Amos 5:10–24

¹⁰There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court^d

and detest the one who tells the truth.^e

¹¹You levy a straw tax on the poor^f

and impose a tax on their grain.

Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,^g

you will not live in them;^h

though you have planted lush vineyards,

you will not drink their wine.ⁱ

¹²For I know how many are your offenses

and how great your sins.^j

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes^k

and deprive the poor^l of justice in the courts.^m

¹³Therefore the prudent keep quietⁿ in such times,

for the times are evil.^o

¹⁴Seek good, not evil,

that you may live.^p

Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,

just as you say he is.

¹⁵Hate evil,^q love good;^r

maintain justice in the courts.^s

Perhaps^t the Lord God Almighty will have mercy^u

on the remnant^v of Joseph.

¹⁶Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:

“There will be wailing^w in all the streets^x

and cries of anguish in every public square.

The farmers^y will be summoned to weep

and the mourners to wail.

¹⁷There will be wailing^z in all the vineyards,

for I will pass through^a your midst,”

says the Lord.^b

The Day of the Lord

¹⁸Woe to you who long

for the day of the Lord!^c

Why do you long for the day of the Lord?^d

That day will be darkness,^e not light.^f

¹⁹It will be as though a man fled from a lion

only to meet a bear,^g

as though he entered his house

and rested his hand on the wall

only to have a snake bite him.^h

²⁰Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,ⁱ not light—

pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?^j

²¹“I hate,^k I despise your religious festivals;^l

your assemblies^m are a stench to me.

²²Even though you bring me burnt offeringsⁿ and grain offerings,

I will not accept them.^o

Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,

I will have no regard for them.^p

²³Away with the noise of your songs!

I will not listen to the music of your harps.^q

²⁴But let justice^r roll on like a river,

righteousness^s like a never-failing stream!^t