Amos 5 - Amplified Bible(AMP)

“Seek Me that You May Live”

1Hear this word which I take up for you as a funeral song, O house of Israel:

2She has fallen, she will not rise again—

The virgin Israel.

She lies neglected on her land;

There is no one to raise her up.

3For thus says the Lord God,

“The city which goes forth a thousand strong

Will have a hundred left,

And the one which goes forth a hundred strong

Will have ten left to the house of Israel.”

4For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel,

“Seek Me so that you may live.

5“But do not resort to Bethel

Nor enter Gilgal,

Nor cross over to Beersheba;

For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity and exile,

And Bethel will come to nothing.

6“Seek the Lord so that you may live,

Or He will rush down like a fire, O house of Joseph,

And there will be no one to quench the flame for Bethel,

7For those who turn justice into wormwood (bitterness)

And cast righteousness down to the earth.”

8¶He who made the Pleiades and Orion,

Who turns deep darkness into the morning

And darkens the day into night,

Who calls for the waters of the sea

And pours them out on the surface of the earth,

The Lord is His name.

9It is He who causes destruction to flash forth on the strong

So that destruction comes on the fortress.

10¶They hate the one who reprimands in the gate,

And they detest him who speaks with integrity and honesty.

11Therefore, because you impose heavy rent on the poor

And demand a tribute (food-tax) of grain from them,

Though you have built houses of square stone,

You will not live in them;

You have planted beautiful vineyards, but you will not drink their wine.

12For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great (shocking, innumerable),

You who distress the righteous and take bribes,

And turn away from the poor in the gate.

13Therefore, he who is prudent and has insight will keep silent at such a time, for it is an evil time.

14¶Seek (long for, require) good and not evil, that you may live;

And so may the Lord God of hosts be with you,

Just as you have said!

15Hate evil and love good,

And establish justice in the gate.

Perhaps the Lord God of hosts

Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

16Therefore, thus says the Lord God of hosts, the Lord,

“There is wailing in all the public plazas,

And in all the streets they say, ‘Alas! Alas!’

And they call the farmers to mourning

And professional mourners to wailing.

17“And in all vineyards there is wailing,

For I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord.

18¶Woe (judgment is coming) to you who desire the day of the Lord!

Why would you want the day of the Lord?

It is darkness (judgment) and not light;

19It is as if a man runs from a lion

And a bear meets him,

Or goes home, and leans with his hand against the wall

And a snake bites him.

20Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, instead of light,

Even very dark with no brightness in it?

21¶“I hate, I despise and reject your feasts,

And I do not take delight in your solemn assemblies.

22“Even though you offer Me your burnt offerings and your grain offerings,

I will not accept them;

And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fattened animals.

23“Take the noise of your songs away from Me!

I shall not even listen to the melody of your harps.

24“But let justice run down like waters

And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25“Did you bring Me sacrifices and grain offerings during those forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

26You carried along your king Sikkuth and Kayyun, your images of your star-god which you made for yourselves.

27Therefore, I will send you to go into exile far beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.