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 that I take up as a lament over you, house of Israel.

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

The virgin Israel has fallen; she will rise no more; she is forsaken on her land; there is no one 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 this is what the Lord Yahweh says: “The city that went out with a thousand will have a hundred left, and the one that went out with a hundred will have ten left belonging to the house of Israel.”

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

For this is what Yahweh says to the house of Israel: “Seek me and 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.

Do not seek Bethel; nor enter Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into captivity, and Bethel will become 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 Yahweh and live, or he will break out like fire in the house of Joseph. It will devour, and there will be no one to quench it in Bethel.

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

Those people turn justice into a bitter thing and throw righteousness down to the ground!”

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.

God made the Pleiades and Orion; he turns darkness into the morning; he makes the day dark with night and calls for the waters of the sea; he pours them out on the surface of the earth. Yahweh is his name!

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

He brings sudden destruction on the strong so that destruction comes on the fortresses.

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

They hate anyone who corrects them in the city gate, and they abhor anyone who speaks the truth.

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.

Because you trample down the poor and take portions of wheat from him— although you have built houses of worked stone, you will not live in them. You have delightful vineyards, but you will not drink their 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 know how many are your offenses and how great are your sins— you who afflict the just, take bribes, and turn aside the needy in the city gate.

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

Therefore any prudent person is silent at such a 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, so that you may live. So Yahweh, the God of hosts, will really be with you, as you say he is.

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, love good, establish justice in the city gate. Perhaps Yahweh, the 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, this is what Yahweh says, the God of hosts, the Lord, “Wailing will be in all the squares, and they will say in all the streets, 'Woe! Woe!' They will call the farmers to mourning and the mourners to wail.

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

In all vineyards there will be wailing, for I will pass through your midst,” says Yahweh.

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 who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It will 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 when a man flees from a lion and a bear meets him, or he goes in a house and puts his hand on the wall and a snake bites him.

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 Yahweh be darkness and not light? Gloom and no brightness?

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

“I hate, I despise your festivals, I take no delight 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.

Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them, neither will I look at the fellowship offerings of your fattened animals.

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

Remove from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the sound of your harps.

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

Instead, let justice flow like water, and righteousness like a constantly flowing stream.

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

Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness for forty years, 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.

You have lifted up the images of Sikkuth, your king, and Kaiwan, your star 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.

Therefore I will exile you beyond Damascus,” says Yahweh, whose name is the God of hosts.