Amos 5

1 Hear this word, O house of Israel, this lamentation I take up against you:

Give ear to this word, my song of sorrow over you, O children of Israel.

2 “Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again. She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise her up.”

The virgin of Israel has been made low, never again to be lifted up: she is stretched out by herself on her land; there is no one to put her on her feet again.

3 This is what the Lord GOD says: “The city that marches out a thousand strong will only see a hundred return, and the one that marches out a hundred strong will have but ten left in the house of Israel.”

For these are the words of the Lord God: The town which was able to send out a thousand, will have only a hundred; and that which sent out a hundred, will have only ten, in Israel.

4 For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live!

For these are the words of the Lord to the children of Israel: Let your hearts be turned to me, so that you may have life:

5 Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.

Do not be looking for help to Beth-el, and do not go to Gilgal, or make your way to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal will certainly be taken prisoner, and Beth-el will come to nothing.

6 Seek the LORD and live, or He will sweep like fire through the house of Joseph; it will devour everything, with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.

Go to the Lord for help so that you may have life; for fear that he may come like fire bursting out in the family of Joseph, causing destruction, and there will be no one to put it out in Beth-el.

7 There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.

You who make the work of judging a bitter thing, crushing down righteousness to the earth;

8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth— the LORD is His name—

Go for help to him who makes Orion and the Pleiades, by whom the deep dark is turned into morning, who makes the day black with night; whose voice goes out to the waters of the sea, sending them out over the face of the earth: the Lord is his name;

9 He flashes destruction on the strong, so that fury comes upon the stronghold.

Who sends sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the walled town.

10 There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.

They have hate for him who makes protest against evil in the public place, and he whose words are upright is disgusting to them.

11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.

So because the poor man is crushed under your feet, and you take taxes from him of grain: you have made for yourselves houses of cut stone, but you will not take your rest in them; the fair vine-gardens planted by your hands will not give you wine.

12 For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate.

For I have seen how your evil-doing is increased and how strong are your sins, you troublers of the upright, who take rewards and do wrong to the cause of the poor in the public place.

13 Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil.

So the wise will say nothing in that time; for it is an evil time.

14 Seek good, not evil, so that you may live. And the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed.

Go after good and not evil, so that life may be yours: and so the Lord, the God of armies, will be with you, as you say.

15 Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

Be haters of evil and lovers of good, and let right be done in the public place: it may be that the Lord, the God of armies, will have mercy on the rest of Joseph.

16 Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: “There will be wailing in all the public squares and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets. The farmer will be summoned to mourn, and the mourners to wail.

So these are the words of the Lord, the God of armies, the Lord: There will be weeping in all the open spaces; and in all the streets they will say, Sorrow! sorrow! and they will get in the farmer to the weeping, and the makers of sad songs to give cries of grief.

17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,”

In all the vine-gardens there will be cries of grief: for I will go through among you, says the Lord.

18 Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light.

Sorrow to you who are looking for the day of the Lord! what is the day of the Lord to you? it is dark and not light.

19 It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.

As if a man, running away from a lion, came face to face with a bear; or went into the house and put his hand on the wall and got a bite from a snake.

20 Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it?

Will not the day of the Lord be dark and not light? even very dark, with no light shining in it?

21 “I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.

Your feasts are disgusting to me, I will have nothing to do with them; I will take no delight in your holy meetings.

22 Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard.

Even if you give me your burned offerings and your meal offerings, I will not take pleasure in them: I will have nothing to do with the peace-offerings of your fat beasts.

23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.

Take away from me the noise of your songs; my ears are shut to the melody of your instruments.

24 But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

But let the right go rolling on like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

Did you come to me with offerings of beasts and meal offerings in the waste land for forty years, O Israel?

26 You have taken along Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, the idols you made for yourselves.

Truly, you will take up Saccuth your king and Kaiwan your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.

27 Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.

And I will send you away as prisoners farther than Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of armies.