Amos 5-6
Common English Bible
A song of lament
5 Hear this word—a funeral song—that I am lifting up against you, house of Israel:
2 Fallen, no more to rise,
is virgin Israel,
deserted on her land,
with no one to raise her up.
3 The Lord God proclaims:
The city that marched out one thousand people
will have one hundred left,
and the city that marched out one hundred will have ten left in the house of Israel.
Words of encouragement
4 The Lord proclaims to the house of Israel:
Seek me and live.
5 But don’t seek Bethel,
don’t enter into Gilgal,
or cross over to Beer-sheba;
for Gilgal will go into exile,
and Bethel will come to nothing.
6 Seek the Lord and live,
or else God might rush like a fire against the house of Joseph.
The fire will burn up Bethel, with no one to put it out.
Words of doom
7 Doom to you who turn justice into poison,
and throw righteousness to the ground!
8 The one who made the Pleiades and Orion,
and turns deep darkness into the morning,
and darkens the day into night;
who summons the waters of the sea,
and pours them out on the surface of the earth—
this one’s name is the Lord—
9 who causes destruction to flash out against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate the one who judges at the city gate,
and they reject the one who speaks the truth.
11 Truly, because you crush the weak,
and because you tax their grain,
you have built houses of carved stone,
but you won’t live in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you won’t drink their wine.
12 I know how many are your crimes,
and how numerous are your sins—
afflicting the righteous,
taking money on the side,
turning away the poor who seek help.
13 Therefore, the one who is wise will keep silent in that time;
it is an evil time.
Words of inspiration
14 Seek good and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of heavenly forces,
will be with you just as you have said.
15 Hate evil, love good,
and establish justice at the city gate.
Perhaps the Lord God of heavenly forces
will be gracious to what is left of Joseph.
Divine wrath anticipated
16 Truly, the Lord proclaims,
the God of heavenly forces, the Lord:
Crying will be heard in all the squares.
In all the streets they will say, “Oh no! Oh no!”
They will call upon the farmers to wail,
and those skilled in mourning to lament.
17 In all the vineyards there will be bitter crying because
I will pass through your midst,
says the Lord.
A statement of divine disgust
18 Doom to those who desire the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
19 as if someone fled from a lion,
and was met by a bear;
or sought refuge in a house,
rested a hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a snake.
20 Isn’t the day of the Lord darkness, not light;
all dark with no brightness in it?
21 I hate, I reject your festivals;
I don’t enjoy your joyous assemblies.
22 If you bring me your entirely burned offerings and gifts of food—
I won’t be pleased;
I won’t even look at your offerings of well-fed animals.
23 Take away the noise of your songs;
I won’t listen to the melody of your harps.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
during the forty years in the wilderness, house of Israel?
26 You will take up Sakkuth your king,
and Kaiwan your star-god,
your images, which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore, I will take you away
beyond Damascus, says the Lord,
whose name is the God of heavenly forces.
Warnings to the self-satisfied
6 Doom to those resting comfortably in Zion
and those trusting in Mount Samaria,
the chiefs of the nations,
to whom the house of Israel comes!
2 Cross over to Calneh and see;
from there go to Hamath the great;
then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
Or is your territory greater than their territory?
3 Doom to those who ignore the evil day
and make violent rule draw near:
4 who lie on beds of ivory,
stretch out on their couches,
eat lambs from the flock,
and bull calves from the stall;
5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp,
and, like David, compose tunes on musical instruments;
6 who drink bowls of wine,
put the best of oils on themselves,
but who aren’t grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
7 Therefore, they will now be the first to be taken away,
and the feast of those who lounged at the table will pass away.
8 The Lord God has solemnly sworn,
says the Lord, the God of heavenly forces:
I reject the pride of Jacob.
I hate his fortresses.
I will hand over the city and all that is in it.
9 If ten people remain in one house,
then they will die.
10 If a relative, someone who burns the dead,
picks up the body to bring it out of the house,
and says to someone inside the house,
“Is anyone else with you?”
the answer will be, “No.”
Then the relative will say,
“Hush! We mustn’t mention the name of the Lord.”
11 Look, the Lord is giving an order;
he will shatter the great house into bits
and the little house into pieces.
12 Do horses run on rocks?
Does one plow the sea with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness—
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,
who say, “Haven’t we by our own strength taken Karnaim for ourselves?”
14 Indeed, I will raise up against you a nation, house of Israel, says the Lord God of heavenly forces,
and they will oppress you from Lebo-hamath to the desert ravine.
