Amos 5:1-15
New American Standard Bible 1995
“Seek Me that You May Live”
5 Hear this word which I take up for you as a (A)dirge, O house of Israel:
2 She has fallen, she will (B)not rise again—
The (C)virgin Israel.
She lies neglected on her land;
There is (D)none to raise her up.
3 For thus says the Lord [a]God,
“The city which goes forth a thousand strong
Will have a (E)hundred left,
And the one which goes forth a hundred strong
Will have (F)ten left to the house of Israel.”
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel,
“(G)Seek Me (H)that you may live.
5 “But do not [b]resort to (I)Bethel
And do not come to (J)Gilgal,
Nor cross over to (K)Beersheba;
For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity
And Bethel will [c]come to trouble.
6 “(L)Seek the Lord that you may live,
Or He will break forth like a (M)fire, [d]O house of Joseph,
And it will consume with none to quench it for Bethel,
7 For those who turn (N)justice into wormwood
And [e]cast righteousness down to the earth.”
8 He who made the (O)Pleiades and Orion
And (P)changes deep darkness into morning,
[f]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,
The (S)Lord is His name.
9 It is He who (T)flashes forth with destruction upon the strong,
So that (U)destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate him who (V)reproves in the [g]gate,
And they (W)abhor him who speaks with integrity.
11 Therefore because you [h]impose heavy rent on the poor
And exact a tribute of grain from them,
Though you have built (X)houses of well-hewn stone,
Yet you will not live in them;
You have planted pleasant vineyards, yet you will (Y)not drink their wine.
12 For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great,
You who (Z)distress the righteous and accept bribes
And [i]turn aside the poor in the [j]gate.
13 Therefore at [k]such a time the prudent person (AA)keeps silent, for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil, that you may live;
And thus may the Lord God of hosts be with you,
(AB)Just as you have said!
15 (AC)Hate evil, love good,
And establish justice in the [l]gate!
Perhaps the Lord God of hosts
(AD)May be gracious to the (AE)remnant of Joseph.
Footnotes
- Amos 5:3 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
- Amos 5:5 Lit seek
- Amos 5:5 Or become iniquity
- Amos 5:6 Or in the house
- Amos 5:7 Lit they have put down
- Amos 5:8 Lit And He darkened
- Amos 5:10 I.e. the place where court was held
- Amos 5:11 Another reading is trample upon
- Amos 5:12 Lit they turn
- Amos 5:12 I.e. the place where court was held
- Amos 5:13 Lit that time
- Amos 5:15 I.e. the place where court was held
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
