Amos 5

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

Hear these words, which I utter concerning you; This lamentation, O house of Israel!

2 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.

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 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.

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 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:

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

5 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.

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 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.

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

Ye who turn justice into wormwood, And cast righteousness down to the ground.

8 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;

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

Who sendeth sudden destruction upon the strong, And bringeth desolation upon the fortress.

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

They hate him that pleadeth in the gate, And abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

11 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.

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 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.

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

Therefore the wise man shall be silent at that time, For it shall be an evil time.

14 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.

Seek ye good, and not evil, that ye may live; Then shall Jehovah, the God of hosts, be with you, as ye boast.

15 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.

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 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.

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

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

18 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.

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 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.

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 dark and not light? even very dark, with no light shining in it?

So shall the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light, Even thick darkness, and no brightness in it.

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

I hate, I despise your feasts; I have no delight in your solemn assemblies.

22 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.

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; my ears are shut to the melody of your instruments.

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

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

Let justice flow forth as waters, And righteousness as a mighty stream!

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

Did ye offer me sacrifices and offerings In the wilderness, for forty years, O house of Israel?

26 Truly, you will take up Saccuth your king and Kaiwan your images, the star of your god, which 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 And I will send you away as prisoners farther than Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of armies.

Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, Saith Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts!