Amos 5

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

Hear this word that I am bearing to you, 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.

“Fallen, not to rise again, has the virgin of Israel, Left on her land—she has 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 said Lord YHWH: “The city that is going out one thousand, Leaves one hundred, And that which is going out one hundred, Leaves ten 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 said YHWH to the house of Israel: “Seek Me, and 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.

And do not seek Beth-El, and do not enter Gilgal, And do not pass through Beer-Sheba, For Gilgal utterly removes, And Beth-El becomes vanity.

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 YHWH, and live, Lest He prosper as fire [against] the house of Joseph, And it has consumed, And there is no quencher for Beth-El—

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

You who are turning judgment to wormwood, And have put 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:

The Maker of the Pleiades and Orion, And He who is turning death-shade to the morning—And He has made day [as] dark [as] night—Who is calling to the waters of the sea, And pours them on the face of the earth, YHWH [is] His Name;

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

Who is brightening up the spoiled against the strong, And the spoiled comes against a fortress.

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

They have hated a reprover in the gate, And they detest a plain speaker.

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, because of your trampling on the poor, And the tribute of grain you take from him, Houses of hewn work you have built, And you do not dwell in them, Desirable vineyards you have planted, And you do 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 have known—many [are] your transgressions, And mighty your sins, Adversaries of the righteous, taking ransoms, And you turned aside the needy in the gate.

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

Therefore the wise is silent at 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 good, and not evil, that you may live, and it is so; YHWH, God of Hosts, [is] with you, as you 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 evil, and love good, And set up judgment in the gate, It may be YHWH, God of Hosts, pities 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 said YHWH, God of Hosts, the Lord: “Lamentation is in all broad places, And in all out-places they say, Oh! Oh! And called the farmer to mourning, And the skillful of wailing to lamentation.

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

And in all vineyards [is] lamentation, For I pass into your midst,” said YHWH.

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.

Behold, you who are desiring the Day of YHWH, Why [is] this to you—the Day of YHWH? It is darkness, and not 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 [when] one flees from the face of the lion, And the bear has met him, And he has come into the house, And has leaned his hand on the wall, And the serpent has bitten him.

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

Is not the Day of YHWH darkness and not light, Even thick darkness that has no brightness?

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

“I have hated—I have loathed your festivals, And I am not refreshed by your restraints.

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 you cause burnt-offerings and your presents to ascend to Me, I am not pleased, And I do not behold the peace-offering of your fatlings.

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

Turn the noise of your songs aside from Me, Indeed, I do not hear the praise of your stringed instruments.

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

And judgment rolls on as waters, And righteousness as a perennial stream.

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

Did you bring sacrifices and offerings near to Me, In a wilderness 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.

And you bore Succoth your king, and Chiun your images, The star of your god, that you 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 removed you beyond Damascus,” said YHWH—God of Hosts [is] His Name.