Amos 5

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

Hear ye this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house 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 is fallen, she shall no more rise; she is cast down upon her land, there is none to raise her up.

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 thus saith the Lord GOD: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred shall have ten left, of the house of Israel.

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

For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel: Seek ye Me, and live;

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.

But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought.

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.

Seek the LORD, and live — lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Bethel —

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

Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and cast righteousness to the ground;

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—

Him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and bringeth on the shadow of death in the morning, and darkeneth the day into night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; the LORD is His name;

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

That causeth destruction to flash upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress.

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

They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

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.

Therefore, because ye trample upon the poor, and take from him exactions of wheat; ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them, ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine thereof.

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 know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins; ye that afflict the just, that take a ransom, and that turn aside the needy in the gate.

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

Therefore the prudent doth keep silence in such a 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.

Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, as ye 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.”

Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant 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.

Therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord: Lamentation shall be in all the broad places, and they shall say in all the streets: 'Alas! alas!' and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and proclaim lamentation to such as are skilful of wailing.

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

And in all vineyards shall be lamentation; for I will pass through the midst of thee, saith 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.

Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! Wherefore would ye have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, 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 did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; and went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

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

Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?

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

I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

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.

Yea, though ye offer me burnt-offerings and your meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard 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 thou away from Me the noise of thy songs; and let Me not hear the melody of thy psalteries.

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

But let justice well up as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

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

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

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

So shall ye take up Siccuth your king and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.

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

Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith He, whose name is the LORD God of hosts.