Amos 5
Legacy Standard Bible
Seek Me That You May Live
5 Hear this word which I take up for you as a funeral (A)lament, O house of Israel:
2 She has fallen; she will (B)not rise again—
The (C)virgin Israel.
She lies abandoned on her land;
There is (D)none to raise her up.
3 For thus says Lord Yahweh,
“The city which goes forth one thousand strong
Will have one (E)hundred left,
And the one which goes forth one hundred strong
Will have (F)ten left to the house of Israel.”
4 For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel,
“(G)Seek Me (H)that you may live.
5 But do not seek (I)Bethel,
And do not come to (J)Gilgal,
Nor cross over to (K)Beersheba;
For Gilgal will certainly go into [a]exile,
And Bethel will become [b]evil.
6 (L)Seek Yahweh that you may live,
Lest He come mightily like a (M)fire, [c]O house of Joseph,
And it will consume with none to quench it for Bethel,
7 For those who overturn (N)justice into wormwood
And put righteousness down to the earth.”
8 He who made the (O)Pleiades and Orion
And (P)overturns the shadow of death into morning,
[d]Who also (Q)darkens day into night,
Who (R)calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
(S)Yahweh is His name.
9 It is He who (T)flashes forth with devastation upon the strong
So that (U)devastation comes upon the fortification.
10 They hate him who (V)reproves in the [e]gate,
And they (W)abhor him who speaks with integrity.
11 Therefore because you [f]impose heavy rent on the poor
And take a tribute of grain from them,
Though you have built (X)houses of cut stone,
Yet you will not live in them;
You have planted desirable vineyards, yet you will (Y)not drink their wine.
12 For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are mighty,
You who (Z)distress the righteous and take bribes
And [g]turn aside the needy in the [h]gate.
13 Therefore at [i]such a time the one with insight (AA)keeps silent, for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil, in order that you may live;
And thus may Yahweh God of hosts be with you,
(AB)Just as you have said!
15 (AC)Hate evil, love good,
And set justice at the [j]gate!
Perhaps Yahweh God of hosts
(AD)May be gracious to the (AE)remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore thus says Yahweh God of hosts, the Lord,
“There is (AF)wailing in all the plazas,
And in all the streets they say, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They also call the (AG)farmer to mourning
And [k](AH)professional weepers to wailing.
17 And in all the (AI)vineyards there is wailing
Because I will pass through the midst of you,” says Yahweh.
18 Woe, you who are longing for the (AJ)day of Yahweh,
For what purpose will the day of Yahweh be to you?
It will be (AK)darkness and not light;
19 As when a man (AL)flees from a lion
And a bear meets him;
[l]Or he goes home, leans his hand against the wall,
And a snake bites him.
20 Will not the day of Yahweh be (AM)darkness instead of light,
Even thick darkness with no brightness in it?
21 “I hate, I (AN)reject your feasts,
Nor do I [m](AO)delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you (AP)offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the (AQ)peace offerings of your fatlings.
23 Remove from Me the tumult of your songs;
I will not even listen to the melody of your harps.
24 But let (AR)justice roll down like waters
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 “[n](AS)Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel? 26 (AT)You also carried along [o]Sikkuth your king and [p]Kiyyun, your images, [q]the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. 27 Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says Yahweh, whose name is the God of hosts.
Footnotes
- Amos 5:5 Gilgal sounds like Heb root galah, which means to go into exile
- Amos 5:5 Or Beth Aven, cf. Hos 4:15; 5:8; 10:5
- Amos 5:6 Or in the house
- Amos 5:8 Lit And He darkened
- Amos 5:10 The place where court was held
- Amos 5:11 Or trample upon
- Amos 5:12 Lit they turn
- Amos 5:12 The place where court was held
- Amos 5:13 Lit that time
- Amos 5:15 The place where court was held
- Amos 5:16 Lit those who know lamentation
- Amos 5:19 Or Then
- Amos 5:21 Lit like to smell
- Amos 5:25 Or You presented Me with the sacrifices and a grain offering
- Amos 5:26 Or Sakkuth (Saturn), shrine of your Moloch
- Amos 5:26 Or Kaiwan (Saturn), stands of
- Amos 5:26 Or your star gods
Amos 5
Common English Bible
A song of lament
5 Hear this word—a funeral song—that I am lifting up against you, house of Israel:
2 Fallen, no more to rise,
is virgin Israel,
deserted on her land,
with no one to raise her up.
3 The Lord God proclaims:
The city that marched out one thousand people
will have one hundred left,
and the city that marched out one hundred will have ten left in the house of Israel.
Words of encouragement
4 The Lord proclaims to the house of Israel:
Seek me and live.
5 But don’t seek Bethel,
don’t enter into Gilgal,
or cross over to Beer-sheba;
for Gilgal will go into exile,
and Bethel will come to nothing.
6 Seek the Lord and live,
or else God might rush like a fire against the house of Joseph.
The fire will burn up Bethel, with no one to put it out.
Words of doom
7 Doom to you who turn justice into poison,
and throw 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 summons the waters of the sea,
and pours them out on the surface of the earth—
this one’s name is the Lord—
9 who causes destruction to flash out against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate the one who judges at the city gate,
and they reject the one who speaks the truth.
11 Truly, because you crush the weak,
and because you tax their grain,
you have built houses of carved stone,
but you won’t live in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you won’t drink their wine.
12 I know how many are your crimes,
and how numerous are your sins—
afflicting the righteous,
taking money on the side,
turning away the poor who seek help.
13 Therefore, the one who is wise will keep silent in that time;
it is an evil time.
Words of inspiration
14 Seek good and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of heavenly forces,
will be with you just as you have said.
15 Hate evil, love good,
and establish justice at the city gate.
Perhaps the Lord God of heavenly forces
will be gracious to what is left of Joseph.
Divine wrath anticipated
16 Truly, the Lord proclaims,
the God of heavenly forces, the Lord:
Crying will be heard in all the squares.
In all the streets they will say, “Oh no! Oh no!”
They will call upon the farmers to wail,
and those skilled in mourning to lament.
17 In all the vineyards there will be bitter crying because
I will pass through your midst,
says the Lord.
A statement of divine disgust
18 Doom to those who desire the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
19 as if someone fled from a lion,
and was met by a bear;
or sought refuge in a house,
rested a hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a snake.
20 Isn’t the day of the Lord darkness, not light;
all dark with no brightness in it?
21 I hate, I reject your festivals;
I don’t enjoy your joyous assemblies.
22 If you bring me your entirely burned offerings and gifts of food—
I won’t be pleased;
I won’t even look at your offerings of well-fed animals.
23 Take away the noise of your songs;
I won’t listen to the melody of your harps.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
during the forty years in the wilderness, house of Israel?
26 You will take up Sakkuth your king,
and Kaiwan your star-god,
your images, which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore, I will take you away
beyond Damascus, says the Lord,
whose name is the God of heavenly forces.
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