Amos 5

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

Listen to the words of the funeral song I am singing for you, 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, no more to rise, is the virgin Israel! Hurled down upon her own soil she lies, with no one to lift her up!

3 For thus saith the Sovereign YHWH; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.

For the Lord God says this: The city that marches out with a thousand soldiers has only a hundred left, and the one that marches out with a hundred has only ten left.

4 For thus saith YHWH unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:

For the Lord says this to Israel: Seek me and live,

5 But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.

But do not seek Bethel, do not enter Gilgal, do not go over to Beer-sheba. For Gilgal will enter exile, and Bethel will go to destruction.

6 Seek YHWH, 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 Bethel.

Seek the Lord and live, or he will cast fire on the house of Joseph, and it will devour and there will be no one to quench it for Bethel.

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

You who turn judgment to bitter wormwood, and cast righteousness into the dirt:

8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow 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: YHWH is his name:

He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns deep darkness into dawn, who darkens day again into night, who summons the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the earth’s surface, the Lord is his name!

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

He causes destruction to burst over the strong. He brings devastation on the fortress.

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

You who hate the arbiters at the city gate, and abhor anyone who speaks the truth:

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.

Because you trample on the weak, and tax their grain, although you have built houses of hewn stone, you will not live in them, although you have planted charming vineyards, you will 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 know how many are your crimes, and how great are your sins! You persecutors of the righteous, takers of bribes! You deny the poor their justice at the city gate.

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

It would be wise to keep quiet in such an evil time.

14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so YHWH, the Elohim of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.

Seek good and not evil, that you may live, so the Lord, God of hosts, may be with you, as you have claimed he is.

15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that YHWH Elohim of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

Hate evil and love good, establish justice at the city gate. Perhaps the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to a surviving remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore YHWH, the Elohim of hosts, YHWH, 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 skilful of lamentation to wailing.

Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, says: In all the public squares there will be wailing, in every street the sound of mourning. They will summon the farmers to mourning, and professional mourners to wailing.

17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith YHWH.

In all vineyards there will be lamenting, when I pass through your midst, says the Lord.

18 Woe unto you that desire the day of YHWH! to what end is it for you? the day of YHWH is darkness, and not light.

Fools who long for the day of the Lord! What does the day of the Lord mean to you? It is darkness, and not light.

19 As if a man did flee 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.

It is as when one flees from a lion, and is attacked by a bear, as when one reaches home, leans his hand on the wall, and a snake bites him.

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

Won’t the Lord’s day be darkness and not light, murky darkness without a ray of light in it?

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

I hate, I despise your feasts, I will not smell the savour of your festivals,

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.

I will not be pleased with your burnt offerings, your grain offerings, I will not accept the peace offerings of your fattened calves.

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

Spare me the noise of your songs, I will not listen to the melody of your lyres.

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

But let justice roll on as a flood of waters, and righteousness like an unfailing stream.

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

Was it only sacrifices and grain offerings you brought me during the forty years in the wilderness, Israel?

26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your elohim, which ye made to yourselves.

But now you will lift up your “king” Sikkuth and “star god” Kiyyun, your idols which you have made for yourselves,

27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith YHWH, whose name is The Elohim of hosts.

as I drive you into exile beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.