Amos 5

1 Listen to this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel:

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

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.”

She is fallen, she will not rise again—the virgin of Israel: she is thrown down upon her land; there is none to 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.”

For thus hath said the Lord Eternal, The city that goeth forth with a thousand shall retain but a hundred, and she that goeth forth with a hundred shall retain but ten, [left] to the house of Israel.

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

For thus hath said the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye for 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 for Beth-el, and into Gilgal enter not, and to Beer-sheba' do not pass over; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Beth-el shall become naught.

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 for the Lord, and ye shall live: so that he come not suddenly like fire over the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el;

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

Ye who change justice into wormwood, and cast down righteousness to 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,

[But] he maketh the seven stars and Orion, and changeth into morning the shadow of death, and maketh the day dark into night; he it is that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out over 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.

That causeth wasting to prevail against the strong, so that wasting shall come against the fortress.

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

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

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 forasmuch as you tread down upon the poor, and ye take from him onerous contributions of corn: if ye have built houses of hewn stone, ye shall not dwell in them; if ye have planted pleasant vineyards, ye shall not drink their wine.

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 manifold transgressions and your numerous sins: ye are those that are the adversaries of the just, that take a ransom, and that wrest [the cause of] the needy in the gate.

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

Therefore will the intelligent keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.

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 for the good, and not the evil, in order that ye may live: and so will the Lord, the God of hosts, 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.”

Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice firmly in the gate: perhaps the Lord the God of hosts will be gracious unto 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 hath said the Eternal, the God of hosts, the Lord, On all public places there is lamentation, and in all the streets they cry, Woe! woe! and they call the husbandman to mourning, and to lamentation those skilled in wailing.

17 In all vineyards there will be wailing, for I will pass through the middle of you,” says Yahweh.

And in all vineyards there is lamentation; for I will pass through thy midst, 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 unto you that long for the day of the Lord! for what do you wish the day of the Lord? it is [one of] darkness, and not of 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 were to flee from a lion, and a bear should meet him; and he enter into the house, and lean his hand against 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?

Behold the day of the Lord is [one of] darkness, and not of light; yea, it is obscure, and hath no brightness.

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

I hate, I despise your feast-days, and I will not smell [the sacrifices] on your festive 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.

For though ye should offer me burnt-offerings and your meat-offerings, I will not accept them in favor: and the peace-offerings of your fatted cattle will I not look at.

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

Remove thou from around me the noise of thy songs: and the playing of thy psalteries I will not hear.

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

But let justice roll along like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

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

Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and meat-offerings in the wilderness [during] forty years, O house of Israel?

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.

Bear then the canopy of your chief idol, and the figure of your images, the star of your god, which ye have 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 cause you to go into exile far beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, The God of hosts is his name.