Amos 5:1-9

New Living Translation

² “The virgin Israel has fallen,
    never to rise again!
She lies abandoned on the ground,
    with no one to help her up.”

“When a city sends a thousand men to battle,
    only a hundred will return.
When a town sends a hundred,
    only ten will come back alive.”

“Come back to me and live!
⁵ Don’t worship at the pagan altars at Bethel;
    don’t go to the shrines at Gilgal or Beersheba.
For the people of Gilgal will be dragged off into exile,
    and the people of Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”
⁶ Come back to the Lord and live!
Otherwise, he will roar through Israel^[a] like a fire,
    devouring you completely.
Your gods in Bethel
    won’t be able to quench the flames.
⁷ You twist justice, making it a bitter pill for the oppressed.
    You treat the righteous like dirt.

⁸ It is the Lord who created the stars,
    the Pleiades and Orion.
He turns darkness into morning
    and day into night.
He draws up water from the oceans
    and pours it down as rain on the land.
    The Lord is his name!
⁹ With blinding speed and power he destroys the strong,
    crushing all their defenses.