Amos 5

1 Hear all of you this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel.

Listen to the words of the funeral song I am singing for you, Israel:

2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.

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 says the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave 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 says the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek all of you me, and all of you shall live:

For the Lord says this to Israel: Seek me and live,

5 But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nothing.

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 Seek the LORD, and all of you shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel.

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 All of you who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,

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

8 Seek him that makes the seven stars and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night: that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the 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 That strengthens the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

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

10 They hate him that rebukes in the gate, and they detest him that speaks uprightly.

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

11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and all of you take from him burdens of wheat: all of you have built houses of hewn stone, but all of you shall not dwell in them; all of you have planted pleasant vineyards, but all of you shall not drink 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 mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.

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 keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.

It would be wise to keep quiet in such an evil time.

14 Seek good, and not evil, that all of you may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as all of you have 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 evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

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 Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD, says thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the farmer to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.

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 all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through you, says the LORD.

In all vineyards there will be lamenting, when I pass through your midst, says the Lord.

18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, 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 lion, and a bear 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 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness 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, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

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

22 Though all of you offer me burnt offerings and your food offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings 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 you away from me the noise of your songs; for I will not hear the melody of your viols.

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

24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

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

25 Have all of you offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

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

26 But all of you have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which all of you made to yourselves.

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

27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, says the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.

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