Amos 5

1Hear ye this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel.

1Listen to this message, a funeral song that I am singing about you, people of Israel.

2The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is cast down upon her land; there is none to raise her up.

2The virgin Israel has fallen, and she will not get up again. She lies abandoned on her own land, and no one is there to help her up.

3For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred shall have ten left, to the house of Israel.

3For this is what the Lord God says: The city that sends out a thousand soldiers will have only a hundred left, and the one that sends out a hundred will have only ten left for the nation of Israel.

4For thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live;

4For this is what the Lord says to the house of Israel: Seek me and you will live.

5but seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought.

5But do not look for help in Bethel. Do not go to Gilgal or travel down to Beer-sheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.

6Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el.

6Seek the Lord and live! Otherwise, he will sweep through the descendants of Joseph like fire. It will burn everything up, and no one in Bethel will be able to put it out.

7Ye who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth,

7You people turn justice into something bitter like poison and throw righteousness to the ground.

8seek him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth (Jehovah is his name);

8Seek the one who made the stars, the Pleiades and Orion. He turns deep darkness into morning and makes the day grow dark like night. He calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the earth. The Lord is his name.

9that bringeth sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress.

9He brings sudden destruction on the powerful and destroys their strongholds.

10They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

10You hate the person who stands up for justice in court and you despise anyone who tells the truth.

11Forasmuch therefore as ye trample upon the poor, and take exactions from him of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink the wine thereof.

11Because you trample on the poor and steal their grain with heavy taxes, you will not live in the expensive stone houses you have built. You have planted beautiful vineyards, but you will not drink the wine from them.

12For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins—ye that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy in the gate from their right.

12For I know how many crimes you have committed and how great your sins are. You oppress the innocent, take bribes, and rob the poor of justice in the courts.

13Therefore he that is prudent shall keep silence in such a time; for it is an evil time.

13So, those who are wise keep quiet in such times, because it is an evil time.

14Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be with you, as ye say.

14Seek what is good and not what is evil so that you may live. Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will truly be with you, just as you claim he is.

15Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate: it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

15Hate evil and love what is good. Make sure there is justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be kind to the few people left from the family of Joseph.

16Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all the broad ways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful in lamentation to wailing.

16So this is what the Lord, the God of Heaven’s Armies, says: There will be crying in all the public squares and cries of sorrow in every street. They will call the farmers to weep and hire professional mourners to wail.

17And in all vineyards shall be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah.

17There will be crying in every vineyard, for I will pass through your midst to punish you, says the Lord.

18Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! Wherefore would ye have the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light.

18How terrible it will be for you who look forward to the Day of the Lord! Why do you want that day? It will be a day of darkness for you, not light.

19As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

19It will be like a man running from a lion only to meet a bear, or like someone who goes home, leans his hand against the wall, and is bitten by a snake.

20Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

20Won't the Day of the Lord be darkness instead of light? It will be gloom without a single ray of brightness.

21I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

21I hate and despise your religious festivals. I cannot stand your solemn assemblies.

22Yea, though ye offer me your burnt-offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts.

22Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. I will not even look at the peace offerings of your finest fattened animals.

23Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

23Get away from me with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.

24But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

24Instead, let justice flow like a river and righteousness like a stream that never runs dry.推

25Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

25Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings during those forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?

26Yea, ye have borne the tabernacle of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.

26No, you carried the statues of Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, idols you made for yourselves.

27Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts.

27Therefore, I will send you into exile far beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of Heaven’s Armies.