Amos 5 — WEBBE
5Verse 1Listen to this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel:Verse 2“The virgin of Israel has fallen;She shall rise no more.She is cast down on her land;there is no one to raise her up.”Verse 3For the Lord GOD says:“The city that went out a thousand shall have a hundred left,and that which went out one hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”Verse 4For the LORD says to the house of Israel:“Seek me, and you will live;
Verse 5but don’t seek Bethel,nor enter into Gilgal,
and don’t pass to Beersheba;for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,and Bethel shall come to nothing.Verse 6Seek the LORD, and you will live,lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel.Verse 7You who turn justice to wormwood,and cast down righteousness to the earth!Verse 8Seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion,and turns the shadow of death into the morning,
and makes the day dark with night;
who calls for the waters of the sea,
and pours them out on the surface of the earth, the LORD is his name,Verse 9who brings sudden destruction on the strong,so that destruction comes on the fortress.Verse 10They hate him who reproves in the gate,and they abhor him who speaks blamelessly.Verse 11Therefore, because you trample on the poor and take taxes from him of wheat,you have built houses of cut stone, but you will not dwell in them.You have planted pleasant vineyards,but you shall not drink their wine.Verse 12For I know how many are your offences,and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the just,
who take a bribe,
and who turn away the needy in the courts.Verse 13Therefore a prudent person keeps silent in such a time,for it is an evil time.Verse 14Seek good, and not evil,that you may live;
and so the LORD, the God of Armies, will be with you,
as you say.Verse 15Hate evil, love good,and establish justice in the courts.
It may be that the LORD, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”Verse 16Therefore the LORD, the God of Armies, the Lord, says:“Wailing will be in all the wide ways.They will say in all the streets, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They will call the farmer to mourning,
and those who are skilful in lamentation to wailing.Verse 17In all vineyards there will be wailing,for I will pass through the middle of you,” says the LORD.Verse 18“Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD!Why do you long for the day of the LORD?It is darkness,and not light.Verse 19As if a man fled from a lion,and a bear met him;or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall,and a snake bit him.Verse 20Won’t the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light?Even very dark, and no brightness in it?Verse 21I hate, I despise your feasts,and I can’t stand your solemn assemblies.Verse 22Yes, though you offer me your burnt offerings and meal offerings,I will not accept them;
neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat animals.Verse 23Take away from me the noise of your songs!I will not listen to the music of your harps.Verse 24But let justice roll on like rivers,and righteousness like a mighty stream.Verse 25“Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, house of Israel?Verse 26You also carried the tent of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.Verse 27Therefore I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Armies.
Verse 5but don’t seek Bethel,nor enter into Gilgal,
and don’t pass to Beersheba;for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,and Bethel shall come to nothing.Verse 6Seek the LORD, and you will live,lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel.Verse 7You who turn justice to wormwood,and cast down righteousness to the earth!Verse 8Seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion,and turns the shadow of death into the morning,
and makes the day dark with night;
who calls for the waters of the sea,
and pours them out on the surface of the earth, the LORD is his name,Verse 9who brings sudden destruction on the strong,so that destruction comes on the fortress.Verse 10They hate him who reproves in the gate,and they abhor him who speaks blamelessly.Verse 11Therefore, because you trample on the poor and take taxes from him of wheat,you have built houses of cut stone, but you will not dwell in them.You have planted pleasant vineyards,but you shall not drink their wine.Verse 12For I know how many are your offences,and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the just,
who take a bribe,
and who turn away the needy in the courts.Verse 13Therefore a prudent person keeps silent in such a time,for it is an evil time.Verse 14Seek good, and not evil,that you may live;
and so the LORD, the God of Armies, will be with you,
as you say.Verse 15Hate evil, love good,and establish justice in the courts.
It may be that the LORD, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”Verse 16Therefore the LORD, the God of Armies, the Lord, says:“Wailing will be in all the wide ways.They will say in all the streets, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They will call the farmer to mourning,
and those who are skilful in lamentation to wailing.Verse 17In all vineyards there will be wailing,for I will pass through the middle of you,” says the LORD.Verse 18“Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD!Why do you long for the day of the LORD?It is darkness,and not light.Verse 19As if a man fled from a lion,and a bear met him;or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall,and a snake bit him.Verse 20Won’t the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light?Even very dark, and no brightness in it?Verse 21I hate, I despise your feasts,and I can’t stand your solemn assemblies.Verse 22Yes, though you offer me your burnt offerings and meal offerings,I will not accept them;
neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat animals.Verse 23Take away from me the noise of your songs!I will not listen to the music of your harps.Verse 24But let justice roll on like rivers,and righteousness like a mighty stream.Verse 25“Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, house of Israel?Verse 26You also carried the tent of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.Verse 27Therefore I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Armies.