Amos 5
1 Give ear to this word, my song of sorrow over you, O children of Israel.
Hear ye this word, which, I, am taking up concerning you—even a dirge, 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 hath fallen—she cannot again rise, the virgin, Israel, —she lieth forsaken on her soil, 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 My Lord, Yahweh, The city that goeth out a thousand strong, shall have left it a hundred, —And, that which goeth out a hundred strong, shall have left it ten, belonging 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 Yahweh, to the house of Israel, —Seek me, and 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.
Then do not seek Bethel, and, Gilgal, shall ye not enter, and, unto Beer-sheba, shall ye not cross over, For, Gilgal, shall, surely go into exile, and, Bethel, shall become a trouble.
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 ye Yahweh, and live, —lest he break forth, like a fire, upon the house of Joseph, and it devour with none to quench it, for Bethel.
7 You who make the work of judging a bitter thing, crushing down righteousness to the earth;
Ye who turn, into, wormwood, justice, and, righteousness—to the ground have let fall.
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] who made the Cluster and the Giant, and turneth, into morning, the shadow of death, and who, day into night, doth darken, Him who calleth to the waters of the sea, and poureth them out on the face of the land, Yahweh, is his name:
9 Who sends sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the walled town.
Him who flasheth force on the strong, —and, force, on the fortress, alighteth!
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 the man who, in the gate, rebuketh, —and, him who speaketh truthfully, they abhor.
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.
Therefore—because ye have trampled on the poor, and, the gift of corn, ye would take away from him, though, houses of hewn stone, ye have built, Yet shall ye not dwell in them, —Though, delightful vineyards, ye have planted, Yet shall ye not drink the wine of them.
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 how numerous are your transgressions, and how surpassing your sins, —ye adversaries of the righteous! ye acceptors of a bribe! Even the needy in the gate, have they turned away!
13 So the wise will say nothing in that time; for it is an evil time.
Therefore, the prudent man, at that time, will be dumb, —Because an evil time, it is!
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 right and not wrong, that ye nay live, —that, so, Yahweh God of hosts, may be with you, as ye have said.
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 wrong, and love right, and station, Justice, in the gate, —Peradventure, Yahweh, God of hosts, will be gracious unto 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.
Therefore, thus, saith Yahweh, God of hosts, My Lord, In all broadways, shall be lamentation, and, in all streets, shall they say, Alas! Alas! And they shall call the husbandman unto the mourning, and, unto the lamentation, them who know a wailing song;
17 In all the vine-gardens there will be cries of grief: for I will go through among you, says the Lord.
Ye, in all vineyards, lamentation, —For I will pass along through thy midst, saith Yahweh.
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.
Alas for them who are longing for the day of Yahweh, —What good to you, is the day of Yahweh? it, being 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 should flee from the face of a lion, and there should meet him—a bear! or he should have entered the house, and leaned his hand upon the wall, and there should bite him—a serpent!
20 Will not the day of the Lord be dark and not light? even very dark, with no light shining in it?
Shall not the day of Yahweh be, darkness, and not light? yea, 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 festivals, —and can scent no fragrance in your solemn feasts.
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.
Nay, though ye cause to ascend unto me ascending-sacrifices, and your meal-offerings, I will not accept [them], —nor, the peace-offering of your fat heifers, will I regard.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs; my ears are shut to the melody of your instruments.
Take thou away from me, the noise of thy songs, —Even the melody of thy harps, will I not hear.
24 But let the right go rolling on like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
But let, justice, roll along like water, —and, righteousness, as a torrent over flowing.
25 Did you come to me with offerings of beasts and meal offerings in the waste land for forty years, O Israel?
The sacrifices and meal-offering, ye brought near unto me, in the desert, 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 carried the tent of your king-idol, and your Saturn-images, —the star of your gods, 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 carry you into exile beyond Damascus, —saith Yahweh, God of hosts, is his name.
