Amos 5
5
Seek Adonai and Live
1Hear this word that I take up as a lament over you, O house of Israel:
2She has fallen, never rising again— virgin Israel— She is forsaken on her land, with nobody to lift her up.
3For thus says Adonai Elohim: “The city that sends out a thousand will have a hundred left, and one that sends out a hundred will have ten left for the house of Israel.”
4For thus says Adonai to the house of Israel: “Seek Me, and live!
5But do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not cross over to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to trouble.
6Seek Adonai, and live— lest He rush like fire through the house of Joseph. Yes, it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it.
Sins of Injustice
7You who turn justice to wormwood threw righteousness to the ground.
8He who made the Pleiades and Orion and changes deep darkness to morning. Who darkens the day into night. Who summons the water of the sea and pours it out on the face of the earth —Adonai is His Name.
9He flashes destruction on the mighty, so destruction will come against a fortress.
10They despise one who reproves at the gate, so they detest one who speaks with integrity.
11Therefore, because you trample on the poor, exacting from him a burden of grain, you built houses of hewn stone, but will not dwell in them, you planted pleasant vineyards, but will not drink their wine.
12For I know your crimes are many and your sins countless— afflicting the righteous, taking bribes, and turning the needy aside at the gate.
13Therefore the prudent keep silent at such a time —for it is a distressful time.
14Seek good and not evil, so you may live, and so Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot may be with you —just as you said!
15Hate evil, love good, maintain justice at the gate. Maybe Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot will extend grace to Joseph’s remnant.
16Therefore thus said Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot, my Lord: “There will be wailing in all plazas and in all streets. They will say: ‘Alas! Alas!’ The farmer will be called to mourning along with those who know the lamentation song.
17In all vineyards will be wailing, for I will pass through your midst” —Adonai has spoken.
Dreadful Day of Adonai
18Oy to you—longing for the Day of Adonai! What would it be for you? The Day of Adonai will be darkness and not light.
19It will be as when a man is fleeing from a lion—and meets a bear! Or he comes home, leans his hand on the wall, and a snake bites him!
20Will not the Day of Adonai be darkness, not light? Gloom, not brightness?
Justice Better Than Sacrifices
21“I hate, I despise your festivals! I take no delight in your sacred assemblies.
22Even if you offer me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I look at peace offerings of your fattened animals.
23Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
24But let justice roll like water and righteousness like an ever-flowing torrent.
25Did you bring sacrifices and offerings to Me in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel?
26But you lifted up your images —Siccuth your ‘king’, and Chiun, your star gods— which you made for yourselves,
27So I will send you into exile, beyond Damascus.” Adonai has spoken, Elohei-Tzva’ot is His Name.
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Amos 5
5
All Show, No Substance
1Listen to this, family of Israel,
this Message I’m sending in bold print, this tragic warning:
2“Virgin Israel has fallen flat on her face.
She’ll never stand up again.
She’s been left where she’s fallen.
No one offers to help her up.”
3This is the Message, God’s Word:
“The city that marches out with a thousand
will end up with a hundred.
The city that marches out with a hundred
will end up with ten. Oh, family of Israel!”
4-5 God’s Message to the family of Israel:
“Seek me and live.
Don’t fool around at those shrines of Bethel,
Don’t waste time taking trips to Gilgal,
and don’t bother going down to Beer-sheba.
Gilgal is here today and gone tomorrow
and Bethel is all show, no substance.”
6So seek God and live! You don’t want to end up
with nothing to show for your life
But a pile of ashes, a house burned to the ground.
For God will send just such a fire,
and the firefighters will show up too late.
Raw Truth Is Never Popular
7-9Woe to you who turn justice to vinegar
and stomp righteousness into the mud.
Do you realize where you are? You’re in a cosmos
star-flung with constellations by God,
A world God wakes up each morning
and puts to bed each night.
God dips water from the ocean
and gives the land a drink.
God, God-revealed, does all this.
And he can destroy it as easily as make it.
He can turn this vast wonder into total waste.
10-12People hate this kind of talk.
Raw truth is never popular.
But here it is, bluntly spoken:
Because you run roughshod over the poor
and take the bread right out of their mouths,
You’re never going to move into
the luxury homes you have built.
You’re never going to drink wine
from the expensive vineyards you’ve planted.
I know precisely the extent of your violations,
the enormity of your sins. Appalling!
You bully right-living people,
taking bribes right and left and kicking the poor when they’re down.
13Justice is a lost cause. Evil is epidemic.
Decent people throw up their hands.
Protest and rebuke are useless,
a waste of breath.
14Seek good and not evil—
and live!
You talk about God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
being your best friend.
Well, live like it,
and maybe it will happen.
15Hate evil and love good,
then work it out in the public square.
Maybe God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
will notice your remnant and be gracious.
16-17Now again, my Master’s Message, God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies:
“Go out into the streets and lament loudly!
Fill the malls and shops with cries of doom!
Weep loudly, ‘Not me! Not us, Not now!’
Empty offices, stores, factories, workplaces.
Enlist everyone in the general lament.
I want to hear it loud and clear when I make my visit.”
God’s Decree.
Time to Face Hard Reality, Not Fantasy
18-20Woe to all of you who want God’s Judgment Day!
Why would you want to see God, want him to come?
When God comes, it will be bad news before it’s good news,
the worst of times, not the best of times.
Here’s what it’s like: A man runs from a lion
right into the jaws of a bear.
A woman goes home after a hard day’s work
and is raped by a neighbor.
At God’s coming we face hard reality, not fantasy—
a black cloud with no silver lining.
21-24“I can’t stand your religious meetings.
I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
your pretentious slogans and goals.
I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes,
your public relations and image making.
I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
That’s what I want. That’s all I want.
25-27“Didn’t you, dear family of Israel, worship me faithfully for forty years in the wilderness, bringing the sacrifices and offerings I commanded? How is it you’ve stooped to dragging gimcrack statues of your so-called rulers around, hauling the cheap images of all your star-gods here and there? Since you like them so much, you can take them with you when I drive you into exile beyond Damascus.” God’s Message, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.