Amos 5:5-9
Easy-to-Read Version
5 But don’t look in Bethel.
Don’t go to Gilgal.
Don’t cross the border and go down to Beersheba.[a]
The people of Gilgal will be taken away as prisoners,[b]
and Bethel will be destroyed.[c]
6 Come to the Lord and live.
If you don’t go to him, a fire will start at Joseph’s house,[d]
and no one in Bethel[e] can stop it.
7-9 You should go to the Lord for help.
He is the one who made the Pleiades and Orion.[f]
He changes darkness into the morning light.
He changes the day into the dark night.
He calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the earth.
His name is Yahweh!
He keeps one strong city safe,
and he lets another strong city be destroyed.”
The Evil Things That the Israelites Did
You change justice to poison.[g]
You throw away fairness like trash.
Footnotes
- Amos 5:5 Bethel, Gilgal, Beersheba Ancient places of worship. Abraham and Jacob built altars in these places, but God had told the Israelites that they should go to the Temple in Jerusalem to worship him.
- Amos 5:5 taken away as prisoners In Hebrew this sounds like the name “Gilgal.”
- Amos 5:5 destroyed The Hebrew word is like the name “Beth Aven.” This name means “House of Wickedness.” The prophets often used this name for Bethel.
- Amos 5:6 Joseph’s house Here, this means the ten-tribe nation of Israel. Joseph was the ancestor of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh in Israel.
- Amos 5:6 Bethel This name means “El’s house” or “the house of God.” There was a temple here where the people from the northern tribes worshiped.
- Amos 5:7 Pleiades and Orion Two well-known groups of stars (constellations).
- Amos 5:7 poison Literally, “wormwood,” a type of plant with bitter leaves. It could be used as a medicine, or if strong enough, as a poison.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
