Amos 5

1 Hear ye this word, which, I, am taking up concerning you—even a dirge, O house of Israel.

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

2 She hath fallen—she cannot again rise, the virgin, Israel, —she lieth forsaken on her soil, there is none to raise her up.

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

3 For, thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh, The city that goeth out a thousand strong, shall have left it a hundred, —And, that which goeth out a hundred strong, shall have left it ten, belonging to the house of Israel.

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.

4 For, thus, saith Yahweh, to the house of Israel, —Seek me, and live;

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

5 Then do not seek Bethel, and, Gilgal, shall ye not enter, and, unto Beer-sheba, shall ye not cross over, For, Gilgal, shall, surely go into exile, and, Bethel, shall become a trouble.

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.

6 Seek ye Yahweh, and live, —lest he break forth, like a fire, upon the house of Joseph, and it devour with none to quench it, for Bethel.

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.

7 Ye who turn, into, wormwood, justice, and, righteousness—to the ground have let fall.

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

8 [Seek him] who made the Cluster and the Giant, and turneth, into morning, the shadow of death, and who, day into night, doth darken, Him who calleth to the waters of the sea, and poureth them out on the face of the land, Yahweh, is his name:

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.

9 Him who flasheth force on the strong, —and, force, on the fortress, alighteth!

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

10 They hate the man who, in the gate, rebuketh, —and, him who speaketh truthfully, they abhor.

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

11 Therefore—because ye have trampled on the poor, and, the gift of corn, ye would take away from him, though, houses of hewn stone, ye have built, Yet shall ye not dwell in them, —Though, delightful vineyards, ye have planted, Yet shall ye not drink the wine of them.

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.

12 For I know how numerous are your transgressions, and how surpassing your sins, —ye adversaries of the righteous! ye acceptors of a bribe! Even the needy in the gate, have they turned away!

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.

13 Therefore, the prudent man, at that time, will be dumb, —Because an evil time, it is!

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

14 Seek ye right and not wrong, that ye nay live, —that, so, Yahweh God of hosts, may be with you, as ye have said.

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.

15 Hate wrong, and love right, and station, Justice, in the gate, —Peradventure, Yahweh, God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

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.

16 Therefore, thus, saith Yahweh, God of hosts, My Lord, In all broadways, shall be lamentation, and, in all streets, shall they say, Alas! Alas! And they shall call the husbandman unto the mourning, and, unto the lamentation, them who know a wailing song;

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.

17 Ye, in all vineyards, lamentation, —For I will pass along through thy midst, saith Yahweh.

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

18 Alas for them who are longing for the day of Yahweh, —What good to you, is the day of Yahweh? it, being darkness and not light:

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.

19 As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and there should meet him—a bear! or he should have entered the house, and leaned his hand upon the wall, and there should bite him—a serpent!

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.

20 Shall not the day of Yahweh be, darkness, and not light? yea, thick darkness and no brightness in it?

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

21 I hate, I despise your festivals, —and can scent no fragrance in your solemn feasts.

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

22 Nay, though ye cause to ascend unto me ascending-sacrifices, and your meal-offerings, I will not accept [them], —nor, the peace-offering of your fat heifers, will I regard.

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.

23 Take thou away from me, the noise of thy songs, —Even the melody of thy harps, will I not hear.

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

24 But let, justice, roll along like water, —and, righteousness, as a torrent over flowing.

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

25 The sacrifices and meal-offering, ye brought near unto me, in the desert, for forty years O house of Israel;

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

26 But ye carried the tent of your king-idol, and your Saturn-images, —the star of your gods, which ye made for yourselves:

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

27 Therefore will I carry you into exile beyond Damascus, —saith Yahweh, God of hosts, is his name.

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