Amos 5

1 Listen, people of Israel, to this funeral lament that I sing about you!

Give ear to this word, my song of sorrow over you, O children of Israel.

2 Virgin Israel has fallen, and will never rise again! She lies abandoned on the ground, and there is no one to help her up.

The virgin of Israel has been made low, never again to be lifted up: she is stretched out by herself on her land; there is no one to put her on her feet again.

3 This is what the Lord says: From a city that sends out a thousand soldiers, only a hundred will return; from a city that sends out a hundred soldiers, only ten will return.

For these are the words of the Lord God: The town which was able to send out a thousand, will have only a hundred; and that which sent out a hundred, will have only ten, in Israel.

4 This is what the Lord says to the people of Israel: Look to me so you may live!

For these are the words of the Lord to the children of Israel: Let your hearts be turned to me, so that you may have life:

5 Do not look to the false gods of Bethel, do not go to the pagan shrines of Gilgal or travel to those of Beersheba. For Gilgal will go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.

Do not be looking for help to Beth-el, and do not go to Gilgal, or make your way to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal will certainly be taken prisoner, and Beth-el will come to nothing.

6 Look to the Lord so you may live! Otherwise he will explode like fire against the descendants of Joseph and no one from Bethel will be able to quench it.

Go to the Lord for help so that you may have life; for fear that he may come like fire bursting out in the family of Joseph, causing destruction, and there will be no one to put it out in Beth-el.

7 You twist justice and make it bitter, you throw integrity to the ground.

You who make the work of judging a bitter thing, crushing down righteousness to the earth;

8 The One who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns the darkness into morning, and daytime into night, who calls for the water of the seas, and pours it down as rain upon the earth—the Lord is his name!

Go for help to him who makes Orion and the Pleiades, by whom the deep dark is turned into morning, who makes the day black with night; whose voice goes out to the waters of the sea, sending them out over the face of the earth: the Lord is his name;

9 In a flash he cuts down the strong and destroys the fortresses.

Who sends sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the walled town.

10 You hate anyone who confronts injustice and loathe anyone who speaks honestly.

They have hate for him who makes protest against evil in the public place, and he whose words are upright is disgusting to them.

11 Because you trample down the poor and impose a tax on their grain, building for yourselves impressive houses, you will not live in them, and you will not drink wine from the fine vineyards you have planted.

So because the poor man is crushed under your feet, and you take taxes from him of grain: you have made for yourselves houses of cut stone, but you will not take your rest in them; the fair vine-gardens planted by your hands will not give you wine.

12 For I know the extent of your wrongdoing and your numerous sins. You oppress good people by taking bribes, and you prevent the poor from getting justice in the courts.

For I have seen how your evil-doing is increased and how strong are your sins, you troublers of the upright, who take rewards and do wrong to the cause of the poor in the public place.

13 So smart people keep quiet in such evil times.

So the wise will say nothing in that time; for it is an evil time.

14 Do what is right, and not evil, so you may live. Then the Lord God of power will be with you, as you claim he is.

Go after good and not evil, so that life may be yours: and so the Lord, the God of armies, will be with you, as you say.

15 Hate evil and love good—and make sure justice wins out in your courts. Maybe the Lord God of power will have mercy on those who are left of Jacob's people.

Be haters of evil and lovers of good, and let right be done in the public place: it may be that the Lord, the God of armies, will have mercy on the rest of Joseph.

16 For this is what the Lord, the Lord God of power says: There will be weeping in the city squares and wailing in the streets. They will call even the farmers to grieve, as well as the professional mourners.

So these are the words of the Lord, the God of armies, the Lord: There will be weeping in all the open spaces; and in all the streets they will say, Sorrow! sorrow! and they will get in the farmer to the weeping, and the makers of sad songs to give cries of grief.

17 There will be wailing in every vineyard, for I will pass through the midst of you, says the Lord.

In all the vine-gardens there will be cries of grief: for I will go through among you, says the Lord.

18 How disastrous it will be for those of you who long for the day of the Lord. Why would you want the day of the Lord to come? It will bring darkness, not light.

Sorrow to you who are looking for the day of the Lord! what is the day of the Lord to you? it is dark and not light.

19 It will be like a man running away from a lion only to meet a bear; or a man who goes home and leans his hand on a wall, only to be bitten by a snake.

As if a man, running away from a lion, came face to face with a bear; or went into the house and put his hand on the wall and got a bite from a snake.

20 Isn't the day of the Lord darkness without light? Yes, pitch dark without a glimmer of light.

Will not the day of the Lord be dark and not light? even very dark, with no light shining in it?

21 I hate, I despise your festivals and take no delight in your religious assemblies.

Your feasts are disgusting to me, I will have nothing to do with them; I will take no delight in your holy meetings.

22 Even though you present me with burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. As for your peace offerings of fattened cattle—I will not even look at them.

Even if you give me your burned offerings and your meal offerings, I will not take pleasure in them: I will have nothing to do with the peace-offerings of your fat beasts.

23 Stop your noisy worship songs. I will not listen to the melody of your harps.

Take away from me the noise of your songs; my ears are shut to the melody of your instruments.

24 Rather let justice flow like a river, and doing right like an ever-flowing stream.

But let the right go rolling on like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 Did you bring me sacrifices during those forty years in the desert, people of Israel?

Did you come to me with offerings of beasts and meal offerings in the waste land for forty years, O Israel?

26 But now you carry idols of Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god that you made for yourselves.

Truly, you will take up Saccuth your king and Kaiwan your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.

27 So I will send you into exile in a land beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of power.

And I will send you away as prisoners farther than Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of armies.