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Amos 5
Expanded Bible
Amos 5
Expanded Bible
Israel Needs to Repent
5 Listen to this ·funeral song [dirge; word of lamentation] that I ·sing about [or take up against] you, ·people [L house] of Israel.
2 “The ·young girl [virgin] Israel has fallen,
and she will not rise up again.
She was ·left alone [abandoned; forsaken] in her own land,
and there is no one to ·help [raise; lift] her up.”
3 This is what the Lord God says:
“If a thousand soldiers leave a city,
only a hundred will ·return [or remain];
if a hundred soldiers leave a city,
only ten will ·return [or remain].”
4 This is what the Lord says to the ·nation [L house] of Israel:
“·Come to [Seek] me and live.
5 But do not ·look in [seek] Bethel [C ironic, since Bethel means “house of God”; 4:4]
or go to Gilgal,
and do not go down to Beersheba [C important centers of worship in Israel; 4:4].
The people of Gilgal will ·be taken away as captives [surely go into exile],
and Bethel will become nothing.”
6 ·Come to [Seek] the Lord and live,
or he will ·move [sweep through; L rush] like fire against the ·descendants [L house] of Joseph.
The fire will ·burn [consume; devour] Bethel [4:4],
and there will be no one to ·put it out [quench it].
7 You turn justice ·upside down [L into bitterness/or wormwood; C a bitter plant; 6:12],
and you throw on the ground ·what is right [rightousness; justice].
8 ·God is the one [L He] who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion;
he changes darkness into the morning light,
and the day into dark night.
He calls for the waters of the sea
to pour out on the ·earth [L surface/face of the earth].
The Lord is his name.
9 He ·destroys [brings ruin upon; flashes destruction on] the protected city;
he ·ruins [destroys] the strong, walled city.
10 ·You [L They] hate those who ·speak in court against evil [L rebuke/reprove at the gate; C where court was held],
and ·you [L they] ·can’t stand [despise; detest] those who tell the truth.
11 You ·walk [trample; or levy a tax] on poor people,
·forcing them to give you [imposing a tax on their] grain.
You have built fancy houses of cut stone,
but you will not live in them.
You have planted ·beautiful [pleasant] vineyards,
but you will not drink the wine from them [Deut. 28:30].
12 I know your many ·crimes [trangressions],
your ·terrible [numerous; great] sins.
You ·hurt [oppress] ·people who do right [the righteous/innocent],
you take ·money to do wrong [bribes],
and you keep the poor from getting justice in ·court [L the gate; v. 10].
13 In such times the wise person will keep quiet,
because it is a ·bad [evil] time.
14 ·Try to do [Seek] good, not evil,
so that you will live,
and the Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] will be with you
just as you ·say [claim] he is.
15 Hate evil and love good;
·be fair in the courts [L establish justice in the gate; v. 10].
Maybe the Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] will ·be kind to [have mercy on; be gracious to] the ·people of Joseph who are left alive [remnant of Joseph; C a reference to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (Joseph’s sons), representing the northern kingdom].
16 This is what the Lord, the Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], says:
“People will be ·crying [wailing] in all the streets;
they will be saying, ‘Oh, no!’ in the public places.
They will call the farmers to ·come and weep [mourning]
and ·will pay people [L those who know lamentation; C professional mourners paid to weep] to ·cry out loud [wail] for them.
17 People will be ·crying [wailing] in all the vineyards,
because I will pass ·among you to punish you [L through your midst; C as the angel of death passed through Egypt (Ex. 12:12)],” says the Lord.
The Lord’s Day of Judging
18 ·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] you who want
the ·Lord’s day of judging [L day of the Lord] to come.
Why do you want that day to come?
It will bring darkness for you, not light.
19 It will be like someone who runs from a lion
and meets a bear,
or like someone who goes into his house
and ·puts [leans] his hand on the wall,
and then is bitten by a snake.
20 So the ·Lord’s day of judging [L day of the Lord] will bring darkness, not light;
it will be ·very dark [deep gloom], not ·light at all [brightness].
21 The Lord says, “I ·hate and reject [despise] your ·feasts [religious festivals];
I ·cannot stand [take no delight in] your ·religious meetings [sacred assemblies].
