AMOS
Amos 5 ©
Under a lamentation God foretells Israel’s fall, and the decrease of their multitude, because, being warned and exhorted to seek the mighty and dreadful God and to forsake their idolatry, they nevertheless go on still in doing wrong and violence, and committing all manner of heinous sins, hating all reproofs and admonitions, so that there can be no exception made at God’s judgments upon them, v. 1, etc. He renews His exhortation to repentance once again, 14. But by reason of their obstinacy, He foretells them the terrible and unavoidable day of His judgments, which now they scoff at, 16. He detests all hypocritical shows of their worship, because under the pretense thereof they practiced nothing but idolatry, even as their forefathers, 21.
HEAR ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel.
The 1virgin of Israel 2is fallen; she shall no 3more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that 4went out by a thousand shall leave an 5hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.
¶For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall 6live:
But seek not 7Beth-el,a nor enter into 8Gilgal, and pass not to 9Beer-sheba: for 10Gilgal shall 11surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to 12nought.
Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like 13fire in the 14house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it 15in Beth-el.
Ye 16who turn judgment to 17wormwood, and 18leave off righteousness in the earth,
19Seek him that maketh the 20sevenb stars and Orion, and turneth the 21shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark 22with night: that 23calleth for the watersc of the sea, and poureth them out upon the 24face of the earth: The LORD is his name:
That 25strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the 26fortress.
They hate him that rebuketh in the 27gate, and they abhor him that speaketh 28uprightly.
Forasmuch therefore as your 29treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him 30burdens of wheat: ye have 31built houses of hewnd stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted 32pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.
For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: 33they afflict the just, they take a 34bribe, and they 35turn aside the poor in the 36gate from their right.
Therefore the 37prudent shall keep 38silence 39in that time; for it is an 40evil time.
Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be 41with you, as ye have 42spoken.
Hatee the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: 43it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious 44unto the remnant of Joseph.
45Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all 46streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to 47mourning, and 48such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.
And in all 49vineyards shall be wailing: for I will 50pass through thee, saith the LORD.
Woef unto you that 51desire 52the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is 53darkness,g and not light.
54As 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.
55Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
¶I 56hate, I despise your feast days, andh I will not 57smell in your 58solemn assemblies.
Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the 59peace offerings of your fat beasts.
Take thou away from me the 60noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the 61melody of thy 62viols.
But let 63judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Havei ye offered unto 64me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
But ye have 65borne the 66tabernacle of your 67Moloch and 68Chiun your images, the 69star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity 70beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.