Amos 5

1 Listen to this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel:

Hear this word that I am bearing to you, A lamentation, O house of Israel:

2 “The virgin of Israel has fallen; She shall rise no more. She is cast down on her land; there is no one 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 the Lord GOD says: “The city that went out a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went out one hundred shall have ten left 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 the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek me, and you will live;

For thus said YHWH to the house of Israel: “Seek Me, and live,

5 but don’t seek Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and don’t pass to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nothing.

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

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 You who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth!

You who are turning judgment to wormwood, And have put down righteousness to the earth!”

8 Seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night; who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth, the LORD 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 who brings sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the fortress.

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

10 They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks blamelessly.

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

11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor and take taxes from him of wheat, you have built houses of cut stone, but you will not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.

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 how many are your offenses, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the just, who take a bribe, and who turn away the needy in the courts.

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 a prudent person keeps silent in such a 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 you may live; and so the LORD, the God of Armies, will be with you, as you say.

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 evil, love good, and establish justice in the courts. It may be that the LORD, the God of Armies, 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 Armies, the Lord, says: “Wailing will be in all the wide ways. They will say in all the streets, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They will call the farmer to mourning, and those who 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 In all vineyards there will be wailing, for I will pass through the middle of you,” says the LORD.

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

18 “Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why do you long for the day of the LORD? It 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 he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake 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 Won’t 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 feasts, and I can’t stand your solemn assemblies.

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

22 Yes, though you offer me your burnt offerings and meal offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat animals.

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 away from me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.

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

24 But let justice roll on like rivers, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

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

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

Did you bring sacrifices and offerings near to Me, In a wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

26 You also carried the tent of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which you made for 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,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Armies.

And I removed you beyond Damascus,” said YHWH—God of Hosts [is] His Name.