Amos 5

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

Listen, people of Israel, to this funeral lament that I sing about you!

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.”

Virgin Israel has fallen, and will never rise again! She lies abandoned on the ground, and there is no one to help 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.”

This is what the Lord says: From a city that sends out a thousand soldiers, only a hundred will return; from a city that sends out a hundred soldiers, only ten will return.

4 For the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek me, and you will live;

This is what the Lord says to the people of Israel: Look to me so you may 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.

Do not look to the false gods of Bethel, do not go to the pagan shrines of Gilgal or travel to those of Beersheba. For Gilgal will go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.

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.

Look to the Lord so you may live! Otherwise he will explode like fire against the descendants of Joseph and no one from Bethel will be able to quench it.

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

You twist justice and make it bitter, you throw integrity to the ground.

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 One who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns the darkness into morning, and daytime into night, who calls for the water of the seas, and pours it down as rain upon the earth—the Lord is his name!

9 who brings sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the fortress.

In a flash he cuts down the strong and destroys the fortresses.

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

You hate anyone who confronts injustice and loathe anyone who speaks honestly.

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.

Because you trample down the poor and impose a tax on their grain, building for yourselves impressive houses, you will not live in them, and you will not drink wine from the fine vineyards you have planted.

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 know the extent of your wrongdoing and your numerous sins. You oppress good people by taking bribes, and you prevent the poor from getting justice in the courts.

13 Therefore a prudent person keeps silent in such a time, for it is an evil time.

So smart people keep quiet in such evil times.

14 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you say.

Do what is right, and not evil, so you may live. Then the Lord God of power will be with you, as you claim he is.

15 Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the courts. It may be that the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

Hate evil and love good—and make sure justice wins out in your courts. Maybe the Lord God of power will have mercy on those who are left of Jacob's people.

16 Therefore the LORD, the God of Hosts, 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.

For this is what the Lord, the Lord God of power says: There will be weeping in the city squares and wailing in the streets. They will call even the farmers to grieve, as well as the professional mourners.

17 In all vineyards there will be wailing, for I will pass through the middle of you,” says the LORD.

There will be wailing in every vineyard, for I will pass through the midst of you, says the Lord.

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.

How disastrous it will be for those of you who long for the day of the Lord. Why would you want the day of the Lord to come? It will bring darkness, 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.

It will be like a man running away from a lion only to meet a bear; or a man who goes home and leans his hand on a wall, only to be bitten by a snake.

20 Won’t the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Isn't the day of the Lord darkness without light? Yes, pitch dark without a glimmer of light.

21 I hate, I despise your feasts, and I can’t stand your solemn assemblies.

I hate, I despise your festivals and take no delight in your religious assemblies.

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.

Even though you present me with burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. As for your peace offerings of fattened cattle—I will not even look at them.

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

Stop your noisy worship songs. I will not listen to the melody of your harps.

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

Rather let justice flow like a river, and doing right like an ever-flowing stream.

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

Did you bring me sacrifices during those forty years in the desert, people 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.

But now you carry idols of Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star 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 Hosts.

So I will send you into exile in a land beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of power.