Amos 5:4-15
Christian Standard Bible
Seek God and Live
4 For the Lord says to the house of Israel:
Seek me and live!(A)
5 Do not seek Bethel(B)
or go to Gilgal(C)
or journey to Beer-sheba,(D)
for Gilgal will certainly go into exile,
and Bethel will come to nothing.
6 Seek the Lord(E) and live,
or he will spread like fire(F)
throughout the house of Joseph;
it will consume everything
with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.(G)
7 Those who turn justice into wormwood(H)
also throw righteousness to the ground.
8 The one who made the Pleiades and Orion,(I)
who turns darkness[a] into dawn(J)
and darkens day into night,(K)
who summons the water of the sea(L)
and pours it out over the surface of the earth(M)—
the Lord is his name.(N)
9 He brings destruction[b] on the strong,[c](O)
and it falls on the fortress.(P)
10 They hate the one who convicts the guilty(Q)
at the city gate,
and they despise(R) the one who speaks with integrity.
11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor(S)
and exact a grain tax from him,
you will never live in the houses of cut stone(T)
you have built;
you will never drink the wine
from the lush vineyards
you have planted.(U)
12 For I know your crimes are many
and your sins innumerable.
They oppress the righteous,(V) take a bribe,
and deprive the poor of justice(W) at the city gates.
13 Therefore, those who have insight will keep silent[d](X)
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.(Y)
15 Hate evil and love good;(Z)
establish justice at the city gate.(AA)
Perhaps the Lord, the God of Armies, will be gracious(AB)
to the remnant of Joseph.(AC)
Amos 5:4-15
New Living Translation
4 Now this is what the Lord says to the family of Israel:
“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.
10 How you hate honest judges!
How you despise people who tell the truth!
11 You trample the poor,
stealing their grain through taxes and unfair rent.
Therefore, though you build beautiful stone houses,
you will never live in them.
Though you plant lush vineyards,
you will never drink wine from them.
12 For I know the vast number of your sins
and the depth of your rebellions.
You oppress good people by taking bribes
and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
13 So those who are smart keep their mouths shut,
for it is an evil time.
14 Do what is good and run from evil
so that you may live!
Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper,
just as you have claimed.
15 Hate evil and love what is good;
turn your courts into true halls of justice.
Perhaps even yet the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies
will have mercy on the remnant of his people.[b]
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
