AMOS 5

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

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

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

4 For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:⋮

5 but 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.⋮

6 Seek the LORD, 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:⋮

7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth;⋮

8 seek 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; the LORD is his name;⋮

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

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

11 Forasmuch 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.⋮

12 For 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.⋮

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

14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye say.⋮

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

16 Therefore thus saith the LORD, 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 of lamentation to wailing.⋮

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

18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! wherefore would ye have the day of the LORD? it is darkness, and not light.⋮

19 As 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.⋮

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

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

22 Yea, 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.⋮

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

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

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

26 Yea, ye have borne Siccuth your king and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.⋮

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