Amos 5

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

Listen to this word, which I lift over you in lamentation. The house of Israel has fallen, and it will no longer rise again.

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 been thrown onto her land, there is no one who can 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.

For thus says the Lord God: In the city from which a thousand departed, a hundred will remain, and in that from which a hundred departed, ten will remain, in the house of Israel.

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

For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek me and you will 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 do not be willing to seek Bethel, and do not be willing to enter Gilgal, and you will not cross into Beer-sheba. For Gilgal will be led into captivity, and Bethel will be useless.

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 the Lord and live. Otherwise, the house of Joseph may be destroyed with fire, and it will devour, and there will be no one who can extinguish Bethel.

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

You turn judgment into wormwood, and you abandon justice on 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;

The Maker of Arcturus and Orion, who turns darkness into daybreak and who changes day into night; who calls forth the waters of the sea and who pours them out over 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.

It is he who smiles destruction on the healthy, and who brings pillaging upon the powerful.

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

They held hatred for the one who corrects at the gate, and they have abhorred the one who speaks perfectly.

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, on his behalf, because you have torn apart the poor and stolen choice prey from him: you will build houses with square stones and you will not dwell in them; you will plant the most delightful vineyards, and you will not drink wine from 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 wicked deeds and the strength of your sins, you enemies of the just, accepting bribes, and depriving the poor at the gate.

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

Therefore, the prudent will be silent at that time, for it is an evil time.

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, so that you may live. And the Lord God of hosts will be with you, just as you have asked.

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.

Hate evil and love good, and establish judgment at the gate. Perhaps then the Lord God of hosts 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 says the Lord God of hosts, the Sovereign: In all the streets, there will be wailing. And in every place where they are outdoors, they will say, “Woe, woe!” And they will call the farmer to mourn, and those who know mourning to lamentation.

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

And in all the vineyards there will be wailing. For I will cross through your midst, says 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 those who desire the day of the Lord. What is it to you? The day of the Lord is this: 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.

It is as if a man flees from the face of a lion, only to have a bear meet him; or, he enters a house and leans with his hand against the wall, only to have a snake bite him.

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

Will not the day of the Lord be darkness and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

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

I hate and have rejected your feasts; and I will not accept the odor from your gatherings.

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.

For if you offer me holocausts and your gifts, I will not receive them; and I will not look upon the vows of your fatness.

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

Take away from me the tumult of your songs, and I will not listen to the canticles of your lyre.

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

And judgment will be revealed like water, and justice like a mighty torrent.

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

Was it you who offered victims and sacrifices to me in the desert for forty years, house of Israel?

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

And you carried a tabernacle for your Moloch and the image of your idols: the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.

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

And I will cause you to go into captivity across Damascus, says the Lord. The God of hosts is his name.