Amos Chapter 5

A Call to Repentance

¹ Listen to the dirge I’m chanting for you, Israel:

         ²“She’s fallen;

            virgin Israel won’t get up again.

      She’s abandoned on the ground;

            no one will help get her up.

                           ³The city that goes out 1,000 strong

                        will have 100 left;

                  the one that goes out 100 strong

                        will have 10.”                                                

Amos 5:1-3

⁴ The LORD tells Israel,

            “Rely on me so you can live.

         ⁵Don’t rely on Bethel or go to Gilgal or Beersheba;

            Gilgal is headed for captivity,

            and Bethel will cease to exist.

         ⁶Rely on me so you can live,

            so I don’t break out like fire, House of Joseph,

            and burn in Bethel with no one to quench it,

                           ⁷you that pervert justice into bitter oppression

                  and toss goodness on the ground.”                     

Amos 5:4-7

⁸ The LORD is the One that made Pleiades and Orion,

      that changes deep darkness into morning

            and darkens day into night,

      that calls water out of the ocean

            and pours it out on land.

⁹ He’s the One that flashes destruction at the strong

      and demolishes their fortresses.                                       

Amos 5:8-9

¹⁰ They hate the one that reproves in court;

      they abhor anyone that speaks with integrity.

¹¹ So, since you impose heavy rent on the poor

            and exact tribute on their grain,

      though you build houses out of well-hewn stone,

            you won’t live in them;

      though you plant lush vineyards,

            you won’t drink their wine.

¹² I know about your many, serious sins,

      you that distress decent people, accept bribes,

      and deprive the poor of justice in court.

¹³ In such cases, prudent people keep quiet

      because it’s an evil time.                                                 

Amos 5:10-13

¹⁴ Do what’s good so you can live,

      so the LORD God of Hosts will be with you

            like you said.

¹⁵ Hate evil, love good;

      establish justice in court!

Maybe the LORD God of Hosts

      will show grace to the remnant in Joseph.

Amos 5:14-15

¹⁶ So, the LORD God of Hosts says,

            “What wailing there is in all the squares!

            What mourning in every street!’

      They’re calling on farmers to moan

            and professional mourners to lament.

         ¹⁷In all the vineyards there’ll be wailing

            because I’ll pass through your midst.”

Amos 5:16-17

The Day of the LORD

¹⁸ What longing you have for the day of the LORD!

      But what good will it do you?

      That day will be darkness for you, not light.

¹⁹ It will be like a man that runs from a lion

            and meets a bear;

      or goes home, leans his hand on the wall,

            and gets bit by a snake.

²⁰ Won’t the day of the LORD be darkness instead of light,

      gloom without brightness?

Amos 5:18-20

²¹ “I despise your festivals;

      I don’t delight in your solemn assemblies.

²² Though you offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings,

      I won’t accept them.

      I won’t even look at your peace offerings of grain-fed animals.

²³ Take away your noisy songs;

      I don’t want to listen to your lyres.

²⁴ Instead, make justice run down like water

      and goodness like a constant-flowing stream.                 

Amos 5:21-24

²⁵ “Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings in the desert for 40 years, Israel? ²⁶ Well, you also carried along Sakkuth your king god and Kaiwan your star god, images you made for yourselves. ²⁷ So I’ll send you into exile beyond Damascus,” the LORD says, whose name is The God of Hosts.

Amos 5:25-27