Amos 5

Seek the Lord and Live

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

2 “Fallen, no more to rise,
is ^bthe virgin Israel;
forsaken on her land,
with none to raise her up.”
3For 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.”
4For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:

^c“Seek me and live;
5but do not seek ^dBethel,
and do not enter into ^eGilgal
or cross over to ^fBeersheba;
for ^gGilgal shall surely go into exile,
and ^hBethel shall come to nothing.”
6 ⁱSeek the Lord and live,
^jlest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, with none to quench it for ^kBethel,
7O ^lyou who turn justice to wormwood ▼

▼Or  to bitter fruit

and cast down righteousness to the earth!
8 He who made the ⁿPleiades and Orion,
and turns deep darkness into the morning
and ^odarkens the day into night,
who ^pcalls for the waters of the sea
^qand pours them out on the surface of the earth,
^rthe Lord is his name;
9 ^swho makes destruction flash forth against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 ^tThey hate him who reproves ^uin the gate,
and they ^vabhor him who speaks the truth.
11Therefore because you ^wtrample on ▼

▼Or  you tax

the poor
and you exact taxes of grain from him,
^yyou have built houses of hewn stone,
but you shall not dwell in them;
^zyou have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
12For I know how many are your transgressions
and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who ^aatake a bribe,
and ^abturn aside the needy ^acin the gate.
13Therefore he who is prudent will ^adkeep silent in such a time,
^aefor it is an evil time.
14 ^afSeek good, and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, ^agthe God of hosts, will be with you,
as you have said.
15 ^ahHate evil, and love good,
and establish justice ^aiin the gate;
^ajit may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16Therefore thus says the Lord, ^akthe God of hosts, the Lord:

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

says the Lord.

Let Justice Roll Down

18 Woe to you who desire ^aothe day of the Lord!
Why would you have the day of the Lord?
^apIt is darkness, and not light,
19 ^aqas 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 ^arIs not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?
21 ^as“I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 ^atEven 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.
23Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to ^authe melody of your harps I will not listen.
24But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 ^av“Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 26 ^awYou ^axshall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, 27 ^ayand I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is ^azthe God of hosts.