Amos 5:7-6:14
New American Standard Bible
8 He who made the (B)Pleiades and Orion,
And (C)changes deep darkness into morning,
[b]Who also (D)darkens day into night,
Who (E)calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
The (F)Lord is His name.
9 It is He who (G)makes destruction flash upon the strong,
So that (H)destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate him who (I)rebukes in the [c]gate,
And they (J)despise him who speaks with integrity.
11 Therefore because you impose heavy [d]rent on the poor
And take a tribute of grain from them,
Though you have built (K)houses of cut stone,
Yet you will not live in them;
You have planted beautiful vineyards, yet you will (L)not drink their wine.
12 For I know your offenses are many and your sins are great,
You who are (M)hostile to the righteous and accept bribes,
And [e]turn away the poor from justice at the [f]gate.
13 Therefore at [g]such a time the prudent person (N)keeps quiet, because it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil, so that you may live;
And so may the Lord God of armies be with you,
(O)Just as you have said!
15 (P)Hate evil, love good,
And establish justice in the [h]gate!
Perhaps the Lord God of armies
(Q)Will be gracious to the (R)remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore this is what the Lord God of armies, the Lord says:
“There is (S)mourning in all the public squares,
And in all the streets they say, ‘Oh no! Oh no!’
They also call the (T)farmer to mourning
And [i](U)professional mourners to mourning rites.
17 And in all the (V)vineyards there is mourning,
Because I will pass through the midst of you,” says the Lord.
18 Woe to you who are longing for the (W)day of the Lord,
For what [j]purpose will the day of the Lord be to you?
It will be (X)darkness and not light;
19 As when a man (Y)flees from a lion
And a bear confronts him,
[k]Or he goes home, leans with his hand against the wall,
And a snake bites him.
20 Will the day of the Lord not be (Z)darkness instead of light,
Even gloom with no brightness in it?
21 “I hate, I (AA)reject your festivals,
Nor do I [l](AB)delight in your festive assemblies.
22 Even though you (AC)offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the (AD)peace offerings of your fattened oxen.
23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs;
I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.
24 But let (AE)justice roll out like waters,
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 “[m](AF)Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, house of Israel? 26 (AG)You also carried along [n]Sikkuth your king and [o]Kiyyun, your images, [p]the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. 27 Therefore I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of armies.
“Carefree in Zion”
6 (AH)Woe to those who are carefree in Zion,
And to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria,
The (AI)dignitaries of the foremost of nations,
To whom the house of Israel comes.
2 Go over to (AJ)Calneh and look,
And go from there to (AK)Hamath the great,
Then go down to (AL)Gath of the Philistines.
Are [q]they better than these kingdoms,
Or is their territory greater than yours?
3 Are you (AM)postponing the day of disaster,
And would you (AN)bring near the seat of violence?
4 Those who lie on beds of ivory,
And lounge around on their (AO)couches,
And (AP)eat lambs from the flock,
And calves from the midst of the fattened cattle,
5 Who improvise to the sound of the harp,
And like David have [r]composed (AQ)songs for themselves,
6 Who (AR)drink wine from sacred bowls
While they anoint themselves with the finest of oils—
Yet they have not (AS)grieved over the collapse of Joseph.
7 Therefore, they will now (AT)go into exile at the head of the exiles,
And the revelry of those who (AU)lounge around will come to an end.
8 The Lord [s]God has (AV)sworn by Himself, the Lord God of armies has declared:
“I (AW)loathe the arrogance of Jacob,
And [t]detest his (AX)citadels;
Therefore I will (AY)give up the city and [u]all it contains.”
9 And it will be, if (AZ)ten men are left in one house, they will die. 10 Then one’s [v]uncle, or his (BA)undertaker, will lift him up to carry out his bones from the house, and he will say to the one who is in the innermost part of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” And that one will say, “No one.” Then he will [w]answer, “(BB)Keep quiet! For [x]the name of the Lord is (BC)not to be mentioned.” 11 For behold, the Lord is going to (BD)command that the (BE)great house be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.
12 Do horses run on rocks?
Or does one [y]plow them with oxen?
Yet you have turned (BF)justice into poison,
And the fruit of righteousness into [z]wormwood,
13 You who rejoice in [aa](BG)Lodebar,
[ab]And say, “Have we not (BH)by our own strength taken [ac]Karnaim for ourselves?”
