Amos 5

1 Hear ye this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O 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 virgin of Israel is fallen, she shall no more rise; she is cast down upon her land, there is none to raise her up.

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

3 For thus saith the Lord GOD: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred shall have ten left, of 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 unto the house of Israel: Seek ye Me, and live;

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

5 But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, 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 Seek the LORD, and live — lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Bethel —

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 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and cast righteousness to the ground;

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

8 Him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and bringeth on the shadow of death in the morning, and darkeneth the day into night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the 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 That causeth destruction to flash upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress.

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

10 They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

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

11 Therefore, because ye trample upon the poor, and take from him exactions of wheat; ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them, ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine thereof.

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 how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins; ye that afflict the just, that take a ransom, and that turn aside the needy in the 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 doth keep silence in such a time; for it is an evil time.

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

14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, as ye say.

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 evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

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 Therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord: Lamentation shall be in all the broad places, and they shall say in all the streets: 'Alas! alas!' and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and proclaim lamentation to such as are skilful of wailing.

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 all vineyards shall be lamentation; for I will pass through the midst of 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 unto you that desire the day of the LORD! Wherefore would ye have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, 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 lion, and a bear met him; and 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 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?

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

21 I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

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

22 Yea, though ye offer me burnt-offerings and your meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings 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 noise of thy songs; and let Me not hear the melody of thy psalteries.

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

24 But let justice well up as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

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

25 Did ye bring unto Me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

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

26 So shall ye take up Siccuth your king and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.

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 will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith He, whose name is the LORD God of hosts.

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