Amo 1, Amo 5 | ESV | STEP | The words of Amos , who was among the shepherds of Tekoa , which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash , king of Israel , two years before the earthquake .

1 The words of Amos, who was among the ^ashepherds ^{▼▼Or sheep breeders} of ^cTekoa, which he saw concerning Israel ^din the days of ^eUzziah king of Judah and in the days of ^fJeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years ^{▼▼Or during two years} before ^hthe earthquake.

Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors

2 And he said:

ⁱ“The Lord roars from Zion
and utters his voice from Jerusalem;
^jthe pastures of the shepherds mourn,
and the ^ktop of ^lCarmel withers.”
3 Thus says the Lord:

^m“For three transgressions of ⁿDamascus,
and for four, ^oI will not revoke the punishment, ^{▼▼Hebrew I will not turn it back; also verses 6, 9, 11, 13}
because they have threshed ^qGilead
with threshing sledges of iron.
4 ^rSo I will send a fire upon the house of ^sHazael,
and it shall devour the strongholds of ^tBen-hadad.
5 I will ^ubreak the gate-bar of ^vDamascus,
and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of ^wAven, ^{▼▼Or On}
and him who holds the scepter from ^yBeth-eden;
and the people of ^zSyria shall go into exile to ^aaKir,”

says the Lord.
6 Thus says the Lord:

^ab“For three transgressions of ^acGaza,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because ^adthey carried into exile a whole people
to deliver them up to Edom.
7 So I will send a fire upon the wall of ^aeGaza,
and it shall devour her strongholds.
8 I will cut off the inhabitants from ^afAshdod,
and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;
I will turn my hand against Ekron,
and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,”

says the Lord God.
9 Thus says the Lord:

^ag“For three transgressions of ^ahTyre,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they delivered up a whole people to Edom,
and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.
10 So I will send a fire upon the wall of ^aiTyre,
and it shall devour her strongholds.”
11 Thus says the Lord:

^aj“For three transgressions of ^akEdom,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
^albecause he pursued his brother with the sword
^amand cast off all pity,
^anand his anger tore perpetually,
^aoand he kept his wrath forever.
12 So I will send a fire upon ^apTeman,
and it shall devour the strongholds of ^aqBozrah.”
13 Thus says the Lord:

^ar“For three transgressions of the ^asAmmonites,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because ^atthey have ripped open pregnant women in ^auGilead,
that they might enlarge their border.
14 So I will kindle a fire in the wall of ^avRabbah,
^awand it shall devour her strongholds,
with shouting on the day of battle,
^axwith a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
15 and ^aytheir king shall go into exile,
he and his princes ^{▼▼Or officials} together,”

says the Lord.

Amos 5

Seek the Lord and Live

1 Hear this word that I ^batake up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:

2 “Fallen, no more to rise,
is ^bbthe virgin Israel;
forsaken on her land,
with none to raise her up.”
3 For thus says the Lord God:

“The city that went out a thousand
shall have a hundred left,
and that which went out a hundred
shall have ten left
to the house of Israel.”
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:

^bc“Seek me and live;
5 but do not seek ^bdBethel,
and do not enter into ^beGilgal
or cross over to ^bfBeersheba;
for ^bgGilgal shall surely go into exile,
and ^bhBethel shall come to nothing.”
6 ^biSeek the Lord and live,
^bjlest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, with none to quench it for ^bkBethel,
7 O ^blyou who turn justice to wormwood ^{▼▼Or to bitter fruit}
and cast down righteousness to the earth!
8 He who made the ^bnPleiades and Orion,
and turns deep darkness into the morning
and ^bodarkens the day into night,
who ^bpcalls for the waters of the sea
^bqand pours them out on the surface of the earth,
^brthe Lord is his name;
9 ^bswho makes destruction flash forth against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 ^btThey hate him who reproves ^buin the gate,
and they ^bvabhor him who speaks the truth.
11 Therefore because you ^bwtrample on ^{▼▼Or you tax} the poor
and you exact taxes of grain from him,
^byyou have built houses of hewn stone,
but you shall not dwell in them;
^bzyou have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
12 For I know how many are your transgressions
and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who ^catake a bribe,
and ^cbturn aside the needy ^ccin the gate.
13 Therefore he who is prudent will ^cdkeep silent in such a time,
^cefor it is an evil time.
14 ^cfSeek good, and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, ^cgthe God of hosts, will be with you,
as you have said.
15 ^chHate evil, and love good,
and establish justice ^ciin the gate;
^cjit may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore thus says the Lord, ^ckthe God of hosts, the Lord:

“In all the squares ^clthere shall be wailing,
and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They shall call the farmers to mourning
and ^cmto wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,
17 and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,
for ^cnI will pass through your midst,”

says the Lord.

Let Justice Roll Down

18 Woe to you who desire ^cothe day of the Lord!
Why would you have the day of the Lord?
^cpIt is darkness, and not light,
19 ^cqas if a man fled from a lion,
and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,
and a serpent bit him.
20 ^crIs not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?
21 ^cs“I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 ^ctEven though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to ^cuthe melody of your harps I will not listen.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 ^cv“Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 26 ^cwYou ^cxshall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, 27 ^cyand I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is ^czthe God of hosts.