Amos 5

1 Heare ye this worde, which I lift vp vpon you, euen a lamentation of the house of Israel.

Listen to this word, which I lift over you in lamentation. The house of Israel has fallen, and it will no longer rise again.

2 The virgine Israel is fallen, and shall no more rise: shee is left vpon her lande, and there is none to raise her vp.

The virgin of Israel has been thrown onto her land, there is no one who can raise her up.

3 For thus saith ye Lord God, The citie which went out by a thousand, shall leaue an hundreth: and that which went forth by an hundreth, shall leaue ten to the house of Israel.

For thus says the Lord God: In the city from which a thousand departed, a hundred will remain, and in that from which a hundred departed, ten will remain, in the house of Israel.

4 For thus saith the Lord vnto the house of Israel, Seeke ye me, and ye shall liue.

For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek me and you will live.

5 But seeke not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and go not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall goe into captiuitie, and Beth-el shall come to nought.

But do not be willing to seek Bethel, and do not be willing to enter Gilgal, and you will not cross into Beer-sheba. For Gilgal will be led into captivity, and Bethel will be useless.

6 Seeke the Lord, and yee shall liue, least he breake out like fire in the house of Ioseph and deuoure it, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el.

Seek the Lord and live. Otherwise, the house of Joseph may be destroyed with fire, and it will devour, and there will be no one who can extinguish Bethel.

7 They turne iudgement to wormewood, and leaue off righteousnes in the earth.

You turn judgment into wormwood, and you abandon justice on earth.

8 He maketh Pleiades, and Orion, and he turneth the shadowe of death into the morning, and he maketh the day darke as night: he calleth the waters of the sea, and powreth them out vpon the open earth: the Lord is his Name.

The Maker of Arcturus and Orion, who turns darkness into daybreak and who changes day into night; who calls forth the waters of the sea and who pours them out over the face of the earth: The Lord is his name.

9 He strengtheneth the destroyer against the mightie: and the destroyer shall come against the fortresse.

It is he who smiles destruction on the healthy, and who brings pillaging upon the powerful.

10 They haue hated him, that rebuked in the gate: and they abhorred him that speaketh vprightly.

They held hatred for the one who corrects at the gate, and they have abhorred the one who speaks perfectly.

11 Forasmuch then as your treading is vpon the poore, and yee take from him burdens of wheate, ye haue built houses of hewen stone, but ye shall not dwel in them: ye haue plated pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drinke wine of them.

Therefore, on his behalf, because you have torn apart the poor and stolen choice prey from him: you will build houses with square stones and you will not dwell in them; you will plant the most delightful vineyards, and you will not drink wine from them.

12 For I know your manifold transgressions, and your mightie sinnes: they afflict the iust, they take rewards, and they oppresse the poore in ye gate.

For I know your many wicked deeds and the strength of your sins, you enemies of the just, accepting bribes, and depriving the poor at the gate.

13 Therefore the prudent shall keepe silence in that time, for it is an euill time.

Therefore, the prudent will be silent at that time, for it is an evil time.

14 Seeke good and not euil, that ye may liue: and the Lord God of hostes shalbe with you, as you haue spoken.

Seek good and not evil, so that you may live. And the Lord God of hosts will be with you, just as you have asked.

15 Hate the euil, and loue the good, and establish iudgement in the gate: it may bee that the Lord God of hostes will be mercifull vnto the remnant of Ioseph.

Hate evil and love good, and establish judgment at the gate. Perhaps then the Lord God of hosts may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therfore the Lord God of hosts, the Lord saith thus, Mourning shalbe in all streetes: and they shall say in al the hie wayes, Alas, alas: and they shall call the husbandman to lamentation, and such as can mourne, to mourning.

Therefore, thus says the Lord God of hosts, the Sovereign: In all the streets, there will be wailing. And in every place where they are outdoors, they will say, “Woe, woe!” And they will call the farmer to mourn, and those who know mourning to lamentation.

17 And in al the vines shalbe lamentation: for I wil passe through thee, saith the Lord.

And in all the vineyards there will be wailing. For I will cross through your midst, says the Lord.

18 Woe vnto you, that desire the day of the Lord: what haue you to do with it? the day of the Lord is darkenes and not light.

Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord. What is it to you? The day of the Lord is this: darkness and not light.

19 As if a man did flee from a lyon, and a beare met him: or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

It is as if a man flees from the face of a lion, only to have a bear meet him; or, he enters a house and leans with his hand against the wall, only to have a snake bite him.

20 Shal not the day of the Lord be darkenes, and not light? euen darkenes and no light in it?

Will not the day of the Lord be darkness and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

21 I hate and abhorre your feast dayes, and I wil not smelll in your solemne assemblies.

I hate and have rejected your feasts; and I will not accept the odor from your gatherings.

22 Though ye offer me burnt offrings and meat offrings, I wil not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offrings of your fat beasts.

For if you offer me holocausts and your gifts, I will not receive them; and I will not look upon the vows of your fatness.

23 Take thou away from me the multitude of thy songs (for I wil not heare the melodie of thy violes)

Take away from me the tumult of your songs, and I will not listen to the canticles of your lyre.

24 And let iudgement runne downe as waters, and righteousnesse as a mightie riuer.

And judgment will be revealed like water, and justice like a mighty torrent.

25 Haue ye offered vnto me sacrifices and offrings in the wildernesse fourtie yeeres, O house of Israel?

Was it you who offered victims and sacrifices to me in the desert for forty years, house of Israel?

26 But you haue borne Siccuth your King, and Chiun your images, and the starre of your gods, which ye made to your selues.

And you carried a tabernacle for your Moloch and the image of your idols: the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.

27 Therefore wil I cause you to goe into captiuitie beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose Name is the God of hostes.

And I will cause you to go into captivity across Damascus, says the Lord. The God of hosts is his name.