Amos 5:1-17
New King James Version
A Lament for Israel
5 Hear this word which I (A)take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel:
2 The virgin of Israel has fallen;
She will rise no more.
She lies forsaken on her land;
There is no one to raise her up.
3 For thus says the Lord God:
“The city that goes out by a thousand
Shall have a hundred left,
And that which goes out by a hundred
Shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”
A Call to Repentance
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:
(B)“Seek Me (C)and live;
5 But do not seek (D)Bethel,
Nor enter Gilgal,
Nor pass over to (E)Beersheba;
For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,
And (F)Bethel shall come to nothing.
6 (G)Seek the Lord and live,
Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
And devour it,
With no one to quench it in Bethel—
7 You who (H)turn justice to wormwood,
And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!”
8 He made the (I)Pleiades and Orion;
He turns the shadow of death into morning
(J)And makes the day dark as night;
He (K)calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth;
(L)The Lord is His name.
9 He [a]rains ruin upon the strong,
So that fury comes upon the fortress.
10 (M)They hate the one who rebukes in the gate,
And they (N)abhor the one who speaks uprightly.
11 (O)Therefore, because you [b]tread down the poor
And take grain [c]taxes from him,
Though (P)you have built houses of hewn stone,
Yet you shall not dwell in them;
You have planted [d]pleasant vineyards,
But you shall not drink wine from them.
12 For I (Q)know your manifold transgressions
And your mighty sins:
(R)Afflicting the just and taking bribes;
(S)Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.
13 Therefore (T)the prudent keep silent at that time,
For it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil,
That you may live;
So the Lord God of hosts will be with you,
(U)As you have spoken.
15 (V)Hate evil, love good;
Establish justice in the gate.
(W)It may be that the Lord God of hosts
Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
The Day of the Lord
16 Therefore the Lord God of hosts, the Lord, says this:
“There shall be wailing in all streets,
And they shall say in all the highways,
‘Alas! Alas!’
They shall call the farmer to mourning,
(X)And skillful lamenters to wailing.
17 In all vineyards there shall be wailing,
For (Y)I will pass through you,”
Says the Lord.
Amos 5:1-17
Young's Literal Translation
5 Hear this word that I am bearing to you, A lamentation, O house of Israel:
2 `Fallen, not again to rise, hath the virgin of Israel, Left on her land -- she hath no raiser up.'
3 For thus said the Lord Jehovah: The city that is going out a thousand, Doth leave an hundred, And that which is going out an hundred, Doth leave ten to the house of Israel.
4 For thus said Jehovah to the house of Israel: Seek ye Me, and live,
5 And seek not Beth-El, and Gilgal enter not, And Beer-Sheba pass not through, For Gilgal doth utterly remove, And Beth-El doth become vanity.
6 Seek ye Jehovah, and live, Lest He prosper as fire [against] the house of Joseph, And it hath consumed, And there is no quencher for Beth-El.
7 Ye who are turning to wormwood judgment, And righteousness to the earth have put down,
8 The maker of Kimah and Kesil, And the turner to morning of death-shade, And day [as] night He hath made dark, Who is calling to the waters of the sea, And poureth them on the face of the earth, Jehovah [is] His name;
9 Who is brightening up the spoiled against the strong, And the spoiled against a fortress cometh.
10 They have hated a reprover in the gate, And a plain speaker they abominate.
11 Therefore, because of your trampling on the poor, And the tribute of corn ye take from him, Houses of hewn work ye have built, And ye do not dwell in them, Desirable vineyards ye have planted, And ye do not drink their wine.
12 For I have known -- many [are] your transgressions, And mighty your sins, Adversaries of the righteous, taking ransoms, And the needy in the gate ye turned aside.
13 Therefore is the wise at that time silent, For an evil time it [is].
14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live, And it is so; Jehovah, God of Hosts, [is] with you, as ye said.
15 Hate evil, and love good, And set up judgment in the gate, It may be Jehovah, God of Hosts, doth pity the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Hosts, the Lord, In all broad places [is] lamentation, And in all out-places they say, `Alas, alas,' And called the husbandman to mourning, And to lamentation the skilful of wailing.
17 And in all vineyards [is] lamentation, For I pass into thy midst, said Jehovah.
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Amos 5:1-17
New American Standard Bible
“Seek Me So That You May Live”
5 Hear this word which I am taking up for you as a (A)song of mourning, house of Israel:
2 She has fallen, she will (B)not rise again—
The (C)virgin Israel.
She lies unnoticed on her land;
There is (D)no one to raise her up.
3 For this is what the Lord [a]God says:
“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 this is what the Lord says to the house of Israel:
“(G)Seek Me (H)so 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 nothing.
6 (L)Seek the Lord so that you may live,
Or He will break through like a (M)fire, [d]house of Joseph,
And it will consume with no one to extinguish it for Bethel,
7 For those who turn (N)justice into wormwood,
And [e]throw righteousness 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)makes destruction flash upon the strong,
So that (U)destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate him who (V)rebukes in the [g]gate,
And they (W)despise him who speaks with integrity.
11 Therefore because you impose heavy [h]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 beautiful vineyards, yet you will (Y)not drink their wine.
12 For I know your offenses are many and your sins are great,
You who are (Z)hostile to the righteous and accept bribes,
And [i]turn away the poor from justice at the [j]gate.
13 Therefore at [k]such a time the prudent person (AA)keeps quiet, because it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil, so that you may live;
And so may the Lord God of armies 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 armies
(AD)Will be gracious to the (AE)remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore this is what the Lord God of armies, the Lord says:
“There is (AF)mourning in all the public squares,
And in all the streets they say, ‘Oh no! Oh no!’
They also call the (AG)farmer to mourning
And [m](AH)professional mourners to mourning rites.
17 And in all the (AI)vineyards there is mourning,
Because I will pass through the midst of you,” says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Amos 5:3 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
- Amos 5:5 Lit seek
- Amos 5:5 Lit be
- Amos 5:6 Or in the house
- Amos 5:7 Lit they have thrown
- Amos 5:8 Lit And He darkened
- Amos 5:10 I.e., the place where court was held
- Amos 5:11 Or tax
- 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
- Amos 5:16 Lit those who know mourning
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