14 “For behold, (BI)I am going to raise up a nation against you,
House of Israel,” declares the Lord God of armies,
“And they will torment you from the (BJ)entrance of Hamath
To the (BK)brook of the Arabah.”
Footnotes
- Amos 5:7 Lit they have thrown
- Amos 5:8 Lit And He darkened
- Amos 5:10 I.e., the place where court was held
- Amos 5:11 Or tax
- Amos 5:12 Lit they turn
- Amos 5:12 I.e., the place where court was held
- Amos 5:13 Lit that time
- Amos 5:15 I.e., the place where court was held
- Amos 5:16 Lit those who know mourning
- Amos 5:18 Lit will this be to you, the day
- Amos 5:19 Or Then
- Amos 5:21 Lit like to smell your
- Amos 5:25 Or You presented Me with the sacrifices and a grain offering
- Amos 5:26 Or Sakkuth (Saturn), or the tabernacle of your Moloch
- Amos 5:26 Or Kaiwan (Saturn), or stands of
- Amos 5:26 Or your star gods
- Amos 6:2 Or you
- Amos 6:5 Or invented musical instruments
- Amos 6:8 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Amos 6:8 Lit hate
- Amos 6:8 Lit its fullness
- Amos 6:10 Or beloved one
- Amos 6:10 Lit say
- Amos 6:10 Lit not to make mention in the name of
- Amos 6:12 Another reading is plow the sea with oxen
- Amos 6:12 I.e., bitterness
- Amos 6:13 Lit nothing
- Amos 6:13 Lit Who say
- Amos 6:13 Lit a pair of horns
Amos 5:7-6:14
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
7 Ah, you who turn justice to wormwood
and bring righteousness to the ground!
8 The one who made the Pleiades and Orion
and turns deep darkness into the morning
and darkens the day into night,
who calls for the water of the sea
and pours it out on the surface of the earth,
the Lord is his name,(A)
9 who makes destruction flash out against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate the one who reproves in the gate,
and they abhor the one who speaks the truth.(B)
11 Therefore because you trample on the poor
and take from them levies of grain,
you have built houses of hewn stone,
but you shall not live in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.(C)
12 For I know how many are your transgressions
and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe
and push aside the needy in the gate.(D)
13 Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time,
for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil,
that you may live,
and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,
just as you have said.(E)
15 Hate evil and love good,
and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.(F)
16 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord:
In all the squares there shall be wailing,
and in all the streets they shall say, “Alas! Alas!”
They shall call the farmers to mourning
and those skilled in lamentation to wailing;(G)
17 in all the vineyards there shall be wailing,
for I will pass through the midst of you,
says the Lord.(H)
The Day of the Lord a Dark Day
18 Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light,(I)
19 as if someone fled from a lion
and was met by a bear
or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall
and was bitten by a snake.(J)
20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?(K)
21 I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.(L)
22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them,
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
I will not look upon.(M)
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
24 But let justice roll down like water
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.(N)
25 Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?(O) 26 You shall take up Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, your images,[a] which you made for yourselves; 27 therefore I will take you into exile beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.(P)
Complacent Self-Indulgence Will Be Punished
6 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion
and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria,
the notables of the first of the nations,
to whom the house of Israel resorts!(Q)
2 Cross over to Calneh and see;
from there go to Hamath the great;
then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better[b] than these kingdoms?
Or is your[c] territory greater than their[d] territory,(R)
3 you who put far away the evil day
and bring near a reign of violence?(S)
4 Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory
and lounge on their couches
and eat lambs from the flock
and calves from the stall,(T)
5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp
and like David improvise on instruments of music,(U)
6 who drink wine from bowls
and anoint themselves with the finest oils
but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!(V)
7 Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile,
and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away.(W)
8 The Lord God has sworn by himself
(says the Lord, the God of hosts):
I abhor the pride of Jacob
and hate his strongholds,
and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.(X)
9 If ten people remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And if a relative, one who burns it,[e] takes up the body to bring it out of the house and says to someone in the innermost parts of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” the answer will come, “No.” Then the relative[f] shall say, “Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”
11 For the Lord commands,
and he will shatter the great house to bits
and the little house to pieces.(Y)
12 Do horses run on rocky crags?
Does one plow the sea with oxen?[g]
But you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,(Z)
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,[h]
who say, “Have we not by our own strength
taken Karnaim[i] for ourselves?”
