Amos 5

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

Listen, people of Israel, to this funeral lament that I sing about you!

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

Virgin Israel has fallen, and will never rise again! She lies abandoned on the ground, and there is no one to help 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.”

This is what the Lord says: From a city that sends out a thousand soldiers, only a hundred will return; from a city that sends out a hundred soldiers, only ten will return.

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

This is what the Lord says to the people of Israel: Look to me so you may 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.

Do not look to the false gods of Bethel, do not go to the pagan shrines of Gilgal or travel to those of Beersheba. For Gilgal will go into exile, and Bethel 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—

Look to the Lord so you may live! Otherwise he will explode like fire against the descendants of Joseph and no one from Bethel will be able to quench it.

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

You twist justice and make it bitter, you throw integrity to the ground.

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 One who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns the darkness into morning, and daytime into night, who calls for the water of the seas, and pours it down as rain upon the earth—the Lord is his name!

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

In a flash he cuts down the strong and destroys the fortresses.

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

You hate anyone who confronts injustice and loathe anyone who speaks honestly.

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.

Because you trample down the poor and impose a tax on their grain, building for yourselves impressive houses, you will not live in them, and you will not drink wine from the fine vineyards you have planted.

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 the extent of your wrongdoing and your numerous sins. You oppress good people by taking bribes, and you prevent the poor from getting justice in the courts.

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

So smart people keep quiet in such evil times.

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

Do what is right, and not evil, so you may live. Then the Lord God of power will be with you, as you claim he is.

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 make sure justice wins out in your courts. Maybe the Lord God of power will have mercy on those who are left of Jacob's people.

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.

For this is what the Lord, the Lord God of power says: There will be weeping in the city squares and wailing in the streets. They will call even the farmers to grieve, as well as the professional mourners.

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

There will be wailing in every vineyard, for I will pass through the midst of 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,

How disastrous it will be for those of you who long for the day of the Lord. Why would you want the day of the Lord to come? It will bring darkness, 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 will be like a man running away from a lion only to meet a bear; or a man who goes home and leans his hand on a wall, only to be bitten by a snake.

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

Isn't the day of the Lord darkness without light? Yes, pitch dark without a glimmer of light.

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

I hate, I despise your festivals and take no delight in your religious 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.

Even though you present me with burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. As for your peace offerings of fattened cattle—I will not even look at them.

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

Stop your noisy worship songs. I will not listen to the melody of your harps.

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

Rather let justice flow like a river, and doing right 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 bring me sacrifices during those forty years in the desert, people of Israel?

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

But now you carry idols of Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god that you made for yourselves.

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

So I will send you into exile in a land beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of power.