Amos 5

1 Hear this word that I take up as a lament over you, house of Israel.

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

2 The virgin Israel has fallen; she will rise no more; she is forsaken on her land; there is no one 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 this is what the Lord Yahweh says: “The city that went out with a thousand will have a hundred left, and the one that went out with a hundred will have ten left belonging 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 this is what Yahweh says 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 Do not seek Bethel; nor enter Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into captivity, and Bethel will become nothing.

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 Yahweh and live, or he will break out like fire in the house of Joseph. It will devour, and there will be no one to quench it in Bethel.

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 Those people turn justice into a bitter thing and throw righteousness down to the ground!”

Ye who change justice into wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth!

8 God made the Pleiades and Orion; he turns darkness into the morning; he makes the day dark with night and calls for the waters of the sea; he pours them out on the surface of the earth. Yahweh 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 He brings sudden destruction on the strong so that destruction comes on the fortresses.

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

10 They hate anyone who corrects them in the city gate, and they abhor anyone who speaks the truth.

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

11 Because you trample down the poor and take portions of wheat from him— although you have built houses of worked stone, you will not live in them. You have delightful vineyards, but you will 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 know how many are your offenses and how great are your sins— you who afflict the just, take bribes, and turn aside the needy in the city 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 any prudent person is silent at such a 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, so that you may live. So Yahweh, the God of hosts, will really be with you, as you say he is.

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, love good, establish justice in the city gate. Perhaps Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be gracious to 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, this is what Yahweh says, the God of hosts, the Lord, “Wailing will be in all the squares, and they will say in all the streets, 'Woe! Woe!' They will call the farmers to mourning and the mourners to wail.

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 In all vineyards there will be wailing, for I will pass through your midst,” says Yahweh.

And in all vineyards there is lamentation; for I will pass through thy midst, saith the Lord.

18 Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It will be 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 a man flees from a lion and a bear meets him, or he goes in a house and puts his hand on the wall and a snake bites 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 Will not the day of Yahweh be darkness and not light? Gloom and 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 hate, I despise your festivals, I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

I hate, I despise your feast-days, and I will not smell [the sacrifices] on your festive assemblies.

22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them, neither will I look at the fellowship offerings of your fattened animals.

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 Remove from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the sound of your harps.

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

24 Instead, let justice flow like water, and righteousness like a constantly flowing stream.

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

25 Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness for forty years, house of Israel?

Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and meat-offerings in the wilderness [during] forty years, O house of Israel?

26 You have lifted up the images of Sikkuth, your king, and Kaiwan, your star god, which 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 Therefore I will exile you beyond Damascus,” says Yahweh, whose name is the God of hosts.

And I will cause you to go into exile far beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, The God of hosts is his name.