Amos - Chapter 5

^5:1Listen to this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel.

 ^5:2"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."

^5:3For thus says the Lord Yahweh:

 "The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left,
      And that which went forth one hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel."

^5:4For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel:

 "Seek me, and you will live;

 ^5:5But 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.

 ^5:6Seek 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.

 ^5:7You who turn justice to wormwood,
      And cast down righteousness to the earth:

 ^5:8Seek 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,

 ^5:9Who brings sudden destruction on the strong,
      So that destruction comes on the fortress.

 ^5:10They hate him who reproves in the gate,
      And they abhor him who speaks blamelessly.

 ^5:11Forasmuch therefore as you trample on the poor,
      And take taxes from him of wheat:
      You have built houses of hewn stone,
      But you will not dwell in them.

 You have planted pleasant vineyards,
      But you shall not drink their wine.

 ^5:12For I know how many your offenses,
      And how great are your sins--
      You who afflict the just,
      Who take a bribe,
      And who turn aside the needy in the courts.

 ^5:13Therefore he who is prudent shall keep silence in such a time;
      For it is an evil time.

 ^5:14Seek good, and not evil,
      That you may live;
      And so Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be with you,
      As you say.

 ^5:15Hate evil, love good,
      And establish justice in the courts.
      It may be that Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph."

^5:16Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the Lord:

 "Wailing will be in all the broad ways;
      And they will say in all the streets, 'Alas! Alas!'
      And they will call the farmer to mourning,
      And those who are skillful in lamentation to wailing.

 ^5:17In all vineyards there will be wailing;
      For I will pass through the midst of you," says Yahweh.

 ^5:18"Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh!
      Why do you long for the day of Yahweh?

 It is darkness,
      And not light.

 ^5:19As 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.

 ^5:20Will the day of Yahweh not be darkness, and not light?
      Even very dark, and no brightness in it?

 ^5:21I hate, I despise your feasts,
      And I can't stand your solemn assemblies.

 ^5:22Yes, 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.

 ^5:23Take away from me the noise of your songs!
      I will not listen to the music of your harps.

 ^5:24But let justice roll on like rivers,
      And righteousness like a mighty stream.

^5:25"Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, house of Israel? ^5:26Yes, you have borne the tent of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves. ^5:27Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus," says Yahweh, whose name is the God of hosts.