Amos 5
Common English Bible
A song of lament
5 Hear this word—a funeral song—that I am lifting up against you, house of Israel:
2 Fallen, no more to rise,
is virgin Israel,
deserted on her land,
with no one to raise her up.
3 The Lord God proclaims:
The city that marched out one thousand people
will have one hundred left,
and the city that marched out one hundred will have ten left in the house of Israel.
Words of encouragement
4 The Lord proclaims to the house of Israel:
Seek me and live.
5 But don’t seek Bethel,
don’t enter into Gilgal,
or cross over to Beer-sheba;
for Gilgal will go into exile,
and Bethel will come to nothing.
6 Seek the Lord and live,
or else God might rush like a fire against the house of Joseph.
The fire will burn up Bethel, with no one to put it out.
Words of doom
7 Doom to you who turn justice into poison,
and throw righteousness to the ground!
8 The one who made the Pleiades and Orion,
and turns deep darkness into the morning,
and darkens the day into night;
who summons the waters of the sea,
and pours them out on the surface of the earth—
this one’s name is the Lord—
9 who causes destruction to flash out against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate the one who judges at the city gate,
and they reject the one who speaks the truth.
11 Truly, because you crush the weak,
and because you tax their grain,
you have built houses of carved stone,
but you won’t live in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you won’t drink their wine.
12 I know how many are your crimes,
and how numerous are your sins—
afflicting the righteous,
taking money on the side,
turning away the poor who seek help.
13 Therefore, the one who is wise will keep silent in that time;
it is an evil time.
Words of inspiration
14 Seek good and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of heavenly forces,
will be with you just as you have said.
15 Hate evil, love good,
and establish justice at the city gate.
Perhaps the Lord God of heavenly forces
will be gracious to what is left of Joseph.
Divine wrath anticipated
16 Truly, the Lord proclaims,
the God of heavenly forces, the Lord:
Crying will be heard in all the squares.
In all the streets they will say, “Oh no! Oh no!”
They will call upon the farmers to wail,
and those skilled in mourning to lament.
17 In all the vineyards there will be bitter crying because
I will pass through your midst,
says the Lord.
A statement of divine disgust
18 Doom to those who desire the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
19 as if someone fled from a lion,
and was met by a bear;
or sought refuge in a house,
rested a hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a snake.
20 Isn’t the day of the Lord darkness, not light;
all dark with no brightness in it?
21 I hate, I reject your festivals;
I don’t enjoy your joyous assemblies.
22 If you bring me your entirely burned offerings and gifts of food—
I won’t be pleased;
I won’t even look at your offerings of well-fed animals.
23 Take away the noise of your songs;
I won’t listen to the melody of your harps.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
during the forty years in the wilderness, house of Israel?
26 You will take up Sakkuth your king,
and Kaiwan your star-god,
your images, which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore, I will take you away
beyond Damascus, says the Lord,
whose name is the God of heavenly forces.
阿摩司书 5
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
劝以色列人悔改
5 以色列家啊，
听我为你们唱哀歌：
2 “处女以色列跌倒了，
再也站不起来；
她被遗弃在自己的土地上，
无人扶她起来。”
3 因为主耶和华说：
“以色列家的城邑中，
出兵一千的，只有百人生还；
出兵一百的，只有十人生还。”
4 耶和华对以色列家说：
“你们要寻求我，才能存活。
5 不要去伯特利求问，
不要进入吉甲，
也不要前往别示巴，
因为吉甲人必被掳去，
伯特利也必化为乌有。”
6 你们要寻求耶和华，才能存活。
否则，祂要在约瑟家[a]如烈火爆发，
吞噬伯特利，无人能扑灭。
7 你们这些使正义变为苦艾、将公义丢弃在地的人啊，
8 那位造昴星和参星，
使幽暗变为黎明，
使白昼变为黑夜，
召来海水浇在大地上的——
祂的名字是耶和华。
9 祂使毁灭如闪电临到强者，
摧毁他们的坚城。
10 你们憎恨在城门口主持公道的人，
厌恶正直的人。
11 你们践踏穷人，
对他们横征暴敛。
因此，你们用凿过的石头建房，
却不得居住在里面；
你们种植佳美的葡萄园，
却喝不到葡萄酒。
12 我知道你们的过犯众多、罪恶无数。
你们迫害义人，收受贿赂，
在城门口冤枉穷人。
13 这是邪恶的时代，
所以明智者静默不言。
14 你们要弃恶从善，才能存活。
这样，万军之上帝耶和华必与你们同在，
正如你们所说的。
15 你们要恨恶邪恶，喜爱良善，
在城门口伸张正义，
也许万军之上帝耶和华会恩待约瑟的余民。
16 因此，主——万军之上帝耶和华说：
“哀号之声要响遍各广场，
哭喊之声将充满大街小巷。
农夫被叫来哭泣，
哭丧者被召来哀号。
17 每个葡萄园都传出哀恸的声音，
因为我要从你们中间经过，惩罚你们。
这是耶和华说的。”
18 盼望耶和华的日子到来的人有祸了！
你们为什么盼望耶和华的日子呢？
那日将带来黑暗，而非光明。
19 你们的光景将好像人逃避狮子，
却遇上了熊，
逃回家里，手扶墙壁，
又被蛇咬。
20 耶和华的日子将充满黑暗，毫无光明，
一片漆黑，
毫无亮光。
21 “我憎恶、鄙弃你们的节期，
厌恶你们的圣会。
22 即使你们献上燔祭和素祭，
我也不悦纳；
即使你们用肥美的牲畜献上平安祭，
我也不屑一顾。
23 撤去你们嘈杂的歌声吧，
我不想听到你们的琴音。
24 惟愿公正如江河滔滔不尽，
公义如溪流绵绵不绝。
25 以色列家啊，
在旷野的四十年间，
你们向我献过祭物和供品吗？
26 你们抬着为自己造的神像——
你们的王撒固和星神迦温。
27 所以，我要使你们被掳到大马士革以外的地方。”
这是耶和华说的，祂的名字是万军之上帝。
Footnotes
- 5:6 “约瑟家”此处指约瑟的子孙以法莲和玛拿西两个支派，圣经中有时用约瑟家代指北国以色列。
Amos 5
Expanded Bible
Israel Needs to Repent
5 Listen to this ·funeral song [dirge; word of lamentation] that I ·sing about [or take up against] you, ·people [L house] of Israel.
