Amos 5

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

Hear ye this word of the Lord, even a lamentation, which I take up against you. The house of Israel is fallen; it shall no more rise.

2 'Fallen, not again to rise, hath the virgin of Israel, Left on her land — she hath no raiser up.'

The virgin of Israel has fallen upon his land; there is none that shall raise her up.

3 For thus said the Lord Jehovah: The city that is going out a thousand, Doth leave an hundred, And that which is going out an hundred, Doth leave ten to the house of Israel.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God; The city out of which there went forth a thousand, [in it] there shall be left a hundred, and [in that] out of which there went forth a hundred, there shall be left ten to the house of Israel.

4 For thus said Jehovah to the house of Israel: Seek ye Me, and live,

Wherefore thus saith the Lord to the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live.

5 And seek not Beth-El, and Gilgal enter not, And Beer-Sheba pass not through, For Gilgal doth utterly remove, And Beth-El doth become vanity.

But seek not Bethel, and go not into Galgala, and cross not over to the Well of the Oath: for Galgala shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall be as that which is not.

6 Seek ye Jehovah, and live, Lest He prosper as fire [against] the house of Joseph, And it hath consumed, And there is no quencher for Beth-El.

Seek ye the Lord, and ye shall live; lest the house of Joseph blaze as fire, and it devour him, and there shall be none to quench it for the house of Israel.

7 Ye who are turning to wormwood judgment, And righteousness to the earth have put down,

[It is he] that executes judgment in the height [above], and he has established justice on the earth:

8 The maker of Kimah and Kesil, And the turner to morning of death-shade, And day [as] night He hath made dark, Who is calling to the waters of the sea, And poureth them on the face of the earth, Jehovah [is] His name;

who makes all things, and changes [them], and turns darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night: who calls for the water of the sea, and pours it out on the face of the earth: the Lord is his name:

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

who dispenses ruin to strength, and brings distress upon the fortress.

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

They hated him that reproved in the gates, and abhorred holy speech.

11 Therefore, because of your trampling on the poor, And the tribute of corn ye take from him, Houses of hewn work ye have built, And ye do not dwell in them, Desirable vineyards ye have planted, And ye do not drink their wine.

Therefore because they have smitten the poor with their fists, and ye have received of them choice gifts; ye have built polished houses, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted desirable vineyards, but ye shall not drink the wine of them.

12 For I have known — many [are] your transgressions, And mighty your sins, Adversaries of the righteous, taking ransoms, And the needy in the gate ye turned aside.

For I know your many transgressions, and your sins are great, trampling on the just, taking bribes, and turning aside [the judgment of] the poor in the gates.

13 Therefore is the wise at that time silent, For an evil time it [is].

Therefore the prudent shall be silent at that time; for it is a time of evils.

14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live, And it is so; Jehovah, God of Hosts, [is] with you, as ye said.

Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord God Almighty shall be with you, as ye have said,

15 Hate evil, and love good, And set up judgment in the gate, It may be Jehovah, God of Hosts, doth pity the remnant of Joseph.

We have hated evil, and loved good: and restore ye judgment in the gates; that the Lord God Almighty may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Hosts, the Lord, In all broad places [is] lamentation, And in all out-places they say, 'Alas, alas,' And called the husbandman to mourning, And to lamentation the skilful of wailing.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God Almighty; In all the streets [shall be] lamentations; and in all the ways shall it be said, Woe, woe! the husbandman shall be called to mourning and lamentation, and to them that are skilled in complaining.

17 And in all vineyards [is] lamentation, For I pass into thy midst, said Jehovah.

And [there shall be] lamentation in all the ways; because I will pass through the midst of thee, saith the Lord.

18 Ho, ye who are desiring the day of Jehovah, Why [is] this to you — the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light,

Woe to you that desire the day of the Lord! what is this day of the Lord to you? whereas it is darkness, and not light.

19 As [when] one fleeth from the face of the lion, And the bear hath met him, And he hath come in to the house, And hath leant his hand on the wall, And the serpent hath bitten him.

As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and a bear should meet him; and he should spring into his house, and lean his hands upon the wall, and a serpent should bite him.

20 Is not the day of Jehovah darkness and not light, Even thick darkness that hath no brightness?

Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light? and is not this [day] gloom without brightness?

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

I hate, I reject your feasts, and I will not smell [your] meat-offerings in your general assemblies.

22 For though ye cause burnt-offerings and your presents to ascend to Me, I am not pleased, And the peace-offering of your fatlings I behold not.

Wherefore if ye should bring me your whole-burnt-sacrifices and meat-offerings, I will not accept [them]: neither will I have respect to your grand peace-offerings.

23 Turn aside from Me the noise of thy songs, Yea, the praise of thy psaltery I hear not.

Remove from me the sound of thy songs, and I will not hear the music of thine instruments.

24 And roll on as waters doth judgment, And righteousness as a perennial stream.

But let judgment roll down as water, and righteousness as an impassable torrent.

25 Sacrifices and offering did ye bring nigh to Me, In a wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

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

26 And ye bare Succoth your king, and Chiun your images, The star of your god, that ye made for yourselves.

Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Raephan, the images of them which ye made for yourselves.

27 And I removed you beyond Damascus, Said Jehovah, God of Hosts [is] His name.

And I will carry you away beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, the Almighty God is his name.