Amos 5:6–12

⁶Come back to the Lord and live!

Otherwise, he will roar through Israel like a fire,

devouring you completely.

Your gods in Bethel

won’t be able to quench the flames.

⁷You twist justice, making it a bitter pill for the oppressed.

You treat the righteous like dirt.

⁸It is the Lord who created the stars,

the Pleiades and Orion.

He turns darkness into morning

and day into night.

He draws up water from the oceans

and pours it down as rain on the land.

The Lord is his name!

⁹With blinding speed and power he destroys the strong,

crushing all their defenses.

¹⁰How you hate honest judges!

How you despise people who tell the truth!

¹¹You trample the poor,

stealing their grain through taxes and unfair rent.

Therefore, though you build beautiful stone houses,

you will never live in them.

Though you plant lush vineyards,

you will never drink wine from them.

¹²For I know the vast number of your sins

and the depth of your rebellions.

You oppress good people by taking bribes

and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.