Amos 5

1 Hear you 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 you this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, 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 forsaken on her land; there is none to raise her up.

3 Therefore thus says 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 GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.

4 Therefore thus says the Lord to the house of Israel, Seek you me, and you shall live.

For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel, Seek you me, and you 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 nothing.

6 Seek you the Lord, and you 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 the LORD, and you shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel.

7 [It is he] that executes judgement in the height [above], and he has established justice on the earth:

You who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in 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 that makes the seven stars and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night: that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:

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

That strengthens the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

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

They hate him that rebukes in the gate, and they abhor him that speaks uprightly.

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

For as much therefore as your treading is on the poor, and you take from him burdens of wheat: you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink wine of them.

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

For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.

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

Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.

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

Seek good, and not evil, that you may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as you have spoken.

15 We have hated evil, and loved good: and restore you judgement 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 judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore thus says 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 the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD, says thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the farmer to mourning, and such as are skillful of lamentation to wailing.

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

And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through you, says the LORD.

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 that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD 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 did flee 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 the LORD 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 feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

22 Therefore if you 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.

Though you offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

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

Take you away from me the noise of your songs; for I will not hear the melody of your viols.

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

But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

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

Have you offered to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

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

But you have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which you made to yourselves.

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

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