Amos 5

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

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

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.

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

For the Lord says this to Israel: Seek me and 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 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 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, 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 Ye who change justice into wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth!

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

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;

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

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

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

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

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.

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 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 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 will the intelligent 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 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, 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 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, 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 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 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 there is lamentation; for I will pass through thy midst, saith the Lord.

In all vineyards there will be lamenting, when I pass 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.

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 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 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 Behold the day of the Lord is [one of] darkness, and not of light; yea, it is obscure, and hath no 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 despise your feast-days, and I will not smell [the sacrifices] on your festive assemblies.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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