This is the third chapter that starts with "Hear this word ..." Israel needed to hear the judgement against her. This is true of the whole of humanity. As long as we continue in our own sweet way, proudly proclaiming that we know what we are doing and that God has no right to tell us what to do there is no hope for us.
Israel would come to nothing. She would march out with a large army, but the army would be decimated.
Now in verse 4 we get the reason for the words of judgement. They are given that Israel might repent. This is always true of God. Through Jonah he gave Nineveh a word of judgement, but she repented and so was saved. When God speaks it is with the hope that men will turn to Him.
They needed to seek the Lord, not any pretence of religion (signified by Bethel, Gilgal etc). They needed to seek the person of the Lord. When we truly seek the Lord we will find life, if we do not seek the Lord, then judgement will indeed come.
Justice had become a joke in Israel. The courts were no longer interested in truth and justice. This is true of much of our legal system. Winning the case is all that counts, justice counts for nothing.
God urges the people to seek good and not evil, yet knows that they will not do so.
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