2 “The ·young girl [virgin] Israel has fallen,
and she will not rise up again.
She was ·left alone [abandoned; forsaken] in her own land,
and there is no one to ·help [raise; lift] her up.”
3 This is what the Lord God says:
“If a thousand soldiers leave a city,
only a hundred will ·return [or remain];
if a hundred soldiers leave a city,
only ten will ·return [or remain].”
4 This is what the Lord says to the ·nation [L house] of Israel:
“·Come to [Seek] me and live.
5 But do not ·look in [seek] Bethel [C ironic, since Bethel means “house of God”; 4:4]
or go to Gilgal,
and do not go down to Beersheba [C important centers of worship in Israel; 4:4].
The people of Gilgal will ·be taken away as captives [surely go into exile],
and Bethel will become nothing.”
6 ·Come to [Seek] the Lord and live,
or he will ·move [sweep through; L rush] like fire against the ·descendants [L house] of Joseph.
The fire will ·burn [consume; devour] Bethel [4:4],
and there will be no one to ·put it out [quench it].
7 You turn justice ·upside down [L into bitterness/or wormwood; C a bitter plant; 6:12],
and you throw on the ground ·what is right [rightousness; justice].
8 ·God is the one [L He] who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion;
he changes darkness into the morning light,
and the day into dark night.
He calls for the waters of the sea
to pour out on the ·earth [L surface/face of the earth].
The Lord is his name.
9 He ·destroys [brings ruin upon; flashes destruction on] the protected city;
he ·ruins [destroys] the strong, walled city.
10 ·You [L They] hate those who ·speak in court against evil [L rebuke/reprove at the gate; C where court was held],
and ·you [L they] ·can’t stand [despise; detest] those who tell the truth.
11 You ·walk [trample; or levy a tax] on poor people,
·forcing them to give you [imposing a tax on their] grain.
You have built fancy houses of cut stone,
but you will not live in them.
You have planted ·beautiful [pleasant] vineyards,
but you will not drink the wine from them [Deut. 28:30].
12 I know your many ·crimes [trangressions],
your ·terrible [numerous; great] sins.
You ·hurt [oppress] ·people who do right [the righteous/innocent],
you take ·money to do wrong [bribes],
and you keep the poor from getting justice in ·court [L the gate; v. 10].
13 In such times the wise person will keep quiet,
because it is a ·bad [evil] time.
14 ·Try to do [Seek] good, not evil,
so that you will live,
and the Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] will be with you
just as you ·say [claim] he is.
15 Hate evil and love good;
·be fair in the courts [L establish justice in the gate; v. 10].
Maybe the Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] will ·be kind to [have mercy on; be gracious to] the ·people of Joseph who are left alive [remnant of Joseph; C a reference to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (Joseph’s sons), representing the northern kingdom].
16 This is what the Lord, the Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], says:
“People will be ·crying [wailing] in all the streets;
they will be saying, ‘Oh, no!’ in the public places.
They will call the farmers to ·come and weep [mourning]
and ·will pay people [L those who know lamentation; C professional mourners paid to weep] to ·cry out loud [wail] for them.
17 People will be ·crying [wailing] in all the vineyards,
because I will pass ·among you to punish you [L through your midst; C as the angel of death passed through Egypt (Ex. 12:12)],” says the Lord.
The Lord’s Day of Judging
18 ·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] you who want
the ·Lord’s day of judging [L day of the Lord] to come.
Why do you want that day to come?
It will bring darkness for you, not light.
19 It will be like someone who runs from a lion
and meets a bear,
or like someone who goes into his house
and ·puts [leans] his hand on the wall,
and then is bitten by a snake.
20 So the ·Lord’s day of judging [L day of the Lord] will bring darkness, not light;
it will be ·very dark [deep gloom], not ·light at all [brightness].
21 The Lord says, “I ·hate and reject [despise] your ·feasts [religious festivals];
I ·cannot stand [take no delight in] your ·religious meetings [sacred assemblies].
22 If you offer me burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17] and ·grain [L gift; tribute] offerings [Lev. 2:1],
I won’t accept them.
You bring your best ·fellowship [or peace; well-being] offerings [Lev. 3:1] of fattened cattle,
but I will ·ignore [have no regard for] them [Is. 1:11].
23 Take ·the noise of your songs [or your noisy songs] away from me!
I won’t listen to the music of your ·harps [stringed instruments].
24 But let justice ·flow [roll] like a river,
and let ·goodness [righteousness; justice] flow like a ·never-ending [ever-flowing] stream.
25 “·People [L House] of Israel, you did not bring me sacrifices and offerings
while you traveled in the desert for forty years.
26 You have ·carried with you [lifted up]
·your king, the god Sakkuth [or the shrine of your idol-king],
·and Kaiwan your idol [or the pedestal of your idols; C either names of Mesopotamian star gods, or general terms for idols],
the star gods you have made for yourselves.
27 So I will send you ·away as captives [into exile] beyond Damascus,”
says the Lord, whose name is the God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Chinese Contemporary Bible Copyright © 1979, 2005, 2007, 2011 by Biblica® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.