Amos 5

1 Hear you 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.

Give ear to this word, my song of sorrow over you, O children of Israel.

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

The virgin of Israel has been made low, never again to be lifted up: she is stretched out by herself on her land; there is no one to put her on her feet again.

3 Therefore thus says 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.

For these are the words of the Lord God: The town which was able to send out a thousand, will have only a hundred; and that which sent out a hundred, will have only ten, in Israel.

4 Therefore thus says the Lord to the house of Israel, Seek you me, and you shall live.

For these are the words of the Lord to the children of Israel: Let your hearts be turned to me, so that you may have life:

5 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.

Do not be looking for help to Beth-el, and do not go to Gilgal, or make your way to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal will certainly be taken prisoner, and Beth-el will come to nothing.

6 Seek you the Lord, and you 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.

Go to the Lord for help so that you may have life; for fear that he may come like fire bursting out in the family of Joseph, causing destruction, and there will be no one to put it out in Beth-el.

7 [It is he] that executes judgment in the height [above], and he has established justice on the earth:

You who make the work of judging a bitter thing, crushing down righteousness to the earth;

8 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:

Go for help to him who makes Orion and the Pleiades, by whom the deep dark is turned into morning, who makes the day black with night; whose voice goes out to the waters of the sea, sending them out over the face of the earth: the Lord is his name;

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

Who sends sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the walled town.

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

They have hate for him who makes protest against evil in the public place, and he whose words are upright is disgusting to them.

11 Therefore because they have struck the poor with their fists, and you have received of them choice gifts; you have built polished houses, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted desirable vineyards, but you shall not drink the wine of them.

So because the poor man is crushed under your feet, and you take taxes from him of grain: you have made for yourselves houses of cut stone, but you will not take your rest in them; the fair vine-gardens planted by your hands will not give you wine.

12 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.

For I have seen how your evil-doing is increased and how strong are your sins, you troublers of the upright, who take rewards and do wrong to the cause of the poor in the public place.

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

So the wise will say nothing in that time; for it is an evil time.

14 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live: and so the Lord God Almighty shall be with you, as you have said,

Go after good and not evil, so that life may be yours: and so the Lord, the God of armies, will be with you, as you say.

15 We have hated evil, and loved good: and restore you judgment in the gates; that the Lord God Almighty may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

Be haters of evil and lovers of good, and let right be done in the public place: it may be that the Lord, the God of armies, will have mercy on the rest of Joseph.

16 Therefore thus says 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.

So these are the words of the Lord, the God of armies, the Lord: There will be weeping in all the open spaces; and in all the streets they will say, Sorrow! sorrow! and they will get in the farmer to the weeping, and the makers of sad songs to give cries of grief.

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

In all the vine-gardens there will be cries of grief: for I will go through among you, says the Lord.

18 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.

Sorrow to you who are looking for the day of the Lord! what is the day of the Lord to you? it is dark and not light.

19 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.

As if a man, running away from a lion, came face to face with a bear; or went into the house and put his hand on the wall and got a bite from a snake.

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

Will not the day of the Lord be dark and not light? even very dark, with no light shining in it?

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

Your feasts are disgusting to me, I will have nothing to do with them; I will take no delight in your holy meetings.

22 Therefore if you 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.

Even if you give me your burned offerings and your meal offerings, I will not take pleasure in them: I will have nothing to do with the peace-offerings of your fat beasts.

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

Take away from me the noise of your songs; my ears are shut to the melody of your instruments.

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

But let the right go rolling on like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

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

Did you come to me with offerings of beasts and meal offerings in the waste land for forty years, O Israel?

26 Yes, you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Raephan, the images of them which you made for yourselves.

Truly, you will take up Saccuth your king and Kaiwan your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.

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

And I will send you away as prisoners farther than Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of armies.