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 am bearing to you, A lamentation, O house of Israel:

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

'Fallen, not again to rise, hath the virgin of Israel, Left on her land — she hath no raiser 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 said the Lord Jehovah: The city that is going out a thousand, Doth leave an hundred, And that which is going out an hundred, Doth 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 said Jehovah to the house of Israel: Seek ye 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.

And seek not Beth-El, and Gilgal enter not, And Beer-Sheba pass not through, For Gilgal doth utterly remove, And Beth-El doth become vanity.

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 Jehovah, and live, Lest He prosper as fire [against] the house of Joseph, And it hath consumed, And there is no quencher for Beth-El.

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

Ye who are turning to wormwood judgment, And righteousness to the earth have put down,

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.

The maker of Kimah and Kesil, And the turner to morning of death-shade, And day [as] night He hath made dark, Who is calling to the waters of the sea, And poureth them on 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.

Who is brightening up the spoiled against the strong, And the spoiled against a fortress cometh.

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

They have hated a reprover in the gate, And a plain speaker they abominate.

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 of your trampling on the poor, And the tribute of corn ye take from him, Houses of hewn work ye have built, And ye do not dwell in them, Desirable vineyards ye have planted, And ye do 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 have known — many [are] your transgressions, And mighty your sins, Adversaries of the righteous, taking ransoms, And the needy in the gate ye turned aside.

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

Therefore is the wise at that time silent, For an evil time it [is].

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 it is so; Jehovah, God of Hosts, [is] with you, as ye 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.

Hate evil, and love good, And set up judgment in the gate, It may be Jehovah, God of Hosts, doth pity 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 said Jehovah, God of Hosts, the Lord, In all broad places [is] lamentation, And in all out-places they say, 'Alas, alas,' And called the husbandman to mourning, And to lamentation the skilful of 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 [is] lamentation, For I pass into thy midst, said 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.

Ho, ye who are desiring the day of Jehovah, Why [is] this to you — the day of Jehovah? 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 [when] one fleeth from the face of the lion, And the bear hath met him, And he hath come in to the house, And hath leant his hand on the wall, And the serpent hath bitten 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 Jehovah darkness and not light, Even thick darkness that hath no brightness?

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

I have hated — I have loathed your festivals, And I am not refreshed by your restraints.

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 though ye cause burnt-offerings and your presents to ascend to Me, I am not pleased, And the peace-offering of your fatlings I behold not.

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

Turn aside from Me the noise of thy songs, Yea, the praise of thy psaltery I hear not.

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

And roll on as waters doth judgment, And righteousness as a perennial stream.

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

Sacrifices and offering did ye bring nigh to Me, In a 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.

And ye bare Succoth your king, and Chiun your images, The star of your god, that 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 removed you beyond Damascus, Said Jehovah, God of Hosts [is] His name.