Amós 5

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

² The virgin of Israel has fallen, and will not rise again; she lies forsaken on her land; there is no one to raise her up.

³ For thus says the Lord Jehovah, The city that goes out by a thousand shall have a hundred left. And that which goes out by a hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel.

⁴ For thus says Jehovah to the house of Israel, Seek Me, and live.

⁵ But do not seek Bethel, and do not enter Gilgal, and do not cross over to Beer-sheba; for Gilgal shall be exiled into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nothing.

⁶ Seek Jehovah, and live, that He not break out like a fire on the house of Joseph, and consume it, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel;

⁷ you who turn justice into wormwood, and lay righteousness to rest on the earth.

⁸ He who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns the deep darkness into morning, and darkens the day into night; who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth, Jehovah is His name;

⁹ who bursts out with destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the fortress.

¹⁰ They hate him who rebukes in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks uprightly.

¹¹ So, therefore because you trample on the poor, and you take tribute of grain from him; you have built houses of hewn stones, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted desirable vineyards, but you shall not drink wine from them.

¹² For I know your many transgressions, and your many sins: afflicting the just, taking bribes, and thrusting away the poor from justice in the gate.

¹³ Therefore the prudent shall keep silent at that time, for it is an evil time.

¹⁴ Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and thus Jehovah the God of Hosts shall be with you, as you have spoken.

¹⁵ Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate. It may be that Jehovah the God of Hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

¹⁶ Therefore Jehovah the God of Hosts, the Lord, says this: There shall be wailing in all the streets, and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! Alas! And they shall call the farmer to the mourning, and those that are skilled in wailing to lamentation.

¹⁷ And there shall be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass among you, says Jehovah.

¹⁸ Woe to those who desire the day of Jehovah! Of what good is this to you? The day of Jehovah is darkness, and not light.

¹⁹ It is as if a man fled before a lion, and a bear met him. Or he goes into the house and leans his hand against the wall, and a snake bites him.

²⁰ Is not the day of Jehovah darkness, and not light; even very dark, and not any brightness in it?

²¹ I hate, I despise your feast days; and I will not savor your solemn assemblies.

²² Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not be pleased; nor will I regard the peace offerings of your fat animals.

²³ Take away from Me the noise of your songs; for I will not hear the melody of your lutes.

²⁴ But let justice flow down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

²⁵ Have you drawn near with sacrifices and food offerings to Me forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

²⁶ Indeed, you have borne the tabernacle of your king, and Chiun your images, the star of your gods, which you made for yourselves!

²⁷ Therefore I will exile you beyond Damascus, says Jehovah, whose name is God of Hosts.