Amos 5
Christian Standard Bible
Lamentation for Israel
5 Listen to this message that I am singing for you, a lament,(A) house of Israel:
2 She has fallen;
Virgin Israel(B) will never rise again.(C)
She lies abandoned on her land
with no one to raise her up.(D)
3 For the Lord God says:
The city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left,(E)
and the one that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left(F) in the house of Israel.
Seek God and Live
4 For the Lord says to the house of Israel:
Seek me and live!(G)
5 Do not seek Bethel(H)
or go to Gilgal(I)
or journey to Beer-sheba,(J)
for Gilgal will certainly go into exile,
and Bethel will come to nothing.
6 Seek the Lord(K) and live,
or he will spread like fire(L)
throughout the house of Joseph;
it will consume everything
with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.(M)
7 Those who turn justice into wormwood(N)
also throw righteousness to the ground.
8 The one who made the Pleiades and Orion,(O)
who turns darkness[a] into dawn(P)
and darkens day into night,(Q)
who summons the water of the sea(R)
and pours it out over the surface of the earth(S)—
the Lord is his name.(T)
9 He brings destruction[b] on the strong,[c](U)
and it falls on the fortress.(V)
10 They hate the one who convicts the guilty(W)
at the city gate,
and they despise(X) the one who speaks with integrity.
11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor(Y)
and exact a grain tax from him,
you will never live in the houses of cut stone(Z)
you have built;
you will never drink the wine
from the lush vineyards
you have planted.(AA)
12 For I know your crimes are many
and your sins innumerable.
They oppress the righteous,(AB) take a bribe,
and deprive the poor of justice(AC) at the city gates.
13 Therefore, those who have insight will keep silent[d](AD)
at such a time,
for the days are evil.
14 Pursue good and not evil
so that you may live,
and the Lord, the God of Armies,
will be with you
as you have claimed.(AE)
15 Hate evil and love good;(AF)
establish justice at the city gate.(AG)
Perhaps the Lord, the God of Armies, will be gracious(AH)
to the remnant of Joseph.(AI)
16 Therefore the Lord, the God of Armies, the Lord, says:
There will be wailing in all the public squares;(AJ)
they will cry out in anguish[e] in all the streets.
The farmer will be called on to mourn,(AK)
and professional mourners[f](AL) to wail.
17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards,(AM)
for I will pass among you.(AN)
The Lord has spoken.
The Day of the Lord
18 Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord!(AO)
What will the day of the Lord be for you?
It will be darkness and not light.(AP)
19 It will be like a man who flees from a lion(AQ)
only to have a bear confront him.
He goes home and rests his hand against the wall
only to have a snake bite him.
20 Won’t the day of the Lord
be darkness rather than light,(AR)
even gloom without any brightness in it?(AS)
21 I hate, I despise, your feasts!(AT)
I can’t stand the stench
of your solemn assemblies.(AU)
22 Even if you offer me
your burnt offerings and grain offerings,(AV)
I will not accept them;(AW)
I will have no regard
for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle.(AX)
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.(AY)
24 But let justice flow like water,
and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.(AZ)
25 “House of Israel, was it sacrifices and grain offerings that you presented to me during the forty years in the wilderness?(BA) 26 But you have taken up[g] Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god,[h] images you have made for yourselves.(BB) 27 So I will send you into exile beyond Damascus.”(BC) The Lord, the God of Armies, is his name.(BD) He has spoken.
Amos 5
International Children’s Bible
Israel Needs a Change of Heart
5 Listen to this funeral song that I sing about you, people of Israel.
2 “Israel has fallen.
It will not rise up again.
It was left alone in the land.
There is no one to lift it up.”
3 This is what the Lord God says:
“If 1,000 soldiers leave a city,
only 100 will return.
If 100 soldiers leave a city,
only 10 will return.”
4 This is what the Lord says to the nation of Israel:
“Come to me and live.
5 But do not look in Bethel.
Do not go to Gilgal,
and do not go down to Beersheba.
The people of Gilgal will be taken away as captives.
