Amos 5

1 Hear ye this word, which I take up concerning you for a lamentation. The house of Israel is fallen, and it shall rise no more.

Give ear to this word, my song of sorrow over you, O children of Israel.

2 The virgin of Israel is cast down upon her land, there is none to raise her up.

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.

3 For thus saith the Lord God: The city, out of which came forth a thousand, there shall be left in it a hundred: and out of which there came a hundred, there shall be left in it ten, in the house of Israel.

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.

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

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:

5 But seek not Bethel, and go not into Galgal, neither shall you pass over to Bersabee: for Galgal shall go into captivity, and Bethel shall be unprofitable.

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.

6 Seek ye the Lord, and live: lest the house of Joseph be burnt with fire, and it shall devour, and there shall be none to quench Bethel.

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.

7 You that turn judgment into wormwood, and forsake justice in the land,

You who make the work of judging a bitter thing, crushing down righteousness to the earth;

8 Seek him that maketh Arcturus, and Orion, and that turneth darkness into morning, and that changeth day into night: that calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name.

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;

9 He that with a smile bringeth destruction upon the strong, and waste upon the mighty.

Who sends sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the walled town.

10 They have hated him that rebuketh in the gate: and have abhorred him that speaketh perfectly.

They have hate for him who makes protest against evil in the public place, and he whose words are upright is disgusting to them.

11 Therefore because you robbed the poor, and took the choice prey from him: you shall build houses with square stone, and shall not dwell in them: you shall plant most delightful vineyards, and shall not drink the wine of them.

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.

12 Because I know your manifold crimes, and your grievous sins: enemies of the just, taking bribes, and oppressing the poor in the gate.

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.

13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence at that time, for it is an evil time.

So the wise will say nothing in that time; for it is an evil time.

14 Seek ye good, and not evil, that you may live: and the Lord the God of hosts will be with you, as you have said.

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.

15 Hate evil, and love good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be the Lord the God of hosts may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

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.

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord the God of hosts the sovereign Lord: In every street there shall be wailing: and in all places that are without, they shall say: Alas, alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skillful in lamentation to lament.

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.

17 And in all vineyards there shall be wailing: because I will pass through in the midst of thee, saith the Lord.

In all the vine-gardens there will be cries of grief: for I will go through among you, says the Lord.

18 Woe to them that desire the day of the Lord: to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.

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.

19 As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and a bear should meet him: or enter into the house, and lean with his hand upon the wall, and a serpent should bite him.

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.

20 Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light: and obscurity, and no brightness in it?

Will not the day of the Lord be dark and not light? even very dark, with no light shining in it?

21 I hate, and have rejected your festivities: and I will not receive the odour of your assemblies.

Your feasts are disgusting to me, I will have nothing to do with them; I will take no delight in your holy meetings.

22 And if you offer me holocausts, and your gifts, I will not receive them: neither will I regard the vows of your fat beasts.

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.

23 Take away from me the tumult of thy songs: and I will not hear the canticles of thy harp.

Take away from me the noise of your songs; my ears are shut to the melody of your instruments.

24 But judgment shall be revealed as water, and justice as a mighty torrent.

But let the right go rolling on like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 Did you offer victims and sacrifices to me in the desert for forty years, O house of Israel?

Did you come to me with offerings of beasts and meal offerings in the waste land for forty years, O Israel?

26 But you carried a tabernacle for your Moloch, and the image of your idols, the star of your god, which you made to yourselves.

Truly, you will take up Saccuth your king and Kaiwan your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.

27 And I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, the God of hosts is his name.

And I will send you away as prisoners farther than Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of armies.