Amos 5

Let Justice Roll Down Like Waters

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A Lament over the House of Israel

5:1Hear this word of the Lord that I take up over you as a lament, house of Israel:

5:2“Virgin Israel has fallen; she will certainly not rise again. She stumbled upon her land; no one will raise her.”

5:3For thus says the Lord, the Lord: “From the city out of which a thousand went, a hundred will remain, and from the one out of which a hundred went, ten will remain for Israel’s house.”

Seek Me and You Will Live

5:4For thus says the Lord to Israel’s house: “Seek Me and you will live!

5:5Do not seek Bethel, do not enter Gilgal, and do not cross over to the Well of the Oath; for Gilgal will certainly be taken captive, and Bethel will be as though it did not exist.

5:6Seek the Lord and live, so that Joseph’s house does not flare up like fire; it will devour him, and there will be no one to quench it for Israel’s house.

5:7The Lord makes judgment on high and has placed righteousness upon the earth,

5:8making all things and refashioning them, turning death’s shadow into morning and darkening day into night; He calls for the sea’s water and pours it upon the earth’s surface. The Lord God Almighty is His name,

5:9the One distributing shattering against strength and bringing suffering upon a fortress.

They Hated the One Who Reproved at the Gates

5:10They hated one who reproved at the gates and abhorred a holy word.

5:11Therefore, because you struck the poor with fists and accepted choice gifts from them, you built houses of polished stone but certainly will not inhabit them; you planted desirable vineyards but certainly will not drink their wine.

5:12For I knew your many impieties, and your sins are strong: trampling the righteous, taking payments and turning aside the poor at the gates.

5:13Therefore the understanding person will be silent at that time, because it is an evil time.

Seek the Good and Not the Evil

5:14Seek the good and not the evil, so that you may live; then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you said,

5:15“We have hated evil things and loved good things.” Restore judgment at the gates, so that the Lord God Almighty may have mercy on Joseph’s remaining ones.

5:16Therefore thus says the Lord God Almighty: “In every square there will be mourning, and in every road it will be said, ‘Alas, alas!’ A farmer will be called to mourning and lamentation and to those skilled in wailing,

5:17and in every road there will be mourning, because I will pass through your midst,” said the Lord.

Woe to Those Desiring the Lord’s Day

5:18Woe to those desiring the Lord’s day! Why is this Lord’s day for you? It is darkness, not light,

5:19as when someone flees from a lion and a bear falls upon him, then leaps into his house, braces his hands upon the wall, and a snake bites him.

5:20Is not the Lord’s day darkness rather than light, gloom that has no brightness in it?

I Have Hated and Rejected Your Festivals

5:21“I have hated and rejected your festivals, and I certainly will not smell a pleasing scent in your festal gatherings,

5:22because even if you bring Me whole burnt offerings and your sacrifices, I will not receive them, and I will not look upon the salvation offering of your display.

5:23Remove from Me the sound of your songs; I will not listen to the music of your instruments,

5:24and judgment will roll like water, and righteousness like an impassable torrent.

5:25Did you offer Me slaughtered offerings and sacrifices in the wilderness for forty years, house of Israel?

5:26You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Raiphan, their figures that you made for yourselves.

5:27I will deport you beyond Damascus,” says the Lord; God Almighty is His name.

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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V2 · working draft awaiting specialist review.