Amos 5

1 Listen to this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, 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 “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.”

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

3 For the Lord Yahweh 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.”

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

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

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

[It is he] that executes judgment in the height [above], and he has established justice on 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, Yahweh 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 brings sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the fortress.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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, love good, and establish justice in the courts. It may be that Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be gracious to 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 Yahweh, 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 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 In all vineyards there will be wailing, for I will pass through the middle of you,” says Yahweh.

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

18 “Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? 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 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 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 Won’t the day of Yahweh be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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 Therefore I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus,” says Yahweh, whose name is the God of Armies.

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