22 If you offer me burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17] and ·grain [L gift; tribute] offerings [Lev. 2:1],
I won’t accept them.
You bring your best ·fellowship [or peace; well-being] offerings [Lev. 3:1] of fattened cattle,
but I will ·ignore [have no regard for] them [Is. 1:11].
23 Take ·the noise of your songs [or your noisy songs] away from me!
I won’t listen to the music of your ·harps [stringed instruments].
24 But let justice ·flow [roll] like a river,
and let ·goodness [righteousness; justice] flow like a ·never-ending [ever-flowing] stream.
25 “·People [L House] of Israel, you did not bring me sacrifices and offerings
while you traveled in the desert for forty years.
26 You have ·carried with you [lifted up]
·your king, the god Sakkuth [or the shrine of your idol-king],
·and Kaiwan your idol [or the pedestal of your idols; C either names of Mesopotamian star gods, or general terms for idols],
the star gods you have made for yourselves.
27 So I will send you ·away as captives [into exile] beyond Damascus,”
says the Lord, whose name is the God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
Amos 5
New International Version
Amos 5
New International Version
A Lament and Call to Repentance
5 Hear this word, Israel, this lament(A) I take up concerning you:
2 “Fallen is Virgin(B) Israel,
never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
with no one to lift her up.(C)”
3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:
“Your city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left.(D)”
4 This is what the Lord says to Israel:
“Seek(E) me and live;(F)
5 do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,(G)
do not journey to Beersheba.(H)
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.[a](I)”
6 Seek(J) the Lord and live,(K)
or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;(L)
it will devour them,
and Bethel(M) will have no one to quench it.(N)
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion,(R)
who turns midnight into dawn(S)
and darkens day into night,(T)
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out over the face of the land—
the Lord is his name.(U)
9 With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
and brings the fortified city to ruin.(V)
10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court(W)
and detest the one who tells the truth.(X)
11 You levy a straw tax on the poor(Y)
and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,(Z)
you will not live in them;(AA)
though you have planted lush vineyards,
you will not drink their wine.(AB)
12 For I know how many are your offenses
and how great your sins.(AC)
There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes(AD)
and deprive the poor(AE) of justice in the courts.(AF)
13 Therefore the prudent keep quiet(AG) in such times,
for the times are evil.(AH)
14 Seek good, not evil,
that you may live.(AI)
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
just as you say he is.
15 Hate evil,(AJ) love good;(AK)
maintain justice in the courts.(AL)
Perhaps(AM) the Lord God Almighty will have mercy(AN)
on the remnant(AO) of Joseph.
16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:
“There will be wailing(AP) in all the streets(AQ)
and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers(AR) will be summoned to weep
and the mourners to wail.
17 There will be wailing(AS) in all the vineyards,
for I will pass through(AT) your midst,”
says the Lord.(AU)
The Day of the Lord
18 Woe to you who long
for the day of the Lord!(AV)
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?(AW)
That day will be darkness,(AX) not light.(AY)
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion
only to meet a bear,(AZ)
as though he entered his house
and rested his hand on the wall
only to have a snake bite him.(BA)
20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,(BB) not light—
pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?(BC)
21 “I hate,(BD) I despise your religious festivals;(BE)
your assemblies(BF) are a stench to me.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings(BG) and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.(BH)
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.(BI)
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.(BJ)
24 But let justice(BK) roll on like a river,
righteousness(BL) like a never-failing stream!(BM)
25 “Did you bring me sacrifices(BN) and offerings
forty years(BO) in the wilderness, people of Israel?
26 You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
the pedestal of your idols,(BP)
the star of your god[b]—
which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into exile(BQ) beyond Damascus,”
says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.(BR)
Amos 5
King James Version
Amos 5
King James Version
5 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel.
2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
3 For thus saith the Lord God; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.
4 For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
5 But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.
6 Seek the Lord, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel.
7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,
8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name:
9 That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.
10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.
12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.
13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.
17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the Lord.
18 Woe unto you 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 did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
20 Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.
23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose name is The God of hosts.
Expanded Bible (EXB)
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New International Version (NIV) 
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