And Bethel will become nothing.”
6 Come to the Lord and live.
If you don’t, he will destroy the descendants of Joseph as a fire would.
The fire will burn.
But there will be no one to put it out for Bethel.
7 You change the justice of the courts into something unfair.
You reject what is right.
8 God is the one who made the star groups Pleiades and Orion.
He changes darkness into the morning light.
And he changes the day into the dark night.
He calls for the waters of the sea
to pour out on the earth.
The Lord is his name.
9 He destroys the protected city.
And he ruins the strong, walled city.
10 You hate those who speak in court against evil.
And you hate those who tell the truth.
11 You walk on poor people.
You force them to give you grain.
You have built fancy houses of cut stone.
But you will not live in them.
You have planted beautiful vineyards.
But you will not drink the wine from them.
12 It is because I know your many crimes.
I know your terrible sins.
You hurt people who do right.
You accept money to do wrong.
You keep the poor from getting justice in court.
13 In such times the wise man will keep quiet,
because it is a bad time.
14 Try to do good, not evil.
Then you will live.
And the Lord God of heaven’s armies will be with you
just as you say he is.
15 Hate evil and love good.
Be fair in the courts.
Maybe the Lord God of heaven’s armies will be kind
to the people of Joseph who are left alive.
16 This is what the Lord, the Lord God of heaven’s armies, says:
“People will be crying in all the public places.
They will be saying, ‘Oh, no!’ in the streets.
They will call the farmers to come and weep.
They will pay people to cry out loud for them.
17 People will be crying in all the vineyards.
This is because I will pass among you to punish you,” says the Lord.
The Lord’s Day of Judging
18 How terrible it will be for you who want
the Lord’s day of judging to come.
Why do you want that day to come?
It will bring darkness for you, not light.
19 It will be like a man who runs from a lion
and meets a bear.
It will be like him going into his house
and putting his hand on the wall.
And then a snake bites him.
20 So the Lord’s day of judging will bring darkness, not light.
It will be a time of sadness, not joy.
21 The Lord says, “I hate and reject your feasts.
I cannot stand your religious meetings.
22 You offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings.
But I won’t accept them.
You bring the best fellowship offerings.
But I will ignore them.
23 Take the noise of your songs away from here!
I won’t listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice flow like a river.
Let goodness flow like a never-ending stream.
25 “People of Israel, you did not bring me sacrifices and offerings
while you traveled in the desert for 40 years.
26 But now you will have to carry with you
your king, the false god Sakkuth,
and Kaiwan your idol
and the idols of your other star gods you have made.
27 This is because I will send you away as captives beyond Damascus,”
says the Lord. His name is God of heaven’s armies.
Amós 5
Palabra de Dios para Todos
Lamento por Israel y advertencia
5 Pueblo de Israel, escucha este mensaje
que es como un lamento por ustedes:
2 «La virgen Israel ha caído
y ya no se levantará más.
La dejaron sola tendida en el suelo
y no hay nadie que la ayude».
3 El Señor DIOS dice esto:
«La ciudad de Israel que mande 1000 soldados a la guerra,
tan sólo se quedará con cien;
la que mande cien,
tan sólo se quedará con diez».
4 El SEÑOR dice a la nación[a] de Israel:
«Vengan a buscarme y vivirán.
5 No busquen en Betel, no vayan a Guilgal.
No crucen la frontera para ir a Berseba[b],
pues todos los de Guilgal serán desterrados[c];
Betel será destruida[d]».
6 Busquen al SEÑOR y vivirán;
si no lo hacen,
como un fuego él consumirá la casa de José[e],
y en Betel no habrá nadie que pueda apagarlo.
7 Oigan, ustedes, los que convierten el derecho en amargura
y a la justicia la dejan por el suelo.
8 Dios es el creador de las Pléyades y de Orión.[f]
Él es quien convierte la oscuridad en luz de día
y transforma el día en noche.
Él es quien convoca el agua de los mares
y la derrama sobre la tierra.
¡Él es YAVÉ, ese es su nombre!
