Amos 5

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

Give ear to this word, my song of sorrow over you, O children of Israel.

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

The virgin of Israel has been made low, never again to be lifted up: she is stretched out by herself on her land; there is no one to put her on her feet again.

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.”

For these are the words of the Lord God: The town which was able to send out a thousand, will have only a hundred; and that which sent out a hundred, will have only ten, in Israel.

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

For these are the words of the Lord to the children of Israel: Let your hearts be turned to me, so that you may have life:

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.

Do not be looking for help to Beth-el, and do not go to Gilgal, or make your way to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal will certainly be taken prisoner, and Beth-el will come to nothing.

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—

Go to the Lord for help so that you may have life; for fear that he may come like fire bursting out in the family of Joseph, causing destruction, and there will be no one to put it out in Beth-el.

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

You who make the work of judging a bitter thing, crushing 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;

Go for help to him who makes Orion and the Pleiades, by whom the deep dark is turned into morning, who makes the day black with night; whose voice goes out to the waters of the sea, sending them out over the face of the earth: the Lord is his name;

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

Who sends sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the walled town.

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

They have hate for him who makes protest against evil in the public place, and he whose words are upright is disgusting to them.

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.

So because the poor man is crushed under your feet, and you take taxes from him of grain: you have made for yourselves houses of cut stone, but you will not take your rest in them; the fair vine-gardens planted by your hands will not give you 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.

For I have seen how your evil-doing is increased and how strong are your sins, you troublers of the upright, who take rewards and do wrong to the cause of the poor in the public place.

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

So the wise will say nothing in 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.

Go after good and not evil, so that life may be yours: and so the Lord, the God of armies, will be with you, as you say.

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.

Be haters of evil and lovers of good, and let right be done in the public place: it may be that the Lord, the God of armies, will have mercy on the rest 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.

So these are the words of the Lord, the God of armies, the Lord: There will be weeping in all the open spaces; and in all the streets they will say, Sorrow! sorrow! and they will get in the farmer to the weeping, and the makers of sad songs to give cries of grief.

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

In all the vine-gardens there will be cries of grief: for I will go through among you, says the Lord.

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,

Sorrow to you who are looking for the day of the Lord! what is the day of the Lord to you? it is dark 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.

As if a man, running away from a lion, came face to face with a bear; or went into the house and put his hand on the wall and got a bite from a snake.

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

Will not the day of the Lord be dark and not light? even very dark, with no light shining in it?

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

Your feasts are disgusting to me, I will have nothing to do with them; I will take no delight in your holy meetings.

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.

Even if you give me your burned offerings and your meal offerings, I will not take pleasure in them: I will have nothing to do with the peace-offerings of your fat beasts.

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

Take away from me the noise of your songs; my ears are shut to the melody of your instruments.

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

But let the right go rolling on like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

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

Did you come to me with offerings of beasts and meal offerings in the waste land for forty years, O Israel?

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

Truly, you will take up Saccuth your king and Kaiwan your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.

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

And I will send you away as prisoners farther than Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of armies.