Amos 5-6
New International Version
A Lament and Call to Repentance
5 Hear this word, Israel, this lament(A) I take up concerning you:
2 “Fallen is Virgin(B) Israel,
never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
with no one to lift her up.(C)”
3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:
“Your city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left.(D)”
4 This is what the Lord says to Israel:
“Seek(E) me and live;(F)
5 do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,(G)
do not journey to Beersheba.(H)
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.[a](I)”
6 Seek(J) the Lord and live,(K)
or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;(L)
it will devour them,
and Bethel(M) will have no one to quench it.(N)
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion,(R)
who turns midnight into dawn(S)
and darkens day into night,(T)
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out over the face of the land—
the Lord is his name.(U)
9 With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
and brings the fortified city to ruin.(V)
10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court(W)
and detest the one who tells the truth.(X)
11 You levy a straw tax on the poor(Y)
and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,(Z)
you will not live in them;(AA)
though you have planted lush vineyards,
you will not drink their wine.(AB)
12 For I know how many are your offenses
and how great your sins.(AC)
There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes(AD)
and deprive the poor(AE) of justice in the courts.(AF)
13 Therefore the prudent keep quiet(AG) in such times,
for the times are evil.(AH)
14 Seek good, not evil,
that you may live.(AI)
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
just as you say he is.
15 Hate evil,(AJ) love good;(AK)
maintain justice in the courts.(AL)
Perhaps(AM) the Lord God Almighty will have mercy(AN)
on the remnant(AO) of Joseph.
16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:
“There will be wailing(AP) in all the streets(AQ)
and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers(AR) will be summoned to weep
and the mourners to wail.
17 There will be wailing(AS) in all the vineyards,
for I will pass through(AT) your midst,”
says the Lord.(AU)
The Day of the Lord
18 Woe to you who long
for the day of the Lord!(AV)
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?(AW)
That day will be darkness,(AX) not light.(AY)
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion
only to meet a bear,(AZ)
as though he entered his house
and rested his hand on the wall
only to have a snake bite him.(BA)
20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,(BB) not light—
pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?(BC)
21 “I hate,(BD) I despise your religious festivals;(BE)
your assemblies(BF) are a stench to me.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings(BG) and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.(BH)
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.(BI)
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.(BJ)
24 But let justice(BK) roll on like a river,
righteousness(BL) like a never-failing stream!(BM)
25 “Did you bring me sacrifices(BN) and offerings
forty years(BO) in the wilderness, people of Israel?
26 You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
the pedestal of your idols,(BP)
the star of your god[b]—
which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into exile(BQ) beyond Damascus,”
says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.(BR)
Woe to the Complacent
6 Woe to you(BS) who are complacent(BT) in Zion,
and to you who feel secure(BU) on Mount Samaria,(BV)
you notable men of the foremost nation,
to whom the people of Israel come!(BW)
2 Go to Kalneh(BX) and look at it;
go from there to great Hamath,(BY)
and then go down to Gath(BZ) in Philistia.
Are they better off than(CA) your two kingdoms?
Is their land larger than yours?
3 You put off the day of disaster
and bring near a reign of terror.(CB)
4 You lie on beds adorned with ivory
and lounge on your couches.(CC)
You dine on choice lambs
and fattened calves.(CD)
5 You strum away on your harps(CE) like David
and improvise on musical instruments.(CF)
6 You drink wine(CG) by the bowlful
and use the finest lotions,
but you do not grieve(CH) over the ruin of Joseph.(CI)
7 Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;(CJ)
your feasting and lounging will end.(CK)
The Lord Abhors the Pride of Israel
8 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by himself(CL)—the Lord God Almighty declares:
“I abhor(CM) the pride of Jacob(CN)
and detest his fortresses;(CO)
I will deliver up(CP) the city
and everything in it.(CQ)”
9 If ten(CR) people are left in one house, they too will die. 10 And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them[c](CS) asks anyone who might be hiding there, “Is anyone else with you?” and he says, “No,” then he will go on to say, “Hush!(CT) We must not mention the name of the Lord.”
11 For the Lord has given the command,
and he will smash(CU) the great house(CV) into pieces
and the small house into bits.(CW)
Footnotes
- Amos 5:5 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see Hosea 4:15.
- Amos 5:26 Or lifted up Sakkuth your king / and Kaiwan your idols, / your star-gods; Septuagint lifted up the shrine of Molek / and the star of your god Rephan, / their idols
- Amos 6:10 Or to make a funeral fire in honor of the dead
- Amos 6:12 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text plow there
- Amos 6:13 Lo Debar means nothing.
- Amos 6:13 Karnaim means horns; horn here symbolizes strength.
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