Amos 5

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

Hear these words, which I utter concerning you; This lamentation, 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.”

She is fallen, she shall rise no more, The virgin of Israel! She is prostrate on her own ground, 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 Jehovah; The city which sent out a thousand shall have a hundred left, And that which sent out a hundred shall have ten left, To the house of Israel.

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

For thus saith Jehovah to the house of Israel: Seek ye me, and ye shall 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.

Seek not Bethel, And go not to Gilgal, And pass not over to Beersheba! For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity! And Bethel shall come to naught.

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 Jehovah, and ye shall live! Lest he rush like a fire on the house of Joseph, And it devour, and there be none to quench it in the house of Israel.

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

Ye who turn justice into wormwood, And cast righteousness down 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—

Seek him, that made the Pleiades and Orion; That changeth death-like darkness into morning, And darkeneth day into night; That calleth up the waters of the sea, And poureth them out upon the face of the earth; Jehovah is his name!

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

Who sendeth sudden destruction upon the strong, And bringeth desolation 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 pleadeth in the gate, And 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.

Since, then, ye trample upon the poor, And take from him presents of wheat, Though ye build houses of hewn stone, ye shall not dwell in them; Though ye plant pleasant vineyards, ye shall not drink their 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 know that your sins are many, And your transgressions manifold, Ye who afflict the righteous, and take a bribe, And oppress the poor in the gate!

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

Therefore the wise man shall be silent at that time, For it shall be 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 ye good, and not evil, that ye may live; Then shall Jehovah, the God of hosts, be with you, as ye boast.

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 ye evil, and love good, And establish justice in the gate; It may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will have pity upon 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.

Thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: In all the streets shall there be wailing, And in all the highways shall they cry, Alas! alas! They shall call the husbandmen to mourning, And those who are skilful in lamentation to wailing,

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

And in all vineyards shall be sounds of woe, For I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah.

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 them that ask for the day of Jehovah! What is the day of Jehovah to you? It shall be 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 fled from a lion, And a bear met him; Or went into a house and leaned his hand on a 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?

So shall the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light, Even thick darkness, 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; I have 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.

When ye offer me burnt-offerings and flour-offerings, I will not accept them; And upon the thank-offerings of your fatlings I will not look.

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

Take ye away from me the noise of your songs, And the music of your harps let me not hear!

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

Let justice flow forth 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 offer me sacrifices and offerings In the wilderness, for 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.

But ye bore the tabernacle of your king, And the shrine of your images, The star of your god, which ye made for 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 Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts!