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.

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.

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

The virgin of Israel has fallen upon his land; there is none that shall raise her up.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

[It is he] that executes judgment in the height [above], and he has established justice on 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.

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:

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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 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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Raephan, the images of them which ye 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 carry you away beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, the Almighty God is his name.