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

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

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.

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 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.

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

For thus saith Jehovah unto 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.

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.

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 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.

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

Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and cast 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.

[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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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

Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in this 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.

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

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.

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 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.

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

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

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 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:

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 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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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 thy songs, and I will not hear the melody of thy lutes;

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

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

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

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

Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of your Moloch, and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye had made to 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 cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts.