Amos 5

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

Hear all of you this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, 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 rise: she is forsaken 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 says the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.

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

For thus says the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek all of you me, and all of 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, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall 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—

Seek the LORD, and all of you 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!”

All of you who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in 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 makes the seven stars and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night: that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours 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.

That strengthens the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

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

They hate him that rebukes in the gate, and they detest him that speaks 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 your treading is upon the poor, and all of you take from him burdens of wheat: all of you have built houses of hewn stone, but all of you shall not dwell in them; all of you have planted pleasant vineyards, but all of you shall not drink 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 your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.

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

Therefore the prudent shall keep silence 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.

Seek good, and not evil, that all of you may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as all of you have spoken.

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 the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD 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 the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD, says thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the farmer 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 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,

Woe unto you 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 did flee 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 the LORD 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 feast days, and I will not smell 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.

Though all of you offer me burnt offerings and your food offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard 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 you away from me the noise of your songs; for I will not hear the melody of your viols.

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

But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

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

Have all of you offered unto me sacrifices and offerings 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.

But all of you have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which all of you made to yourselves.

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

Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, says the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.