Amos 5

1 Hear this word, a lamentation, which I take up against you, O house of Israel.

Hear this word, O house of Israel, this lamentation I take up against you:

2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more arise: she is cast down upon her land; there is none to raise her up.

“Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again. She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise her up.”

3 For thus saith 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, for the house of Israel.

This is what the Lord GOD says: “The city that marches out a thousand strong will only see a hundred return, and the one that marches out a hundred strong will have but ten left in the house of Israel.”

4 For thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel: Seek ye me, and ye shall live.

For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live!

5 And seek not Bethel, neither go to Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.

Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.

6 Seek Jehovah, and ye 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.

Seek the LORD and live, or He will sweep like fire through the house of Joseph; it will devour everything, with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.

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

There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.

8 [seek him] that made the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: Jehovah is his name.

He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth— the LORD is His name—

9 He causeth destruction to break forth suddenly upon the strong, and bringeth destruction upon the fortress.

He flashes destruction on the strong, so that fury comes upon the stronghold.

10 They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.

11 Forasmuch, therefore, as ye trample upon the poor, and take from him presents of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, and ye shall not drink the wine of them.

Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.

12 For I know how manifold are your transgressions and your sins mighty: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside [the right of] the needy in the gate.

For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate.

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

Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil.

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

Seek good, not evil, so that you may live. And the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed.

15 Hate evil, and love good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

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

Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: “There will be wailing in all the public squares and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets. The farmer will be summoned to mourn, and the mourners to wail.

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

There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,”

18 Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! To what end is the day of Jehovah for you? It shall be darkness and not light:

Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light.

19 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.

It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.

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

Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it?

21 I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will not smell [a sweet odour] in your solemn assemblies.

“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.

22 For if ye offer up unto me burnt-offerings and your oblations, I will not accept [them]; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fatted beasts.

Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard.

23 Take away from me the noise of thy songs, and I will not hear the melody of thy lutes;

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

24 but let judgment roll down as waters, and righteousness as an ever-flowing stream.

But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and oblations in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

26 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of your Moloch, and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye had made to yourselves;

You have taken along Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, the idols you made for yourselves.

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

Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.