ah, you that turn sweet justice to moldy s**t, 

And crush righteousness into the ground! 

8. The one who is a midwife to the stars in their nebulae,

who is their chaplain in death, 

and shepherds their wayward elements, 

to form worlds beyond imagining, 

who called life out of the seas 

and onto the land, 

and poured out the Holy Spirit 

into the hearts of intelligent apes, 

the Lord is his name, 

9. who exterminates the mighty in a bolt of lightning, 

so that their palaces and bunkers are laid to waste. 

10. They hate the ones who kneel and protest, 

and they despise anyone who supports their words with facts. 

11. Therefore because you trample on the poor 

and oppress them for generations 

under a rigged economy, 

you have built mansions on sprawling estates, 

but you shall not live in them; 

you have planted pleasant vineyards, 

but you shall not drink their wine. 

12. For I know how many are your transgressions, 

and how great are your sins

you who torment the righteous, 

who take corporate bribes, 

and push aside the needy in the streets. 

13. Therefore the prudent will keep their heads low in such a time; 

for it is a dangerous time speak out. 

14. Seek good and not evil, 

that you may live; 

and so the Lord, the God of hosts, 

will be with you, 

just as you have said. 

15. Hate evil and love good, 

and establish justice in the streets; 

it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, 

will be gracious to the remnant of America. 

16. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord: 

In all the squares there shall be wailing; 

and in all the streets they shall say, 

“Oh no! Why me?! No no no!” 

Whoever is strong enough to carry a casket,

shall be called upon to fulfill this sorrowful task, 

and the few clergy who remain 

will eulogize until they lose their voices; 

17. in all the farmlands there shall be wailing, 

for I will pass through the midst of you, 

says the Lord. 

18. What is wrong with you who hasten the day of judgement?! 

Why do you want the day of the Lord? 

It is darkness, not light; 

19. as if someone fled from a burning building, 

and was shot dead on the pavement; 

or laid down in their comfortable bed at night, 

and was bitten by a snake. 

20. Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light, 

and gloom with no brightness in it? 

21. I hate, I despise your holiday services, 

and your Easter pageantry makes me vomit. 

22. Even though you offer your tithes and charities, 

I will not accept them; 

and the joyful sound of Christmas carols,

I will not hear them. 

23. Take away from me the noise of your songs; 

I will not listen to your praise bands and gospel choirs. 

24. But let justice roll down like waters, 

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. 

25. You have been religious hypocrites 

since your founding fathers 

sat in the pews of Christ Church. 

26. So go ahead, 

grab your wallet (your true king), 

and your phone (your favorite idol); 

27. and I will take you into 

obscurity, bankruptcy, and incarceration, 

says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.