9 Él es quien derriba la fortificación
y destruye la fortaleza.
10 Ustedes odian al que delante de todos desenmascara la injusticia;
detestan al que habla con la verdad.
11 Se han aprovechado de los pobres,
cobrándoles impuestos injustos.
Con su mal proceder han logrado construir casas lujosas,
pero no podrán vivir en ellas.
Han plantado hermosos viñedos,
pero no podrán beber su vino.
12 Yo sé cuántas faltas han cometido
y sé lo terrible que son sus pecados.
Ustedes oprimen a los justos y aceptan sobornos.
No dejan que en los tribunales haya justicia para los pobres.
13 Por eso el sabio calla,
pues son tiempos malos.
14 Busquen el bien y no el mal, y vivirán.
Así, el SEÑOR Dios Todopoderoso estará con ustedes,
tal como ustedes mismos lo han dicho.
15 Odien el mal y amen el bien.
Asegúrense de que haya justicia en los tribunales.
De esa forma, quizás, el SEÑOR Dios Todopoderoso
tenga compasión del resto que quedó de Israel.
16 Así dice el SEÑOR Dios Todopoderoso:
«La gente llorará en todas las plazas.
Todos gritarán de dolor por las calles.
Los campesinos estarán de duelo
y se contratarán llorones profesionales.
17 Se llorará en todos los viñedos
cuando yo venga a castigarlos».
Es lo que dice el SEÑOR.
18 Oigan ustedes, los que desean tanto
que llegue el día del SEÑOR,
¿acaso no saben cómo será ese día del SEÑOR?
Pues será de oscuridad y no de luz.
19 Será algo así como cuando alguien huye de un león
y se encuentra con un oso.
O como cuando uno entra a su casa,
se recuesta contra la pared
y lo muerde una serpiente.
20 El día del SEÑOR será de oscuridad y no de luz.
Será un día negro, sin claridad alguna.
El Señor rechaza la alabanza de Israel
21 «¡Odio sus fiestas!
¡Me desagradan sus reuniones religiosas!
22 Aunque me hagan sacrificios que deben quemarse completamente y ofrendas de cereales,
eso no me complace.
Tampoco presto atención
a sus ofrendas para festejar, de terneros gordos.
23 ¡Alejen de mí el ruido de sus canciones!
¡No escucharé la música de sus arpas!
24 Mejor hagan que la justicia fluya como el agua,
y que sean solidarios de continuo como una fuente inagotable.
25 »Pueblo de Israel, ¿me llevaron ustedes ofrendas y sacrificios
en los 40 años que estuvieron en el desierto?
26 En cambio, cargarán las estatuas
de su rey Sicut y de su estrella Quiyún,[g]
imágenes que ustedes mismos han creado,[h]
27 cuando yo los haga desterrar más allá de Damasco».
Así dijo el SEÑOR, cuyo nombre es Dios Todopoderoso.
Footnotes
- 5:4 nación Textualmente casa. Puede referirse a la familia real de ese país.
- 5:5 Betel, Guilgal, Berseba Eran tres antiguos lugares de culto. Abraham y Jacob construyeron altares allí, pero Dios decidió después que el único lugar de culto del pueblo de Israel debía ser el templo de Jerusalén.
- 5:5 desterrados Esta palabra suena en hebreo como el nombre Guilgal.
- 5:5 destruida En hebreo esto suena como el nombre Bet Avén, que significa casa de maldad. Los profetas usaban ese nombre para referirse a Betel.
- 5:6 casa de José Se refiere al grupo de las diez tribus de Israel. José era el antepasado de las tribus de Efraín y Manasés en Israel.
- 5:8 Pléyades, Orión Son dos famosos grupos de estrellas o constelaciones.
- 5:26 Sicut, Quiyún Eran los nombres de dioses asirios.
- 5:26 o Ustedes cargaban la carpa de su rey y los pedestales de sus ídolos: la estrella de los dioses que ustedes mismos crearon. LXX tiene los nombres Moloc y Renfán.
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