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 against you, as 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.”

She is fallen, she will not rise again—the virgin of Israel: she is thrown 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 hath said the Lord Eternal, The city that goeth forth with a thousand shall retain but a hundred, and she that goeth forth with a hundred shall retain but ten, [left] to the house of Israel.

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

For thus hath said the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye for 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.

But seek not for Beth-el, and into Gilgal enter not, and to Beer-sheba' do not pass over; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Beth-el shall become naught.

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 for the Lord, and ye shall live: so that he come not suddenly like fire over the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el;

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

Ye who change justice into 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;

[But] he maketh the seven stars and Orion, and changeth into morning the shadow of death, and maketh the day dark into night; he it is that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth 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.

That causeth wasting to prevail against the strong, so that wasting shall come against the fortress.

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

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

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 forasmuch as you tread down upon the poor, and ye take from him onerous contributions of corn: if ye have built houses of hewn stone, ye shall not dwell in them; if ye have planted pleasant vineyards, ye shall not drink their wine.

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 numerous sins: ye are those that are the adversaries of the just, that take a ransom, and that wrest [the cause of] the needy in the gate.

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

Therefore will the intelligent 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 for the good, and not the evil, in order that ye may live: and so will the Lord, the God of hosts, be with you, as ye 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 the evil, and love the good, and establish justice firmly in the gate: perhaps the Lord 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 hath said the Eternal, the God of hosts, the Lord, On all public places there is lamentation, and in all the streets they cry, Woe! woe! and they call the husbandman to mourning, and to lamentation those skilled in wailing.

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

And in all vineyards there is lamentation; for I will pass through thy midst, 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 unto you that long for the day of the Lord! for what do you wish the day of the Lord? it is [one of] darkness, and not of 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 were to flee from a lion, and a bear should meet him; and he enter into the house, and lean his hand against 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?

Behold the day of the Lord is [one of] darkness, and not of light; yea, it is obscure, and hath no brightness.

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 [the sacrifices] on your festive 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 though ye should offer me burnt-offerings and your meat-offerings, I will not accept them in favor: and the peace-offerings of your fatted cattle will I not look at.

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

Remove thou from around me the noise of thy songs: and the playing of thy psalteries I will not hear.

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

But let justice roll along like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

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

Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and meat-offerings in the wilderness [during] 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.

Bear then the canopy of your chief idol, and the figure of your images, the star of your god, which ye have 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 exile far beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, The God of hosts is his name.