Amos 5

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

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

2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise! she is forsaken upon her land; [there is] 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 saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out [by] a thousand shall leave a hundred, and that which went forth [by] a hundred shall leave 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 saith the LORD to the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:

For thus hath said the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye for me, and ye shall live;

5 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 naught.

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 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.

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

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

8 [Seek him] that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shades 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: JEHOVAH [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 That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.

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

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

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

11 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.

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 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].

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 prudent shall keep silence in 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 ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.

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 the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD 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 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 skillful in lamentation to wailing.

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

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

18 Woe to 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.

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 if a man fled 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.

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

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

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

22 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.

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

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

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

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

25 Have ye offered to me sacrifices and offerings in the 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 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to 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 cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, 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.