Amos 5

1 Hear you this word of the Lord, even a lamentation, which I take up against you. The house of Israel is fallen; it shall no more rise.

Hear ye this word which I take up against you, as a lamentation, O house of Israel.

2 The virgin of Israel has fallen upon his land; there is none that shall raise her up.

She is fallen, she will not rise again—the virgin of Israel: she is thrown down upon her land; there is none to raise her up.

3 Therefore thus says the Lord God; The city out of which there went forth a thousand, [in it] there shall be left a hundred, and [in that] out of which there went forth a hundred, there shall be left ten to the house of Israel.

For thus hath said the Lord Eternal, The city that goeth forth with a thousand shall retain but a hundred, and she that goeth forth with a hundred shall retain but ten, [left] to the house of Israel.

4 Therefore thus says the Lord to the house of Israel, Seek you me, and you shall live.

For thus hath said the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye for me, and ye shall live;

5 But seek not Bethel, and go not into Galgala, and cross not over to the Well of the Oath: for Galgala shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall be as that which is not.

But seek not for Beth-el, and into Gilgal enter not, and to Beer-sheba' do not pass over; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Beth-el shall become naught.

6 Seek you the Lord, and you shall live; lest the house of Joseph blaze as fire, and it devour him, and there shall be none to quench it for the house of Israel.

Seek for the Lord, and ye shall live: so that he come not suddenly like fire over the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el;

7 [It is he] that executes judgment in the height [above], and he has established justice on the earth:

Ye who change justice into wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth!

8 who makes all things, and changes [them], and turns darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night: who calls for the water of the sea, and pours it out on the face of the earth: the Lord is his name:

[But] he maketh the seven stars and Orion, and changeth into morning the shadow of death, and maketh the day dark into night; he it is that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out over the face of the earth: The Lord is his name;

9 who dispenses ruin to strength, and brings distress upon the fortress.

That causeth wasting to prevail against the strong, so that wasting shall come against the fortress.

10 They hated him that reproved in the gates, and abhorred holy speech.

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

11 Therefore because they have struck the poor with their fists, and you have received of them choice gifts; you have built polished houses, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted desirable vineyards, but you shall not drink the wine of them.

Therefore forasmuch as you tread down upon the poor, and ye take from him onerous contributions of corn: if ye have built houses of hewn stone, ye shall not dwell in them; if ye have planted pleasant vineyards, ye shall not drink their wine.

12 For I know your many transgressions, and your sins are great, trampling on the just, taking bribes, and turning aside [the judgment of] the poor in the gates.

For I know your manifold transgressions and your numerous sins: ye are those that are the adversaries of the just, that take a ransom, and that wrest [the cause of] the needy in the gate.

13 Therefore the prudent shall be silent at that time; for it is a time of evils.

Therefore will the intelligent keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.

14 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live: and so the Lord God Almighty shall be with you, as you have said,

Seek for the good, and not the evil, in order that ye may live: and so will the Lord, the God of hosts, be with you, as ye have said.

15 We have hated evil, and loved good: and restore you judgment in the gates; that the Lord God Almighty may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice firmly in the gate: perhaps the Lord the God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore thus says the Lord God Almighty; In all the streets [shall be] lamentations; and in all the ways shall it be said, Woe, woe! the husbandman shall be called to mourning and lamentation, and to them that are skilled in complaining.

Therefore thus hath said the Eternal, the God of hosts, the Lord, On all public places there is lamentation, and in all the streets they cry, Woe! woe! and they call the husbandman to mourning, and to lamentation those skilled in wailing.

17 And [there shall be] lamentation in all the ways; because I will pass through the midst of you, says the Lord.

And in all vineyards there is lamentation; for I will pass through thy midst, saith the Lord.

18 Woe to you that desire the day of the Lord! what is this day of the Lord to you? whereas it is darkness, and not light.

Woe unto you that long for the day of the Lord! for what do you wish the day of the Lord? it is [one of] darkness, and not of light.

19 As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and a bear should meet him; and he should spring into his house, and lean his hands upon the wall, and a serpent should bite him.

As if a man were to flee from a lion, and a bear should meet him; and he enter into the house, and lean his hand against the wall, and a serpent should bite him.

20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light? and is not this [day] gloom without brightness?

Behold the day of the Lord is [one of] darkness, and not of light; yea, it is obscure, and hath no brightness.

21 I hate, I reject your feasts, and I will not smell [your] meat-offerings in your general assemblies.

I hate, I despise your feast-days, and I will not smell [the sacrifices] on your festive assemblies.

22 Therefore if you should bring me your whole burnt sacrifices and meat-offerings, I will not accept [them]: neither will I have respect to your grand peace-offerings.

For though ye should offer me burnt-offerings and your meat-offerings, I will not accept them in favor: and the peace-offerings of your fatted cattle will I not look at.

23 Remove from me the sound of your songs, and I will not hear the music of your instruments.

Remove thou from around me the noise of thy songs: and the playing of thy psalteries I will not hear.

24 But let judgment roll down as water, and righteousness as an impassable torrent.

But let justice roll along like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

25 Have you offered to me victims and sacrifices, O house of Israel, forty years in the wilderness?

Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and meat-offerings in the wilderness [during] forty years, O house of Israel?

26 Yes, you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Raephan, the images of them which you made for yourselves.

Bear then the canopy of your chief idol, and the figure of your images, the star of your god, which ye have made for yourselves.

27 And I will carry you away beyond Damascus, says the Lord, the Almighty God is his name.

And I will cause you to go into exile far beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, The God of hosts is his name.