Amos 5

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

Hear these words, which I utter concerning you; This lamentation, O house of Israel!

2 The virgin of Israel has been thrown onto her land, there is no one who can raise her up.

She is fallen, she shall rise no more, The virgin of Israel! She is prostrate on her own ground, there is none to raise her up!

3 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.

For thus saith the Lord Jehovah; The city which sent out a thousand shall have a hundred left, And that which sent out a hundred shall have ten left, To the house of Israel.

4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek me and you will live.

For thus saith Jehovah to the house of Israel: Seek ye me, and ye shall live!

5 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.

Seek not Bethel, And go not to Gilgal, And pass not over to Beersheba! For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity! And Bethel shall come to naught.

6 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.

Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live! Lest he rush like a fire on the house of Joseph, And it devour, and there be none to quench it in the house of Israel.

7 You turn judgment into wormwood, and you abandon justice on earth.

Ye who turn justice into wormwood, And cast righteousness down to the ground.

8 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.

Seek him, that made the Pleiades and Orion; That changeth death-like darkness into morning, And darkeneth day into night; That calleth up the waters of the sea, And poureth them out upon the face of the earth; Jehovah is his name!

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

Who sendeth sudden destruction upon the strong, And bringeth desolation upon the fortress.

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

They hate him that pleadeth in the gate, And abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

11 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.

Since, then, ye trample upon the poor, And take from him presents of wheat, Though ye build houses of hewn stone, ye shall not dwell in them; Though ye plant pleasant vineyards, ye shall not drink their wine.

12 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.

For I know that your sins are many, And your transgressions manifold, Ye who afflict the righteous, and take a bribe, And oppress the poor in the gate!

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

Therefore the wise man shall be silent at that time, For it shall be an evil time.

14 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.

Seek ye good, and not evil, that ye may live; Then shall Jehovah, the God of hosts, be with you, as ye boast.

15 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.

Hate ye evil, and love good, And establish justice in the gate; It may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will have pity upon the remnant of Joseph.

16 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.

Thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: In all the streets shall there be wailing, And in all the highways shall they cry, Alas! alas! They shall call the husbandmen to mourning, And those who are skilful in lamentation to wailing,

17 And in all the vineyards there will be wailing. For I will cross through your midst, says the Lord.

And in all vineyards shall be sounds of woe, For I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah.

18 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.

Woe unto them that ask for the day of Jehovah! What is the day of Jehovah to you? It shall be darkness, and not light.

19 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.

As if a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him; Or went into a house and leaned his hand on a wall, And a serpent bit him;

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

So shall the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light, Even thick darkness, and no brightness in it.

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

I hate, I despise your feasts; I have no delight in your solemn assemblies.

22 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.

When ye offer me burnt-offerings and flour-offerings, I will not accept them; And upon the thank-offerings of your fatlings I will not look.

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

Take ye away from me the noise of your songs, And the music of your harps let me not hear!

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

Let justice flow forth as waters, And righteousness as a mighty stream!

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

Did ye offer me sacrifices and offerings In the wilderness, for forty years, O house of Israel?

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

But ye bore the tabernacle of your king, And the shrine of your images, The star of your god, which ye made for yourselves.

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

Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, Saith Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts!