Amos 5

Chapter 5

A Call to Repentance

1 Listen, you people of Israel! Listen to this funeral song I am singing:
2 “The virgin Israel has fallen,
never to rise again!
She lies abandoned on the ground,
with no one to help her up.”

3 The Sovereign LORD says:
“When a city sends a thousand men to battle,
only a hundred will return.
When a town sends a hundred,
only ten will come back alive.”

4 Now this is what the LORD says to the family of Israel:
“Come back to me and live!5 Don’t worship at the pagan altars at Bethel;
don’t go to the shrines at Gilgal or Beersheba.
For the people of Gilgal will be dragged off into exile,
and the people of Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”6 Come back to the LORD and live!
Otherwise, he will roar through Israelt like a fire,
devouring you completely.
Your gods in Bethel
won’t be able to quench the flames.7 You twist justice, making it a bitter pill for the oppressed.
You treat the righteous like dirt.8 It is the LORD who created the stars,
the Pleiades and Orion.
He turns darkness into morning
and day into night.
He draws up water from the oceans
and pours it down as rain on the land.
The LORD is his name!9 With blinding speed and power he destroys the strong,
crushing all their defenses.10 How you hate honest judges!
How you despise people who tell the truth!11 You trample the poor,
stealing their grain through taxes and unfair rent.
Therefore, though you build beautiful stone houses,
you will never live in them.
Though you plant lush vineyards,
you will never drink wine from them.12 For I know the vast number of your sins
and the depth of your rebellions.
You oppress good people by taking bribes
and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.13 So those who are smart keep their mouths shut,
for it is an evil time.14 Do what is good and run from evil
so that you may live!
Then the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper,
just as you have claimed.15 Hate evil and love what is good;
turn your courts into true halls of justice.
Perhaps even yet the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies
will have mercy on the remnant of his people.t

16 Therefore, this is what the Lord, the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, says:
“There will be crying in all the public squares
and mourning in every street.
Call for the farmers to weep with you,
and summon professional mourners to wail.17 There will be wailing in every vineyard,
for I will destroy them all,”
says the LORD.

Warning of Coming Judgment

18 What sorrow awaits you who say,
“If only the day of the LORD were here!”
You have no idea what you are wishing for.
That day will bring darkness, not light.19 In that day you will be like a man who runs from a lion—
only to meet a bear.
Escaping from the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house—
and he’s bitten by a snake.20 Yes, the day of the LORD will be dark and hopeless,
without a ray of joy or hope.21 “I hate all your show and pretense—
the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.22 I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings.
I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings.23 Away with your noisy hymns of praise!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.24 Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice,
an endless river of righteous living.25 “Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, Israel?26 No, you served your pagan gods—Sakkuth your king god and Kaiwan your star god—the images you made for yourselves.

27 So I will send you into exile, to a land east of Damascus,t” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Heaven’s Armies.

AMOS 5

Turn Back to the [Lord]

1 Listen, nation of Israel,
to my mournful message:

2 You, dearest Israel, have fallen,
never to rise again—
you lie deserted in your own land,
with no one to help you up.

3 The [Lord] God has warned,
“From every ten soldiers
only one will be left;
from a thousand troops,
only a hundred will survive.”

4 The [Lord] keeps saying,
“Israel, turn back to me
and you will live!

5 Don't go to Gilgal or Bethel
or even to Beersheba.t
Gilgal will be dragged away,
and Bethel will end up
as nothing.”t

6 Turn back to the [Lord],
you descendants of Joseph, t
and you will live.
If you don't, the [Lord]
will attack like fire.
Bethel will burn to the ground,
and no one can save it.

7 You people are doomed!
You twist the truth
and trample on justice.

8  t But the [Lord] created the stars
and put them in place.t
He turns darkness to dawn
and daylight to darkness;
he scoops up the ocean
and empties it on the earth.

9 God destroys mighty soldiers
and strong fortresses.

Choose Good //Instead of Evil!

The [Lord] said:

10 You people hate judges
and honest witnesses;

11 you abuse the poor and demand
heavy taxes from them.
You have built expensive homes,
but you won't enjoy them;
you have planted vineyards,
but you will get no wine.

12 I am the [Lord], and I know
your terrible sins.
You cheat honest people
and take bribes;
you rob the poor of justice.

13 Times are so evil
that anyone with good sense
will keep quiet.

14 If you really want to live,
you must stop doing wrong
and start doing right.
I, the [Lord] God All-Powerful,
will then be on your side,
just as you claim I am.

15 Choose good instead of evil!
See that justice is done.
Maybe I, the [Lord] All-Powerful,
will be kind to what's left
of your people.t

Judgment Is Coming

16 This is what the [Lord] has sworn:
Noisy crying will be heard
in every town and street.
Even farmers will be told
to mourn for the dead,
together with those
who are paid to mourn.t

17 Your vineyards will be filled
with crying and weeping, t
because I will punish you.
I, the [Lord], have spoken!

When the [Lord] Judges

18 You look forward to the day
when the [Lord] comes to judge.
But you are in for trouble!
It won't be a time of sunshine;
all will be darkness.

19 You will run from a lion,
only to meet a bear.
You will escape to your house,
rest your hand on the wall,
and be bitten by a snake.

20 The day when the [Lord] judges
will be dark, very dark,
without a ray of light.

What the [Lord] Demands

21  t I, the [Lord], hate and despise
your religious celebrations
and your times of worship.

22 I won't accept your offerings
or animal sacrifices—
not even your very best.

23 No more of your noisy songs!
I won't listen
when you play your harps.

24 But let justice and fairness
flow like a river
that never runs dry.

25  t Israel, for forty years
you wandered in the desert,
without bringing offerings
or sacrifices to me.

26 Now you will have to carry
the two idols you made—
Sakkuth, the one you call king,
and Kaiwan, the one you built
in the shape of a star.t

27 I will force you to march
as captives beyond Damascus.
I, the [Lord] God All-Powerful,
have spoken!t