Amos 5
1 You people [MTY] of Israel, listen to this funeral song that I will sing about you:
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 “You are like [MET] a young woman, but in spite of that, you will certainly be struck down and you will never get up again! You will lie on the ground, abandoned, and there will be no one to help you stand up.”
The virgin of Israel is cast down upon her land, there is none to raise her up.
3 This is what Yahweh the Lord says to the people [MTY] of Israel: [“When your enemies attack you, ] and when 1,000 [of your soldiers] will go [to a battle], there will be only 100 who will survive. When 100 soldiers march out [from a city to fight], there will be only ten who will remain alive.”
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 Yahweh continues to say to the people [MTY] of Israel: “You Israeli people, return to me! If you do that, you will continue to remain alive.
For thus saith the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek ye me, and you shall live.
5 Do not go to Bethel to seek [my help]; do not go to Gilgal [to worship]; do not [even] go to Beersheba, because [your enemies] will drag away [the people of] Gilgal to other countries, and Bethel will be completely destroyed.”
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 So, come to Yahweh; if you do that, you will remain alive. If you do not do that, Yahweh will descend on you descendants [MTY] of Joseph like [SIM] a fire; that fire will burn everything in Bethel, and (nothing/no one) will be able to save that town.
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 people distort what is fair/right and cause [people to think that] it is something that is very bitter; you treat good things as though they are evil.
You that turn judgment into wormwood, and forsake justice in the land,
8 [Do you know who] created all the groups of stars and put them in their places? [Each morning] he causes the darkness to become the dawn, and [each evening] he causes the daylight to become darkness. He scoops up water from the oceans [to become clouds], and then he dumps the water [from the clouds] onto the earth. The one who does those things is named Yahweh.
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 He causes strong [soldiers] to be killed, and causes the (high walls around/fortresses of) cities to be torn down.
He that with a smile bringeth destruction upon the strong, and waste upon the mighty.
10 [He is the one who will punish you] because you hate those who challenge anyone who tries to make unjust decisions, and you hate those who tell the truth in your courts.
They have hated him that rebuketh in the gate: and have abhorred him that speaketh perfectly.
11 You oppress poor people and force them to pay big taxes. You have built big stone mansions [for yourselves], but you will not be able to live in them. You have planted vineyards, but there will not be any [grapes for you to harvest to make] 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 I know all of your sins and the terrible crimes that you have committed. You oppress righteous/honest people, and you accept bribes. You do not allow judges to treat poor people justly.
Because I know your manifold crimes, and your grievous sins: enemies of the just, taking bribes, and oppressing the poor in the gate.
13 This is a time when [many people do] evil things, so people who have good sense say nothing [when they hear about such things being done].
Therefore the prudent shall keep silence at that time, for it is an evil time.
14 In order to remain alive, you must stop doing what is wrong, and start doing what is right. If you do that, the Commander of the armies of angels will be with you like you claim [that he always is].
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 Love what is good, and hate what is evil! Try to cause [judges] in your courts to make decisions that are right/fair! If you do those things, perhaps the Commander of the armies of angels will act mercifully toward [you descendants of] Joseph who are still alive.
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 “Because I, Yahweh, [will punish you for your sins], this is what I have solemnly declared: People will be wailing loudly in every street, and people will be very sorrowful in every plaza. Farmers will be summoned to [come and] weep, along with the other official mourners who will wail [for those who have died].
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 People will be wailing in your vineyards, because I will punish you [IDM] severely. [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, have said it!”
And in all vineyards there shall be wailing: because I will pass through in the midst of thee, saith the Lord.
18 Terrible things will happen to you who desire that it will soon be the day when Yahweh [will punish your enemies], because that will be a day of darkness, not of 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 [At that time, ] when you try to run from a lion, you will face a bear. When you run into your house [to be safe], and you put your hand on a wall, it will be bitten by a snake.
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 That day, [when he punishes people], will certainly be [RHQ] a very dark day [MET], without even a little bit of light.
Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light: and obscurity, and no brightness in it?
21 [Yahweh says], “I hate your religious celebrations and the times when you gather to worship me; I detest them [DOU].
I hate, and have rejected your festivities: and I will not receive the odour of your assemblies.
22 Even if you bring me offerings that will be completely burned [on the altar] and offerings of grain, I will no longer accept them. Even if you bring me offerings to renew/maintain fellowship with me, I will not pay any attention to them.
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 So, stop singing noisy/loud songs! I will not listen when you play harps.
Take away from me the tumult of thy songs: and I will not hear the canticles of thy harp.
24 Instead, your continually acting justly/fairly and righteously should be [never stop, ] like [SIM] [the water in] a river that never stops flowing.
But judgment shall be revealed as water, and justice as a mighty torrent.
25 You Israeli people [MTY], your [ancestors] wandered through the desert for 40 years; and during that time, they never brought any sacrifices and offerings to me!
Did you offer victims and sacrifices to me in the desert for forty years, O house of Israel?
26 But they carried the two idols that they had made— the idols of Succoth, the god [that they considered to be] their king, and Kaiwan, [the image of the] star [that they worshiped].
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 Therefore, now I will force you to go to [a country that is] far beyond Damascus! [That will surely happen because] I, the Commander of the armies of angels, have said it!”
And I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, the God of hosts is his name.
