Amo 5 | NASB2020 | STEP | Hear this word which I am taking up for you as a song of mourning , house of Israel :

Amos 5

“Seek Me So That You May Live”

1 Hear this word which I am taking up for you as a ^asong of mourning, house of Israel:
2 She has fallen, she will ^bnot rise again--
The ^cvirgin Israel.
She lies unnoticed on her land;
There is ^dno one to raise her up.
3 For this is what the Lord ^{▼▼Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch}God says:

“The city which goes forth a thousand strong
Will have a ^fhundred left,
And the one which goes forth a hundred strong
Will have ^gten left to the house of Israel.”
4 For this is what the Lord says to the house of Israel:

“ ^hSeek Me ⁱso that you may live.
5 “But do not ^{▼▼Lit seek}resort to ^kBethel
And do not come to ^lGilgal,
Nor cross over to ^mBeersheba;
For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity
And Bethel will ^{▼▼Lit be}come to nothing.
6 “ ^oSeek the Lord so that you may live,
Or He will break through like a ^pfire, ^{▼▼Or in the house}house of Joseph,
And it will consume with no one to extinguish it for Bethel,
7 For those who turn ^rjustice into wormwood,
And ^{▼▼Lit they have thrown}throw righteousness to the earth.”

8 He who made the ^tPleiades and Orion,
And ^uchanges deep darkness into morning,
^{▼▼Lit And He darkened}Who also ^wdarkens day into night,
Who ^xcalls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
The ^yLord is His name.
9 It is He who ^zmakes destruction flash upon the strong,
So that ^aadestruction comes upon the fortress.

10 They hate him who ^abrebukes in the ^{▼▼I.e., the place where court was held}gate,
And they ^addespise him who speaks with integrity.
11 Therefore because you impose heavy ^{▼▼Or tax}rent on the poor
And take a tribute of grain from them,
Though you have built ^afhouses of cut stone,
Yet you will not live in them;
You have planted beautiful vineyards, yet you will ^agnot drink their wine.
12 For I know your offenses are many and your sins are great,
You who are ^ahhostile to the righteous and accept bribes,
And ^{▼▼Lit they turn}turn away the poor from justice at the ^{▼▼I.e., the place where court was held}gate.
13 Therefore at ^{▼▼Lit that time}such a time the prudent person ^alkeeps quiet, because it is an evil time.

14 Seek good and not evil, so that you may live;
And so may the Lord God of armies be with you,
^amJust as you have said!
15 ^anHate evil, love good,
And establish justice in the ^{▼▼I.e., the place where court was held}gate!
Perhaps the Lord God of armies
^apWill be gracious to the ^aqremnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore this is what the Lord God of armies, the Lord says:

“There is ^armourning in all the public squares,
And in all the streets they say, ‘Oh no! Oh no!’
They also call the ^asfarmer to mourning
And ^{▼▼Lit those who know mourning
,} ^auprofessional mourners to mourning rites.
17 “And in all the ^avvineyards there is mourning,
Because I will pass through the midst of you,” says the Lord.

18 Woe to you who are longing for the ^awday of the Lord,
For what ^{▼▼Lit will this be to you, the day}purpose will the day of the Lord be to you?
It will be ^aydarkness and not light;
19 As when a man ^azflees from a lion
And a bear confronts him,
^{▼▼Or Then}Or he goes home, leans with his hand against the wall,
And a snake bites him.
20 Will the day of the Lord not be ^bbdarkness instead of light,
Even gloom with no brightness in it?

21 “I hate, I ^bcreject your festivals,
Nor do I ^{▼▼Lit like to smell your
,} ^bedelight in your festive assemblies.
22 “Even though you ^bfoffer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the ^bgpeace offerings of your fattened oxen.
23 “Take away from Me the noise of your songs;
I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.
24 “But let ^bhjustice roll out like waters,
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 “ ^{▼▼Or You presented Me with the sacrifices and a grain offering
,} ^bjDid you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, house of Israel? 26 ^bkYou also carried along ^{▼▼Or Sakkuth (Saturn), or the tabernacle of your Moloch}Sikkuth your king and ^{▼▼Or Kaiwan (Saturn), or stands of}Kiyyun, your images, ^{▼▼Or your star gods}the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. 27 Therefore I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of armies.