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.

Listen to 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 has fallen; She shall rise no more. She is cast down on her land; there is no one 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 the Lord GOD says: “The city that went out a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went out one hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”

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

For the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek me, and you will 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 don’t seek Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and don’t pass 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 will live, lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be no one 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 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 made 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 on the surface of the earth, the LORD is his name,

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

who brings sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on 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 blamelessly.

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.

Therefore, because you trample on the poor and take taxes from him of wheat, you have built houses of cut stone, but you will not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.

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 how many are your offences, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the just, who take a bribe, and who turn away the needy in the courts.

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

Therefore a prudent person keeps silent in such a 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 Armies, will be with you, as you say.

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 evil, love good, and establish justice in the courts. It may be that the LORD, the God of Armies, 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 Armies, the Lord, says: “Wailing will be in all the wide ways. They will say in all the streets, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They will call the farmer to mourning, and those who are skilful in 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.

In all vineyards there will be wailing, for I will pass through the middle of 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 who desire the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? 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 he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him.

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

Won’t 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 feasts, and I can’t stand 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.

Yes, though you offer me your burnt offerings and meal offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat animals.

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

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

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

But let justice roll on like rivers, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

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

“Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, 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.

You also carried the tent of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.

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

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