Amos 5

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

Listen to the words of the funeral song I am singing for you, 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, no more to rise, is the virgin Israel! Hurled down upon her own soil she lies, with no one to lift 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 the Lord God says this: The city that marches out with a thousand soldiers has only a hundred left, and the one that marches out with a hundred has only ten left.

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

For the Lord says this to 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.

But do not seek Bethel, do not enter Gilgal, do not go over to Beer-sheba. For Gilgal will enter exile, and Bethel will go to destruction.

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, or he will cast fire on the house of Joseph, and it will devour and there will be no one to quench it for Bethel.

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

You who turn judgment to bitter wormwood, and cast righteousness into the dirt:

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.

He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns deep darkness into dawn, who darkens day again into night, who summons the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the earth’s surface, the Lord is his name!

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

He causes destruction to burst over the strong. He brings devastation on the fortress.

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

You who hate the arbiters at the city gate, and abhor anyone who speaks the truth:

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.

Because you trample on the weak, and tax their grain, although you have built houses of hewn stone, you will not live in them, although you have planted charming vineyards, you will 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 know how many are your crimes, and how great are your sins! You persecutors of the righteous, takers of bribes! You deny the poor their justice at the city gate.

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

It would be wise to keep quiet in such 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, so the Lord, God of hosts, may be with you, as you have claimed he is.

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, establish justice at the city gate. Perhaps the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to a surviving 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 the Lord, the God of hosts, says: In all the public squares there will be wailing, in every street the sound of mourning. They will summon the farmers to mourning, and professional mourners to wailing.

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

In all vineyards there will be lamenting, when I pass 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.

Fools who long for the day of the Lord! What does the day of the Lord mean to you? 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.

It is as when one flees from a lion, and is attacked by a bear, as when one reaches home, leans his hand on the wall, and a snake bites him.

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

Won’t the Lord’s day be darkness and not light, murky darkness without a ray of light in it?

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

I hate, I despise your feasts, I will not smell the savor of your festivals,

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.

I will not be pleased with your burnt offerings, your grain offerings, I will not accept the peace offerings of your fattened calves.

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

Spare me the noise of your songs, I will not listen to the melody of your lyres.

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

But let justice roll on as a flood of waters, and righteousness like an unfailing stream.

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

Was it only sacrifices and grain offerings you brought me during the forty years in the wilderness, 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.

But now you will lift up your “king” Sikkuth and “star god” Kiyyun, your idols which you have 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.

as I drive you into exile beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.