14 Indeed, I am raising up against you a nation,
O house of Israel, says the Lord, the God of hosts,
and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath
to the Wadi Arabah.(AA)
Amos 5:7-6:14
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
7 You that turn judgment into wormwood, and forsake justice in the land,
8 Seek him that maketh Arcturus, and Orion, and that turneth darkness into morning, and that changeth day into night: that calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name.
9 He that with a smile bringeth destruction upon the strong, and waste upon the mighty.
10 They have hated him that rebuketh in the gate: and have abhorred him that speaketh perfectly.
11 Therefore because you robbed the poor, and took the choice prey from him: you shall build houses with square stone, and shall not dwell in them: you shall plant most delightful vineyards, and shall not drink the wine of them.
12 Because I know your manifold crimes, and your grievous sins: enemies of the just, taking bribes, and oppressing the poor in the gate.
13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence at that time, for it is an evil time.
14 Seek ye good, and not evil, that you may live: and the Lord the God of hosts will be with you, as you have said.
15 Hate evil, and love good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be the Lord the God of hosts may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord the God of hosts the sovereign Lord: In every street there shall be wailing: and in all places that are without, they shall say: Alas, alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skillful in lamentation to lament.
17 And in all vineyards there shall be wailing: because I will pass through in the midst of thee, saith the Lord.
18 Woe to them that desire the day of the Lord: to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.
19 As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and a bear should meet him: or enter into the house, and lean with his hand upon the wall, and a serpent should bite him.
20 Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light: and obscurity, and no brightness in it?
21 I hate, and have rejected your festivities: and I will not receive the odour of your assemblies.
22 And if you offer me holocausts, and your gifts, I will not receive them: neither will I regard the vows of your fat beasts.
23 Take away from me the tumult of thy songs: and I will not hear the canticles of thy harp.
24 But judgment shall be revealed as water, and justice as a mighty torrent.
25 Did you offer victims and sacrifices to me in the desert for forty years, O house of Israel?
26 But you carried a tabernacle for your Moloch, and the image of your idols, the star of your god, which you made to yourselves.
27 And I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, the God of hosts is his name.
6 Woe to you that are wealthy in Sion, and to you that have confidence in the mountain of Samaria: ye great men, heads of the people, that go in with state into the house of Israel.
2 Pass ye over to Chalane, and see, and go from thence into Emath the great: and go down into Geth of the Philistines, and to all the best kingdoms of these: if their border be larger than your border.
3 You that are separated unto the evil day: and that approach to the throne of iniquity;
4 You that sleep upon beds of ivory, and are wanton on your couches: that eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the herd;
5 You that sing to the sound of the psaltery: they have thought themselves to have instruments of music like David;
6 That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best ointments: and they are not concerned for the affliction of Joseph.
7 Wherefore now they shall go captive at the head of them that go into captivity: and the faction of the luxurious ones shall be taken away.
8 The Lord God hath sworn by his own soul, saith the Lord the God of hosts: I detest the pride of Jacob, and I hate his houses, and I will deliver up the city with the inhabitants thereof.
9 And if there remain ten men in one house, they also shall die.
10 And a man's kinsman shall take him up, and shall burn him, that he may carry the bones out of the house; and he shall say to him that is in the inner rooms of the house: Is there yet any with thee?
11 And he shall answer: There is an end. And he shall say to him: Hold thy peace, and mention not the name of the Lord.
12 For behold the Lord hath commanded, and he will strike the greater house with breaches, and the lesser house with clefts.
13 Can horses run upon the rocks, or can any one plough with buffles? for you have turned judgment into bitterness, and the fruit of justice into wormwood.
14 You that rejoice in a thing of nought: you that say: Have we not taken unto us horns by our own strength?
Amos 5:7-6:14
The Message
Raw Truth Is Never Popular
7-9 Woe to you who turn justice to vinegar
and stomp righteousness into the mud.
Do you realize where you are? You’re in a cosmos
star-flung with constellations by God,
A world God wakes up each morning
and puts to bed each night.
God dips water from the ocean
and gives the land a drink.
God, God-revealed, does all this.
And he can destroy it as easily as make it.
He can turn this vast wonder into total waste.
