Amos 5

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

Listen, people of Israel, to this funeral lament that I sing about you!

2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more arise: she is cast down upon her land; there is none to raise her up.

Virgin Israel has fallen, and will never rise again! She lies abandoned on the ground, and there is no one to help her up.

3 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred shall have ten left, for the house of Israel.

This is what the Lord says: From a city that sends out a thousand soldiers, only a hundred will return; from a city that sends out a hundred soldiers, only ten will return.

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

This is what the Lord says to the people of Israel: Look to me so you may live!

5 And seek not Bethel, neither go to Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.

Do not look to the false gods of Bethel, do not go to the pagan shrines of Gilgal or travel to those of Beersheba. For Gilgal will go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.

6 Seek Jehovah, 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.

Look to the Lord so you may live! Otherwise he will explode like fire against the descendants of Joseph and no one from Bethel will be able to quench it.

7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth,

You twist justice and make it bitter, you throw integrity to the ground.

8 [seek him] that made the Pleiades 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: Jehovah is his name.

The One who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns the darkness into morning, and daytime into night, who calls for the water of the seas, and pours it down as rain upon the earth—the Lord is his name!

9 He causeth destruction to break forth suddenly upon the strong, and bringeth destruction upon the fortress.

In a flash he cuts down the strong and destroys the fortresses.

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

You hate anyone who confronts injustice and loathe anyone who speaks honestly.

11 Forasmuch, therefore, as ye trample upon the poor, and take from him presents of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, and ye shall not drink the wine of them.

Because you trample down the poor and impose a tax on their grain, building for yourselves impressive houses, you will not live in them, and you will not drink wine from the fine vineyards you have planted.

12 For I know how manifold are your transgressions and your sins mighty: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside [the right of] the needy in the gate.

For I know the extent of your wrongdoing and your numerous sins. You oppress good people by taking bribes, and you prevent the poor from getting justice in the courts.

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

So smart people keep quiet in such evil times.

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

Do what is right, and not evil, so you may live. Then the Lord God of power will be with you, as you claim he is.

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

Hate evil and love good—and make sure justice wins out in your courts. Maybe the Lord God of power will have mercy on those who are left of Jacob's people.

16 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all broadways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! alas! And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.

For this is what the Lord, the Lord God of power says: There will be weeping in the city squares and wailing in the streets. They will call even the farmers to grieve, as well as the professional mourners.

17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah.

There will be wailing in every vineyard, for I will pass through the midst of you, says the Lord.

18 Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! To what end is the day of Jehovah for you? It shall be darkness and not light:

How disastrous it will be for those of you who long for the day of the Lord. Why would you want the day of the Lord to come? It will bring darkness, not light.

19 as if a man fled 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 will be like a man running away from a lion only to meet a bear; or a man who goes home and leans his hand on a wall, only to be bitten by a snake.

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

Isn't the day of the Lord darkness without light? Yes, pitch dark without a glimmer of light.

21 I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will not smell [a sweet odour] in your solemn assemblies.

I hate, I despise your festivals and take no delight in your religious assemblies.

22 For if ye offer up unto me burnt-offerings and your oblations, I will not accept [them]; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fatted beasts.

Even though you present me with burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. As for your peace offerings of fattened cattle—I will not even look at them.

23 Take away from me the noise of thy songs, and I will not hear the melody of thy lutes;

Stop your noisy worship songs. I will not listen to the melody of your harps.

24 but let judgment roll down as waters, and righteousness as an ever-flowing stream.

Rather let justice flow like a river, and doing right like an ever-flowing stream.

25 Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and oblations in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

Did you bring me sacrifices during those forty years in the desert, people of Israel?

26 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of your Moloch, and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye had made to yourselves;

But now you carry idols of Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god that you made for yourselves.

27 and I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts.

So I will send you into exile in a land beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of power.