Amos 5
5
A Funeral Song about Israel
1Listen to this message, this funeral song that I sing about you, nation of Israel:
2The people of Israel have fallen,
never to rise again.
They lie abandoned in their own land.
There is no one to help them.
3This is what the Almighty Lord says:
The city that sends 1,000 troops off to war
will have ⌞only⌟ 100 left.
The one that sends 100 troops off to war
will have ⌞only⌟ 10 left for the nation of Israel.
A Threefold Call to Turn Away from Sin
4This is what the Lord says to the nation of Israel:
Search for me and live!
5But don’t search ⌞for me⌟ at Bethel.
Don’t go to Gilgal.
Don’t travel to Beersheba.
Gilgal will certainly go into exile.
Bethel will come to nothing.
6Search for the Lord and live!
If you don’t, he will spread like a fire through the house of Joseph
and burn it down.
Bethel will have no one to put it out.
7You, Israel, turn justice into poison
and throw righteousness on the ground.
8God made the ⌞constellations⌟ Pleiades and Orion.
He turns deep darkness into dawn.
He turns day into night.
He calls for water from the sea
to pour it over the face of the earth.
His name is the Lord.
9He destroys strongholds and ruins fortresses.
10Israel, you hate anyone who speaks out against injustice.
You are disgusted by anyone who speaks the truth.
11You trample on the poor
and take their wheat from them for taxes.
That is why you build houses from hand-cut stones,
but you will not live in them.
You plant beautiful vineyards,
but you will not drink their wine.
12I know that your crimes are numerous and your sins are many.
You oppress the righteous by taking bribes.
You deny the needy access to the courts.
13That is why a wise person remains silent at such times,
because those times are so evil.
14Search for good instead of evil so that you may live.
Then the Lord God of Armies will be with you, as you have said.
15Hate evil and love good.
Then you will be able to have justice in your courts.
Maybe the Lord God of Armies
will have pity on the faithful few of Joseph.
16This is what the Lord, the Almighty God of Armies, says:
There will be loud crying in every city square,
and people will say in every street, “Oh, no!”
They will call on farmers to mourn
and on professional mourners to cry loudly.
17There will be loud crying in every vineyard,
because I will pass through your land ⌞with death⌟.
The Lord has said this.
The Terrifying Day of the LORD
18How horrible it will be for those who long for the day of the Lord!
Why do you long for that day?
The day of the Lord is one of darkness and not light.
19It is like a person who flees from a lion
only to be attacked by a bear.
It is like a person who goes home and puts his hand on the wall
only to be bitten by a snake.
20The day of the Lord brings darkness and not light.
It is pitch black, with no light.
The LORD Rejects Israel’s Worship
21I hate your festivals; I despise them.
I’m not pleased with your religious assemblies.
22Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I won’t accept them.
I won’t even look at the fellowship offerings of your choicest animals.
23Spare me the sound of your songs.
I won’t listen to the music of your harps.
24But let justice flow like a river
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings
in the desert for 40 years, nation of Israel?
26You carried along the statues of ⌞the god⌟ Sikkuth as your king
and the star Kiyyun,
the gods you made for yourselves.
27I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,
says the Lord, whose name is the God of Armies.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
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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