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For Yahweh says to the house of Israel:

“Seek me, and you will live;
but don’t seek Bethel,
    nor enter into Gilgal,
    and don’t pass to Beersheba:
for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,
    and Bethel shall come to nothing.
Seek Yahweh, and you will live;
    lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
    and it devour, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel.
You who turn justice to wormwood,
    and cast down righteousness to the earth:
seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion,
    and turns the shadow of death into the morning,
    and makes the day dark with night;
    who calls for the waters of the sea,
    and pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh is his name,
who brings sudden destruction on the strong,
    so that destruction comes on the fortress.
10 They hate him who reproves in the gate,
    and they abhor him who speaks blamelessly.
11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor,
    and take taxes from him of wheat:
    You have built houses of cut stone,
    but you will not dwell in them.
You have planted pleasant vineyards,
    but you shall not drink their wine.
12 For I know how many are your offenses,
    and how great are your sins—
    you who afflict the just,
    who take a bribe,
    and who turn away the needy in the courts.
13 Therefore a prudent person keeps silent in such a time,
    for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good, and not evil,
    that you may live;
    and so Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be with you,
    as you say.
15 Hate evil, love good,
    and establish justice in the courts.
    It may be that Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

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For thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live; but seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall [a]come to nought. Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el. Ye who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth, seek him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth [b]the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth (Jehovah is his name); that [c]bringeth sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress.

10 They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. 11 Forasmuch therefore as ye trample upon the poor, and take exactions from him of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink the wine thereof. 12 For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins—ye that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy in the gate from their right. 13 Therefore he that is prudent shall keep silence in such a time; for it is an evil time.

14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be with you, as ye say. 15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate: it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 5:5 Or, become vanity (Hebrew Aven)
  2. Amos 5:8 Or, deep darkness
  3. Amos 5:9 Or, causeth destruction to flash forth