Amos 5
1 You people [MTY] of Israel, listen to this funeral song that I will sing about you:
Hear these words, which I utter concerning you; This lamentation, O house of Israel!
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.”
She is fallen, she shall rise no more, The virgin of Israel! She is prostrate on her own ground, 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 Jehovah; The city which sent out a thousand shall have a hundred left, And that which sent out a hundred shall have ten left, To 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 Jehovah to the house of Israel: Seek ye me, and ye 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.”
Seek not Bethel, And go not to Gilgal, And pass not over to Beersheba! For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity! And Bethel shall come to naught.
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 Jehovah, and ye shall live! Lest he rush like a fire on the house of Joseph, And it devour, and there be none to quench it in the house of Israel.
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.
Ye who turn justice into wormwood, And cast righteousness down to the ground.
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 made the Pleiades and Orion; That changeth death-like darkness into morning, And darkeneth day into night; That calleth up the waters of the sea, And poureth them out upon the face of the earth; Jehovah is his name!
9 He causes strong [soldiers] to be killed, and causes the (high walls around/fortresses of) cities to be torn down.
Who sendeth sudden destruction upon the strong, And bringeth desolation upon the fortress.
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 hate him that pleadeth in the gate, And abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
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.
Since, then, ye trample upon the poor, And take from him presents of wheat, Though ye build houses of hewn stone, ye shall not dwell in them; Though ye plant pleasant vineyards, ye shall not drink their wine.
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.
For I know that your sins are many, And your transgressions manifold, Ye who afflict the righteous, and take a bribe, And oppress 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 wise man shall be silent at that time, For it shall be 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 ye may live; Then shall Jehovah, the God of hosts, be with you, as ye boast.
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 ye evil, and love good, And establish justice in the gate; It may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will have pity upon 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].
Thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: In all the streets shall there be wailing, And in all the highways shall they cry, Alas! alas! They shall call the husbandmen to mourning, And those who are skilful in lamentation to wailing,
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 shall be sounds of woe, For I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah.
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 unto them that ask for the day of Jehovah! What is the day of Jehovah to you? It shall be 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 fled from a lion, And a bear met him; Or went into a house and leaned his hand on a wall, And a serpent bit him;
20 That day, [when he punishes people], will certainly be [RHQ] a very dark day [MET], without even a little bit of light.
So shall the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light, Even thick darkness, 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, I despise your feasts; I have no delight in your solemn 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.
When ye offer me burnt-offerings and flour-offerings, I will not accept them; And upon the thank-offerings of your fatlings I will not look.
23 So, stop singing noisy/loud songs! I will not listen when you play harps.
Take ye away from me the noise of your songs, And the music of your harps let me not hear!
24 Instead, your continually acting justly/fairly and righteously should be [never stop, ] like [SIM] [the water in] a river that never stops flowing.
Let justice flow forth as waters, And righteousness as a mighty stream!
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 ye offer me sacrifices and offerings In the wilderness, 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 ye bore the tabernacle of your king, And the shrine of your images, The star of your god, which ye made for 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!”
Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, Saith Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts!