10-12 People hate this kind of talk.
Raw truth is never popular.
But here it is, bluntly spoken:
Because you run roughshod over the poor
and take the bread right out of their mouths,
You’re never going to move into
the luxury homes you have built.
You’re never going to drink wine
from the expensive vineyards you’ve planted.
I know precisely the extent of your violations,
the enormity of your sins. Appalling!
You bully right-living people,
taking bribes right and left and kicking the poor when they’re down.
13 Justice is a lost cause. Evil is epidemic.
Decent people throw up their hands.
Protest and rebuke are useless,
a waste of breath.
14 Seek good and not evil—
and live!
You talk about God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
being your best friend.
Well, live like it,
and maybe it will happen.
15 Hate evil and love good,
then work it out in the public square.
Maybe God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
will notice your remnant and be gracious.
16-17 Now again, my Master’s Message, God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
“Go out into the streets and lament loudly!
Fill the malls and shops with cries of doom!
Weep loudly, ‘Not me! Not us, Not now!’
Empty offices, stores, factories, workplaces.
Enlist everyone in the general lament.
I want to hear it loud and clear when I make my visit.”
God’s Decree.
Time to Face Hard Reality, Not Fantasy
18-20 Woe to all of you who want God’s Judgment Day!
Why would you want to see God, want him to come?
When God comes, it will be bad news before it’s good news,
the worst of times, not the best of times.
Here’s what it’s like: A man runs from a lion
right into the jaws of a bear.
A woman goes home after a hard day’s work
and is raped by a neighbor.
At God’s coming we face hard reality, not fantasy—
a black cloud with no silver lining.
21-24 “I can’t stand your religious meetings.
I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
your pretentious slogans and goals.
I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes,
your public relations and image making.
I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
That’s what I want. That’s all I want.
25-27 “Didn’t you, dear family of Israel, worship me faithfully for forty years in the wilderness, bringing the sacrifices and offerings I commanded? How is it you’ve stooped to dragging gimcrack statues of your so-called rulers around, hauling the cheap images of all your star-gods here and there? Since you like them so much, you can take them with you when I drive you into exile beyond Damascus.” God’s Message, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
Those Who Live Only for Today
6 1-2 Woe to you who think you live on easy street in Zion,
who think Mount Samaria is the good life.
You assume you’re at the top of the heap,
voted the number-one best place to live.
Well, wake up and look around. Get off your pedestal.
Take a look at Calneh.
Go and visit Great Hamath.
Look in on Gath of the Philistines.
Doesn’t that take you off your high horse?
Compared to them, you’re not much, are you?
3-6 Woe to you who are rushing headlong to disaster!
Catastrophe is just around the corner!
Woe to those who live in luxury
and expect everyone else to serve them!
Woe to those who live only for today,
indifferent to the fate of others!
Woe to the playboys, the playgirls,
who think life is a party held just for them!
Woe to those addicted to feeling good—life without pain!
those obsessed with looking good—life without wrinkles!
They could not care less
about their country going to ruin.
7 But here’s what’s really coming:
a forced march into exile.
They’ll leave the country whining,
a rag-tag bunch of good-for-nothings.
You’ve Made a Shambles of Justice
8 God, the Master, has sworn, and solemnly stands by his Word.
The God-of-the-Angel-Armies speaks:
“I hate the arrogance of Jacob.
I have nothing but contempt for his forts.
I’m about to hand over the city
and everyone in it.”
9-10 Ten men are in a house, all dead. A relative comes and gets the bodies to prepare them for a decent burial. He discovers a survivor huddled in a closet and asks, “Are there any more?” The answer: “Not a soul. But hush! God must not be mentioned in this desecrated place.”
11 Note well: God issues the orders.
He’ll knock large houses to smithereens.
He’ll smash little houses to bits.
12-13 Do you hold a horse race in a field of rocks?
Do you plow the sea with oxen?
You’d cripple the horses
and drown the oxen.
And yet you’ve made a shambles of justice,
a bloated corpse of righteousness,
Bragging of your trivial pursuits,
beating up on the weak and crowing, “Look what I’ve done!”
14 “Enjoy it while you can, you Israelites.
I’ve got a pagan army on the move against you”
—this is your God speaking, God-of-the-Angel-Armies—
“And they’ll make hash of you,
from one end of the country to the other.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson