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Lamentation for Israel

Listen to this message that I am singing for you, a lament,(A) house of Israel:

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)

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

For the Lord says to the house of Israel:

Seek me and live!(G)
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.
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)
Those who turn justice into wormwood(N)
also throw righteousness to the ground.

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)
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 that 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.

Footnotes

  1. 5:8 Or turns the shadow of death
  2. 5:9 Hb obscure
  3. 5:9 Or stronghold
  4. 5:13 Or who are prudent will perish
  5. 5:16 Lit will say, “Alas! Alas! ”
  6. 5:16 Lit and those skilled in lamentation
  7. 5:26 Or you will lift up
  8. 5:26 LXX reads taken up the tent of Molech and the star of your god Rephan; Ac 7:43

A Lament for Israel

Hear this word which I (A)take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel:

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.

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

For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:

(B)“Seek Me (C)and live;
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.
(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—
You who (H)turn justice to wormwood,
And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!”

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.
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.

18 (Z)Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
For what good is (AA)the day of the Lord to you?
It will be darkness, and not light.
19 It will be (AB)as though a man fled from a lion,
And a bear met him!
Or as though he went into the house,
Leaned his hand on the wall,
And a serpent bit him!
20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light?
Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?

21 “I(AC) hate, I despise your feast days,
And (AD)I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
22 (AE)Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them,
Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
24 (AF)But let justice run down like water,
And righteousness like a mighty stream.

25 “Did(AG) you offer Me sacrifices and offerings
In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
26 You also carried [e]Sikkuth[f] (AH)your king
And Chiun, your idols,
The star of your gods,
Which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into captivity (AI)beyond Damascus,”
Says the Lord, (AJ)whose name is the God of hosts.

Footnotes

  1. Amos 5:9 Or flashes forth destruction
  2. Amos 5:11 trample
  3. Amos 5:11 Or tribute
  4. Amos 5:11 desirable
  5. Amos 5:26 LXX, Vg. tabernacle of Moloch
  6. Amos 5:26 A pagan deity

Mourning for Fallen Israel

Listen to this word that I am raising against you as a lament,[a] O house of Israel:

Virgin Israel has fallen, and she will not rise again.
    She is abandoned on her own soil.
    There is no one to lift her up.
For this is what the Lord God says:
    A city that marches out with a thousand will have a hundred left.
    A city that marches out with a hundred will have ten left for the house of Israel.

Seek the Lord and Live!

Listen, this is what the Lord says to the house of Israel:

    Seek me and live!
But do not seek Bethel.
    Do not go to Gilgal.
    Do not travel to Beersheba,
    because Gilgal surely will go into exile,
    and Bethel will become nothing.

Seek the Lord and live,
    or he will rush upon the house of Joseph like fire.
    The fire will consume, and no one will extinguish it for Bethel.

There are some who turn justice into wormwood,[b]
    who throw righteousness to the ground.

There is one who made the Pleiades and Orion,
    who turns the shadow of death into morning,
    who darkens day into night,
    who summons the waters of the seas,
    who pours them out upon the face of the earth—
    the Lord is his name.
He causes destruction to flash against a stronghold,
    and destruction comes upon a fortress.

10 There are those who hate an arbitrator[c] in the city gate.[d]
    They despise anyone who speaks honestly.
11 That is why you trample on the poor,
    and you collect taxes on their grain.
    You have built houses of cut stones,
    but you will not live in them.
    You have planted choice vineyards,
    but you will not drink their wine.
12 For I know that your rebellious deeds are many,
    and your sins are numerous,
    you who are enemies of a righteous man,
    you who take bribes.
    They thrust away needy people in the city gate.
13 That is why a prudent man will be silent in that time,
    because it is an evil time.

14 Seek good and not evil, so that you may live,
    and then it will be like this for you:
    The Lord, the God of Armies, will be with you, as you claim.
15 Hate evil and love good.
    Establish justice in the city gate.
    Perhaps the Lord, the God of Armies,
        will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore, this is what the Lord says,
    the God of Armies, who is the Lord:
    In the city squares there will be grief,
    and in the streets they will say, “Woe, woe!”
    They will summon the farmer to mourn
    and the professional mourners to sing laments.
17 In all the vineyards there will be grief,
    because I will pass through your midst, says the Lord.

The Day of the Lord Brings Darkness

18 Woe to those who long for the Day of the Lord!
    What good will the Day of the Lord be for you?
    It will be darkness and not light.
19 It will be as if a man flees from a lion,
    but a bear meets him,
    or he enters a house and rests his hand on a wall,
    but a snake bites him.
20 Will not the Day of the Lord be darkness and not light,
    gloom without a trace of brightness?

The Lord Hates Faithless Worship

21 I hate, I reject, your festivals!
    I do not delight in the aroma of the sacrifices at your sacred convocations.
22 Even if you offer up to me your whole burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.
    I will not pay any attention to your fellowship offerings of fattened calves.
23 Get the noise of your songs away from me!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice roll like the waters,
    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel?
26 You lifted up images of Sakkuth, your king,
    and of Kiyyun, your star god, which you made for yourselves.[e]
27 So I will exile you beyond Damascus,
    says the Lord, whose name is the God of Armies.

Footnotes

  1. Amos 5:1 Or sad song
  2. Amos 5:7 Wormwood is a toxic, bitter-tasting substance (absinthe).
  3. Amos 5:10 Or a mediator
  4. Amos 5:10 The city gate served as the courthouse.
  5. Amos 5:26 The form and meaning of several of the terms and names referring to gods in verse 26 are uncertain. The terms seem to refer to astral deities, most likely including Saturn.

A Lament and Call to Repentance

Hear this word, Israel, this lament(A) I take up concerning you:

“Fallen is Virgin(B) Israel,
    never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
    with no one to lift her up.(C)

This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:

“Your city that marches out a thousand strong
    will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
    will have only ten left.(D)

This is what the Lord says to Israel:

“Seek(E) me and live;(F)
    do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,(G)
    do not journey to Beersheba.(H)
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
    and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.[a](I)
Seek(J) the Lord and live,(K)
    or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;(L)
it will devour them,
    and Bethel(M) will have no one to quench it.(N)

There are those who turn justice into bitterness(O)
    and cast righteousness(P) to the ground.(Q)

He who made the Pleiades and Orion,(R)
    who turns midnight into dawn(S)
    and darkens day into night,(T)
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.(U)
With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
    and brings the fortified city to ruin.(V)

10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court(W)
    and detest the one who tells the truth.(X)

11 You levy a straw tax on the poor(Y)
    and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,(Z)
    you will not live in them;(AA)
though you have planted lush vineyards,
    you will not drink their wine.(AB)
12 For I know how many are your offenses
    and how great your sins.(AC)

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes(AD)
    and deprive the poor(AE) of justice in the courts.(AF)
13 Therefore the prudent keep quiet(AG) in such times,
    for the times are evil.(AH)

14 Seek good, not evil,
    that you may live.(AI)
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
    just as you say he is.
15 Hate evil,(AJ) love good;(AK)
    maintain justice in the courts.(AL)
Perhaps(AM) the Lord God Almighty will have mercy(AN)
    on the remnant(AO) of Joseph.

16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:

“There will be wailing(AP) in all the streets(AQ)
    and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers(AR) will be summoned to weep
    and the mourners to wail.
17 There will be wailing(AS) in all the vineyards,
    for I will pass through(AT) your midst,”
says the Lord.(AU)

The Day of the Lord

18 Woe to you who long
    for the day of the Lord!(AV)
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?(AW)
    That day will be darkness,(AX) not light.(AY)
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion
    only to meet a bear,(AZ)
as though he entered his house
    and rested his hand on the wall
    only to have a snake bite him.(BA)
20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,(BB) not light—
    pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?(BC)

21 “I hate,(BD) I despise your religious festivals;(BE)
    your assemblies(BF) are a stench to me.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings(BG) and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.(BH)
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.(BI)
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.(BJ)
24 But let justice(BK) roll on like a river,
    righteousness(BL) like a never-failing stream!(BM)

25 “Did you bring me sacrifices(BN) and offerings
    forty years(BO) in the wilderness, people of Israel?
26 You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
    the pedestal of your idols,(BP)
    the star of your god[b]
    which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into exile(BQ) beyond Damascus,”
    says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.(BR)

Footnotes

  1. Amos 5:5 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see Hosea 4:15.
  2. Amos 5:26 Or lifted up Sakkuth your king / and Kaiwan your idols, / your star-gods; Septuagint lifted up the shrine of Molek / and the star of your god Rephan, / their idols