Amos 5

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

Hear this word that I am bearing to you, A lamentation, O house of Israel:

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.

“Fallen, not to rise again, has the virgin of Israel, Left on her land—she has none [to] 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 said Lord YHWH: “The city that is going out one thousand, Leaves one hundred, And that which is going out one hundred, Leaves ten to the house of Israel.”

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

For thus said YHWH to the house of Israel: “Seek Me, and 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.

And do not seek Beth-El, and do not enter Gilgal, And do not pass through Beer-Sheba, For Gilgal utterly removes, And Beth-El becomes vanity.

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

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

You who are turning judgment to wormwood, And have put down righteousness to the 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 the Pleiades and Orion, And He who is turning death-shade to the morning—And He has made day [as] dark [as] night—Who is calling to the waters of the sea, And pours them on the face of the earth, YHWH [is] His Name;

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

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

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

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

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, because of your trampling on the poor, And the tribute of grain you take from him, Houses of hewn work you have built, And you do not dwell in them, Desirable vineyards you have planted, And you do not drink their wine.

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 have known—many [are] your transgressions, And mighty your sins, Adversaries of the righteous, taking ransoms, And you turned aside the needy in the gate.

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

Therefore the wise is 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, that you may live, and it is so; YHWH, God of Hosts, [is] with you, as you said.

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 set up judgment in the gate, It may be YHWH, God of Hosts, pities 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 said YHWH, God of Hosts, the Lord: “Lamentation is in all broad places, And in all out-places they say, Oh! Oh! And called the farmer to mourning, And the skillful of wailing to lamentation.

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

And in all vineyards [is] lamentation, For I pass into your midst,” said YHWH.

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.

Behold, you who are desiring the Day of YHWH, Why [is] this to you—the Day of YHWH? It is 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.

As [when] one flees from the face of the lion, And the bear has met him, And he has come into the house, And has leaned his hand on the wall, And the serpent has bitten him.

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

Is not the Day of YHWH darkness and not light, Even thick darkness that has no brightness?

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

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

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

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

Turn the noise of your songs aside from Me, Indeed, I do not hear the praise of your stringed instruments.

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

And judgment rolls on as waters, And righteousness as a perennial stream.

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

Did you bring sacrifices and offerings near to Me, In a wilderness forty years, O 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 bore Succoth your king, and Chiun your images, The star of your god, that 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 removed you beyond Damascus,” said YHWH—God of Hosts [is] His Name.