Amos 5

1 Hear this word that I am bearing to you, 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 “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 thrown onto her land, there is no one who can 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.”

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

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

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 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—

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

You turn judgment into wormwood, and you abandon justice on 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;

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

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

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

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

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.

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 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 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 the wise is silent at 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 good, and not evil, that you may live, and it is so; YHWH, God of Hosts, [is] with you, as you 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 evil, and love good, And set up judgment in the gate, It may be YHWH, God of Hosts, pities 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 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.

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 [is] lamentation, For I pass into your midst,” said YHWH.

And in all the vineyards there will be wailing. For I will cross through your midst, 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,

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 [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.

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 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 darkness and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

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

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

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.

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 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 tumult of your songs, and I will not listen to the canticles of your lyre.

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

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

25 Did you bring sacrifices and offerings near to Me, In a wilderness 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 And you bore Succoth your king, and Chiun your images, The star of your god, that you 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 removed you beyond Damascus,” said YHWH—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.