Amos 5

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

Hear ye this word, which I take up concerning you for a lamentation. The house of Israel is fallen, and it shall rise no more.

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 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 God: The city, out of which came forth a thousand, there shall be left in it a hundred: and out of which there came a hundred, there shall be left in it ten, in the house of Israel.

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

For thus saith the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek ye me, and you 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.

But seek not Bethel, and go not into Galgal, neither shall you pass over to Bersabee: for Galgal shall go into captivity, and Bethel shall be unprofitable.

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 ye the Lord, and live: lest the house of Joseph be burnt with fire, and it shall devour, and there shall be none to quench Bethel.

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

You that turn judgment into wormwood, and forsake justice in the land,

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 maketh Arcturus, and Orion, and that turneth darkness into morning, and that changeth day into night: that calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon 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.

He that with a smile bringeth destruction upon the strong, and waste upon the mighty.

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

They have hated him that rebuketh in the gate: and have abhorred him that speaketh 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 because you robbed the poor, and took the choice prey from him: you shall build houses with square stone, and shall not dwell in them: you shall plant most delightful vineyards, and 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.

Because I know your manifold crimes, and your grievous sins: enemies of the just, taking bribes, and oppressing the poor in the gate.

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

Therefore the prudent shall keep silence 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 ye good, and not evil, that you may live: and the Lord the God of hosts will be with you, as you have 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.

Hate evil, and love good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be the Lord the 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 saith the Lord the God of hosts the sovereign Lord: In every street there shall be wailing: and in all places that are without, they shall say: Alas, alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skillful in lamentation to lament.

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

And in all vineyards there shall be wailing: because I will pass through in the midst of thee, saith 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 them that desire the day of the Lord: to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord 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.

As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and a bear should meet him: or enter into the house, and lean with his hand upon the wall, and a serpent should bite him.

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

Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light: and obscurity, and 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 festivities: and I will not receive the odour of your 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.

And if you offer me holocausts, and your gifts, I will not receive them: neither will I regard the vows 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 tumult of thy songs: and I will not hear the canticles of thy harp.

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

But judgment shall be revealed as water, and justice as a mighty torrent.

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

Did you offer victims and sacrifices to me in the desert for 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.

But you carried a tabernacle for your Moloch, and the image of your idols, the star of your god, which you 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 the Lord, the God of hosts is his name.