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 you this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, 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 rise: she is forsaken on 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 says the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.

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

For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel, Seek you me, and you 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, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall 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.

Seek the LORD, and you 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,

You who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in 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 makes the seven stars and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night: that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them 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.

That strengthens the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

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

They hate him that rebukes in the gate, and they abhor him that speaks 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.

For as much therefore as your treading is on the poor, and you take from him burdens of wheat: you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink 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 manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.

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

Therefore the prudent shall keep silence 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.

Seek good, and not evil, that you may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as you have spoken.

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 the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious to 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 the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD, says thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the farmer to mourning, and such as are skillful 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 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.

Woe to you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD 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 did flee 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 the LORD 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 feast days, and I will not smell 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.

Though you offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard 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 you away from me the noise of your songs; for I will not hear the melody of your viols.

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

But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

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

Have you offered to me sacrifices and offerings 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.

But you have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which you 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.

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