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.

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

2 The virgin of Israel has fallen upon his land; there is none that shall 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 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 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 Therefore thus says the Lord to the house of Israel, Seek you me, and you shall live.

For the Lord says this to Israel: Seek me and 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 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 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 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 [It is he] that executes judgment in the height [above], and he has established justice on the earth:

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

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:

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

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

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

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

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.

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 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 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 be silent at that time; for it is a time of evils.

It would be wise to keep quiet in such 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 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 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 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 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 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 [there shall be] lamentation in all the ways; because I will pass through the midst of you, says the Lord.

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

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 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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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