Amos 5–6

Seek the Lord and Live

5Hear this word that I ^ktake up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:

²“Fallen, no more to rise,

is ^lthe 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:

^m“Seek me and live;

⁵but do not seek ⁿBethel,

and do not enter into ⁿGilgal

or cross over to ^oBeersheba;

for ⁿGilgal shall surely go into exile,

and ⁿBethel shall come to nothing.”

^6mSeek the Lord and live,

^plest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,

and it devour, with none to quench it for ⁿBethel,

⁷O ^qyou who turn justice to wormwood¹

and cast down righteousness to the earth!

⁸He who made the ^rPleiades and Orion,

and turns deep darkness into the morning

and ^sdarkens the day into night,

who ^tcalls for the waters of the sea

^tand pours them out on the surface of the earth,

^uthe Lord is his name;

^9vwho makes destruction flash forth against the strong,

so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

^10wThey hate him who reproves ^xin the gate,

and they ^yabhor him who speaks the truth.

¹¹Therefore because you ^ztrample on² the poor

and you exact taxes of grain from him,

^ayou have built houses of hewn stone,

but you shall not dwell in them;

^ayou 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 ^btake a bribe,

and ^cturn aside the needy ^xin the gate.

¹³Therefore he who is prudent will ^dkeep silent in such a time,

^efor it is an evil time.

^14fSeek good, and not evil,

that you may live;

and so the Lord, ^gthe God of hosts, will be with you,

as you have said.

^15hHate evil, and love good,

and establish justice ^xin the gate;

ⁱit may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,

will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

¹⁶Therefore thus says the Lord, ^gthe God of hosts, the Lord:

“In all the squares ^jthere shall be wailing,

and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’

They shall call the farmers to mourning

and ^jto wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,

¹⁷and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,

for ^kI will pass through your midst,”

says the Lord.

Let Justice Roll Down

¹⁸Woe to you who desire ^lthe day of the Lord!

Why would you have the day of the Lord?

^mIt is darkness, and not light,

¹⁹ⁿas 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.

^20mIs not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,

and gloom with no brightness in it?

^21o“I hate, I despise your feasts,

and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

^22pEven 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 ^qthe melody of your harps I will not listen.

²⁴But let justice roll down like waters,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

^25r“Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? ^26sYou ^tshall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, ^27uand I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is ^gthe God of hosts.

Woe to Those at Ease in Zion

6^w“Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,

and to those who feel secure on ^xthe mountain of Samaria,

^ythe notable men of ^zthe first of the nations,

to whom the house of Israel comes!

²Pass over to ^aCalneh, and see,

and from there go to ^bHamath the great;

then go down to ^cGath of the Philistines.

^dAre you better than these kingdoms?

Or is their territory greater than your territory,

^3eO you who put far away the day of disaster

^fand bring near the seat of violence?

⁴“Woe to those ^gwho lie on ^hbeds of ivory

^gand stretch themselves out on their couches,

and eat lambs from the flock

ⁱand calves from the midst of the stall,

^5jwho sing idle songs to the sound of the harp

and like David ^jinvent for themselves instruments of music,

^6kwho drink wine in bowls

and ^lanoint themselves with the finest oils,

but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!

^7mTherefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile,

and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.”

⁸ⁿThe Lord God has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts:

“I abhor ^othe pride of Jacob

and hate his strongholds,

^pand I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”

⁹And ^qif ten men remain in one house, they shall die. ¹⁰And when one’s relative, ^rthe one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, ^s“Silence! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

¹¹For behold, the Lord commands,

and ^tthe great house shall be struck down into fragments,

and the little house into bits.

¹²Do horses run on rocks?

Does one plow there¹ with oxen?

^uBut you have turned justice into ^vpoison

^uand the fruit of righteousness into wormwood²—

¹³you who rejoice in Lo-debar,³

who say, ^w“Have we not by our own strength

captured Karnaim⁴ for ourselves?”

¹⁴“For behold, ^xI will raise up against you a nation,

O house of Israel,” declares the Lord, the God of hosts;

“and they shall oppress you from ^yLebo-hamath

to the Brook of ^zthe Arabah.”