New American Standard Bible AMOS 5

“Seek Me that You May Live”

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

2 She has fallen, she will Anot rise again—

The Bvirgin Israel.

She lies neglected on her land;

There is Cnone to raise her up.

3 For thus says the Lord 1Goᴅ,

“The city which goes forth a thousand strong

Will have a Ahundred left,

And the one which goes forth a hundred strong

Will have Bten left to the house of Israel.”

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

“ASeek Me Bthat you may live.

5 “But do not 1resort to ABethel

And do not come to BGilgal,

Nor cross over to CBeersheba;

For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity

And Bethel will 2come to trouble.

6 “ASeek the Loʀᴅ that you may live,

Or He will break forth like a Bfire, 1O house of Joseph,

And it will consume with none to quench it for Bethel,

7 For those who turn Ajustice into wormwood

And 1cast righteousness down to the earth.”

8 He who made the APleiades and Orion

And Bchanges deep darkness into morning,

1Who also Cdarkens day into night,

Who Dcalls for the waters of the sea

And pours them out on the surface of the earth,

The ELoʀᴅ is His name.

9 It is He who Aflashes forth with destruction upon the strong,

So that Bdestruction comes upon the fortress.

10 They hate him who Areproves in the 1gate,

And they Babhor him who speaks with integrity.

11 Therefore because you 1impose heavy rent on the poor

And exact a tribute of grain from them,

Though you have built Ahouses of well-hewn stone,

Yet you will not live in them;

You have planted pleasant vineyards, yet you will Bnot drink their wine.

12 For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great,

You who Adistress the righteous and accept bribes

And 1turn aside the poor in the 2gate.

13 Therefore at 1such a time the prudent person Akeeps silent, for it is an evil time.

14 Seek good and not evil, that you may live;

And thus may the Loʀᴅ God of hosts be with you,

AJust as you have said!

15 AHate evil, love good,

And establish justice in the 1gate!

Perhaps the Loʀᴅ God of hosts

BMay be gracious to the Cremnant of Joseph.

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

“There is Awailing in all the plazas,

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

They also call the Bfarmer to mourning

And 1 Cprofessional mourners to lamentation.

17 “And in all the Avineyards there is wailing,

Because I will pass through the midst of you,” says the Loʀᴅ.

18 Alas, you who are longing for the Aday of the Loʀᴅ,

For what purpose will the day of the Loʀᴅ be to you?

It will be Bdarkness and not light;

19 As when a man Aflees from a lion

And a bear meets him,

1Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall

And a snake bites him.

20 Will not the day of the Loʀᴅ be Adarkness instead of light,

Even gloom with no brightness in it?

21 “I hate, I Areject your festivals,

Nor do I 1 Bdelight in your solemn assemblies.

22 “Even though you Aoffer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,

I will not accept them;

And I will not even look at the Bpeace offerings of your fatlings.

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

I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.

24 “But let Ajustice roll down like waters

And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 “1 ADid you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel? 26 “AYou also carried along 1Sikkuth your king and 2Kiyyun, your images, 3the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. 27 “Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Loʀᴅ, whose name is the God of hosts.