Amos 5

1 Hear ye this word, which, I, am taking up concerning you—even a dirge, O house of Israel.

Hear ye this word which I take up against you, [even] a lamentation, O house of Israel.

2 She hath fallen—she cannot again rise, the virgin, Israel, —she lieth forsaken on her soil, there is 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, saith My Lord, Yahweh, The city that goeth out a thousand strong, shall have left it a hundred, —And, that which goeth out a hundred strong, shall have left it ten, belonging to the house of Israel.

For thus saith 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, saith Yahweh, to the house of Israel, —Seek me, and live;

For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:

5 Then do not seek Bethel, and, Gilgal, shall ye not enter, and, unto Beer-sheba, shall ye not cross over, For, Gilgal, shall, surely go into exile, and, Bethel, shall become a trouble.

But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought.

6 Seek ye Yahweh, and live, —lest he break forth, like a fire, upon the house of Joseph, and it devour with none to quench it, for Bethel.

Seek the LORD, 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 Beth-el.

7 Ye who turn, into, wormwood, justice, and, righteousness—to the ground have let fall.

Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,

8 [Seek him] who made the Cluster and the Giant, and turneth, into morning, the shadow of death, and who, day into night, doth darken, Him who calleth to the waters of the sea, and poureth them out on the face of the land, Yahweh, is his name:

[Seek him] that maketh the seven stars 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: The LORD [is] his name:

9 Him who flasheth force on the strong, —and, force, on the fortress, alighteth!

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

10 They hate the man who, in the gate, rebuketh, —and, him who speaketh truthfully, they abhor.

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

11 Therefore—because ye have trampled on the poor, and, the gift of corn, ye would take away from him, though, houses of hewn stone, ye have built, Yet shall ye not dwell in them, —Though, delightful vineyards, ye have planted, Yet shall ye not drink the wine of them.

Forasmuch therefore as your treading [is] upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.

12 For I know how numerous are your transgressions, and how surpassing your sins, —ye adversaries of the righteous! ye acceptors of a bribe! Even the needy in the gate, have they turned away!

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 prudent man, at that time, will be dumb, —Because an evil time, it is!

Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it [is] an evil time.

14 Seek ye right and not wrong, that ye nay live, —that, so, Yahweh God of hosts, may be with you, as ye have said.

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

15 Hate wrong, and love right, and station, Justice, in the gate, —Peradventure, Yahweh, God of hosts, will be gracious unto 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, saith Yahweh, God of hosts, My Lord, In all broadways, shall be lamentation, and, in all streets, shall they say, Alas! Alas! And they shall call the husbandman unto the mourning, and, unto the lamentation, them who know a wailing song;

Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing [shall be] in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.

17 Ye, in all vineyards, lamentation, —For I will pass along through thy midst, saith Yahweh.

And in all vineyards [shall be] wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD.

18 Alas for them who are longing for the day of Yahweh, —What good to you, is the day of Yahweh? it, being 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 if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and there should meet him—a bear! or he should have entered the house, and leaned his hand upon the wall, and there should bite him—a serpent!

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 Shall not the day of Yahweh be, darkness, and not light? yea, thick darkness and no brightness in it?

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

21 I hate, I despise your festivals, —and can scent no fragrance in your solemn feasts.

I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

22 Nay, though ye cause to ascend unto me ascending-sacrifices, and your meal-offerings, I will not accept [them], —nor, the peace-offering of your fat heifers, will I regard.

Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept [them: ] neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

23 Take thou away from me, the noise of thy songs, —Even the melody of thy harps, will I not hear.

Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

24 But let, justice, roll along like water, —and, righteousness, as a torrent over flowing.

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

25 The sacrifices and meal-offering, ye brought near unto me, in the desert, for forty years O house of Israel;

Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

26 But ye carried the tent of your king-idol, and your Saturn-images, —the star of your gods, which ye made for yourselves:

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

27 Therefore will I carry you into exile beyond Damascus, —saith Yahweh, God of hosts, is his name.

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