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
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.
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