Amos 5

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

Hear this word, a lamentation, which I take up against you, 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.”

The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more arise: she is cast down upon her land; there is 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.”

For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred shall have ten left, for the house of Israel.

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

For thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel: Seek ye me, and ye shall 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.

And seek not Bethel, neither go to Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.

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 Jehovah, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour [it], and there be none to quench [it] in Bethel.

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

Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and cast 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;

[seek him] that made the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: Jehovah is his name.

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

He causeth destruction to break forth suddenly upon the strong, and bringeth destruction upon the fortress.

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

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

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.

Forasmuch, therefore, as ye trample upon the poor, and take from him presents of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, and ye shall not drink the wine of 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 how manifold are your transgressions and your sins mighty: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside [the right of] the needy in the gate.

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

Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in this 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, that ye may live; and so Jehovah, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye 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.

Hate evil, and love good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto 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 saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all broadways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! alas! And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.

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

And in all vineyards shall be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah.

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 unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! To what end is the day of Jehovah for you? It shall be 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.

as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

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

Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

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

I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will not smell [a sweet odour] in your solemn assemblies.

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 ye offer up unto me burnt-offerings and your oblations, I will not accept [them]; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fatted 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 thy songs, and I will not hear the melody of thy lutes;

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

but let judgment roll down as waters, and righteousness as an ever-flowing stream.

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

Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and oblations in the 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.

Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of your Moloch, and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye had made to 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 beyond Damascus, saith Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts.