Amos 5

1 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, as a lamentation, 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 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.

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

3 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.

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

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

5 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.

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 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;

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

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

8 [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;

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

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

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

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

11 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.

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 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.

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

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

14 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.

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 firmly in the gate: perhaps 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 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.

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 there is lamentation; for I will pass through thy midst, 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 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.

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 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.

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

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

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

22 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.

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

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

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

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

25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and meat-offerings in the wilderness [during] 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 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.

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

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