Amos 5

1 Hear this word that I am bearing to you, A lamentation, O house of Israel:

2 “Fallen, not to rise again, has the virgin of Israel, Left on her land—she has none [to] raise [her] up.”

3 For thus said Lord YHWH: “The city that is going out one thousand, Leaves one hundred, And that which is going out one hundred, Leaves ten to the house of Israel.”

4 For thus said YHWH to the house of Israel: “Seek Me, and live,

5 And do not seek Beth-El, and do not enter Gilgal, And do not pass through Beer-Sheba, For Gilgal utterly removes, And Beth-El becomes vanity.

6 Seek YHWH, and live, Lest He prosper as fire [against] the house of Joseph, And it has consumed, And there is no quencher for Beth-El—

7 You who are turning judgment to wormwood, And have put down righteousness to the earth!”

8 The Maker of the Pleiades and Orion, And He who is turning death-shade to the morning—And He has made day [as] dark [as] night—Who is calling to the waters of the sea, And pours them on the face of the earth, YHWH [is] His Name;

9 Who is brightening up the spoiled against the strong, And the spoiled comes against a fortress.

10 They have hated a reprover in the gate, And they detest a plain speaker.

11 Therefore, because of your trampling on the poor, And the tribute of grain you take from him, Houses of hewn work you have built, And you do not dwell in them, Desirable vineyards you have planted, And you do not drink their wine.

12 For I have known—many [are] your transgressions, And mighty your sins, Adversaries of the righteous, taking ransoms, And you turned aside the needy in the gate.

13 Therefore the wise is silent at that time, For it [is] an evil time.

14 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live, and it is so; YHWH, God of Hosts, [is] with you, as you said.

15 Hate evil, and love good, And set up judgment in the gate, It may be YHWH, God of Hosts, pities the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore, thus said YHWH, God of Hosts, the Lord: “Lamentation is in all broad places, And in all out-places they say, Oh! Oh! And called the farmer to mourning, And the skillful of wailing to lamentation.

17 And in all vineyards [is] lamentation, For I pass into your midst,” said YHWH.

18 Behold, you who are desiring the Day of YHWH, Why [is] this to you—the Day of YHWH? It is darkness, and not light,

19 As [when] one flees from the face of the lion, And the bear has met him, And he has come into the house, And has leaned his hand on the wall, And the serpent has bitten him.

20 Is not the Day of YHWH darkness and not light, Even thick darkness that has no brightness?

21 “I have hated—I have loathed your festivals, And I am not refreshed by your restraints.

22 For though you cause burnt-offerings and your presents to ascend to Me, I am not pleased, And I do not behold the peace-offering of your fatlings.

23 Turn the noise of your songs aside from Me, Indeed, I do not hear the praise of your stringed instruments.

24 And judgment rolls on as waters, And righteousness as a perennial stream.

25 Did you bring sacrifices and offerings near to Me, In a wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

26 And you bore Succoth your king, and Chiun your images, The star of your god, that you made for yourselves.

27 And I removed you beyond Damascus,” said YHWH—God of Hosts [is] His Name.