Amos 5

1 Hear this word of the Lord, a lament I take up against you, house of Israel:

2 The virgin Israel has fallen and will never rise again. She has stumbled on her own land, and there is no one to raise her up.

3 For this is what the Lord God says: “The city that sent out a thousand will have a hundred left, and the city that sent out a hundred will have ten left for the house of Israel.”

4 For this is what the Lord says to the house of Israel: “Seek me and you will live.

5 Do not seek Bethel, do not enter Gilgal, and do not cross over to the Well of the Oath. For Gilgal will certainly be led captive, and Bethel will become nothing.

6 Seek the Lord and live, so that the house of Joseph does not blaze like fire. It would consume him, and no one would put it out for the house of Israel.”

7 The Lord makes judgment on high and has established righteousness on the earth.

8 He makes and transforms all things. He turns the shadow of death into morning and darkens day into night. He calls for the water of the sea and pours it over the face of the earth. The Lord God Almighty is his name.

9 He apportions ruin to strength and brings misery on a fortress.

10 They hated the one who corrected them at the gates and detested a holy word.

11 Therefore, because you punched the poor and accepted choice gifts from them, you built polished houses but will not live in them. You planted desirable vineyards but will not drink their wine.

12 For I know your many acts of ungodliness, and your sins are strong. You trample the righteous, accept bribes, and turn the poor aside at the gates.

13 Therefore the one who understands will be silent at that time, because it is an evil time.

14 Seek good and not evil, so that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you have said:

15 ‘We have hated evil and loved good.’ Restore judgment at the gates, so that the Lord God Almighty may show mercy to those who remain of Joseph.

16 Therefore this is what the Lord God Almighty says: “There will be wailing in every public square, and on every road they will say, ‘Woe! Woe!’ They will call a farmer to mourning and those skilled in laments to wailing.

17 There will be wailing on every road because I will pass through your midst,” says the Lord.

18 Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord! What is the day of the Lord to you? It is darkness, not light.

19 It is as though someone fled from a lion and met a bear, then rushed into his house, leaned his hands against the wall, and a snake bit him.

20 Is the day of the Lord not darkness rather than light, gloom with no brightness in it?

21 “I hate and reject your feasts, and I will not accept the aroma of your festive assemblies.

22 Even if you bring me your whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, I will not accept them. I will not look on your grand offerings of well-being.

23 Take the sound of your songs away from me. I will not listen to the music of your instruments.

24 Judgment will roll down like water and righteousness like an impassable torrent.

25 Did you offer me slaughtered animals and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness, house of Israel?

26 You took up the tent of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, their images that you made for yourselves.

27 I will deport you beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.