Amos 5

1 Hear ye this word of the Lord, even a lamentation, which I take up against you. The house of Israel is fallen; it shall no more rise.

Hear ye this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel.

2 The virgin of Israel has fallen upon his land; there is none that shall 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 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; The city out of which there went forth a thousand, [in it] there shall be left a hundred, and [in that] out of which there went forth a hundred, there shall be left ten to the house of Israel.

For thus says the lord Jehovah: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred shall have ten left, to the house of Israel.

4 Wherefore thus saith the Lord to the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live.

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

5 But seek not Bethel, and go not into Galgala, and cross not over to the Well of the Oath: for Galgala shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall be as that which is not.

But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba. For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to naught.

6 Seek ye the Lord, and ye shall live; lest the house of Joseph blaze as fire, and it devour him, and there shall be none to quench it for the house of Israel.

Seek Jehovah, and ye shall 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 [It is he] that executes judgment in the height [above], and he has established justice on the earth:

Ye who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth,

8 who makes all things, and changes [them], and turns darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night: who calls for the water of the sea, and pours it out on the face of the earth: the Lord is his name:

seek him who makes the Pleiades and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night, who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth (Jehovah is his name),

9 who dispenses ruin to strength, and brings distress upon the fortress.

who brings sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

10 They hated him that reproved in the gates, and abhorred holy speech.

They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks uprightly.

11 Therefore because they have smitten the poor with their fists, and ye have received of them choice gifts; ye have built polished houses, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted desirable vineyards, but ye shall not drink the wine of them.

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

12 For I know your many transgressions, and your sins are great, trampling on the just, taking bribes, and turning aside [the judgment of] the poor in the gates.

For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins-ye who afflict the just man, who take a bribe, and who turn aside the needy in the gate.

13 Therefore the prudent shall be silent at that time; for it is a time of evils.

Therefore he who is prudent shall keep silence in such a time, for it is an evil time.

14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord God Almighty shall be with you, as ye have said,

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

15 We have hated evil, and loved good: and restore ye judgment in the gates; that the Lord God Almighty may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate. It may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God Almighty; In all the streets [shall be] lamentations; and in all the ways shall it be said, Woe, woe! the husbandman shall be called to mourning and lamentation, and to them that are skilled in complaining.

Therefore thus says Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all the broad ways. And they shall say in all the streets, Alas! Alas! And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful in lamentation to wailing.

17 And [there shall be] lamentation in all the ways; because I will pass through the midst of thee, saith the Lord.

And in all vineyards shall be wailing, for I will pass through the midst of thee, says Jehovah.

18 Woe to you that desire the day of the Lord! what is this day of the Lord to you? whereas it is darkness, and not light.

Woe to you who desire the day of Jehovah! Why would ye have the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light.

19 As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and a bear should meet him; and he should spring into his house, and lean his hands upon the wall, and a serpent should bite him.

As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light? and is not this [day] gloom without brightness?

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

21 I hate, I reject your feasts, and I will not smell [your] meat-offerings in your general assemblies.

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

22 Wherefore if ye should bring me your whole-burnt-sacrifices and meat-offerings, I will not accept [them]: neither will I have respect to your grand peace-offerings.

Yea, though ye offer me your burnt offerings and meal offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

23 Remove from me the sound of thy songs, and I will not hear the music of thine instruments.

Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs, for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

24 But let judgment roll down as water, and righteousness as an impassable torrent.

But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

25 Have ye offered to me victims and sacrifices, O house of Israel, forty years in the wilderness?

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

26 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Raephan, the images of them which ye made for yourselves.

Yea, ye have borne the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, your images which ye made to yourselves.

27 And I will carry you away beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, the Almighty God is his name.

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