Amos 5

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Listen to this word which I utter against you, it is a dirge, House of Israel:	1 Listen to this word, which I lift over you in lamentation. The house of Israel has fallen, and it will no longer rise again.
2 She has fal en down, never to rise again, the virgin Israel. There she lies on her own soil, with no oneto lift her up.	2 The virgin of Israel has been thrown onto her land, there is no one who can raise her up.
3 For Lord Yahweh says this: The town which used to put a thousand in the field wil be left with ahundred, and the one which used to put a hundred will be left with ten, to fight for the House of Israel.	3 For thus says the Lord God: In the city from which a thousand departed, a hundred will remain, and in that from which a hundred departed, ten will remain, in the house of Israel.
4 For Yahweh says this to the House of Israel: Seek me out and you wil survive,	4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek me and you will live.
5 but do not seek out Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal is going intocaptivity and Bethel will be brought to nothing.	5 But do not be willing to seek Bethel, and do not be willing to enter Gilgal, and you will not cross into Beer-sheba. For Gilgal will be led into captivity, and Bethel will be useless.
6 Seek out Yahweh and you wil survive or else he wil sweep like fire upon the House of Joseph andburn it down, with no one at Bethel able to quench the flames.	6 Seek the Lord and live. Otherwise, the house of Joseph may be destroyed with fire, and it will devour, and there will be no one who can extinguish Bethel.
7 They turn justice into wormwood and throw uprightness to the ground.	7 You turn judgment into wormwood, and you abandon justice on earth.
8 He it is who makes the Pleiades and Orion, who turns shadow dark as death into morning and day todarkest night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the surface of the land. Yahweh is hisname.	8 The Maker of Arcturus and Orion, who turns darkness into daybreak and who changes day into night; who calls forth the waters of the sea and who pours them out over the face of the earth: The Lord is his name.
9 He brings destruction on the strong and ruin comes on the fortress.	9 It is he who smiles destruction on the healthy, and who brings pillaging upon the powerful.
10 They hate the man who teaches justice at the city gate and detest anyone who declares the truth.	10 They held hatred for the one who corrects at the gate, and they have abhorred the one who speaks perfectly.
11 For trampling on the poor man and for extorting levies on his wheat: although you have built housesof dressed stone, you wil not live in them; although you have planted pleasant vineyards, you wil not drink winefrom them:	11 Therefore, on his behalf, because you have torn apart the poor and stolen choice prey from him: you will build houses with square stones and you will not dwell in them; you will plant the most delightful vineyards, and you will not drink wine from them.
12 for I know how many your crimes are and how outrageous your sins, you oppressors of the upright,who hold people to ransom and thrust the poor aside at the gates.	12 For I know your many wicked deeds and the strength of your sins, you enemies of the just, accepting bribes, and depriving the poor at the gate.
13 That is why anyone prudent keeps silent now, since the time is evil.	13 Therefore, the prudent will be silent at that time, for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil so that you may survive, and Yahweh, God Sabaoth, be with you as you claimhe is.	14 Seek good and not evil, so that you may live. And the Lord God of hosts will be with you, just as you have asked.
15 Hate evil, love good, let justice reign at the city gate: it may be that Yahweh, God Sabaoth, wil takepity on the remnant of Joseph.	15 Hate evil and love good, and establish judgment at the gate. Perhaps then the Lord God of hosts may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore Yahweh Sabaoth, the Lord, says this: In every public square there wil be lamentation, inevery street they will cry out, 'Alas! Alas!' The farmer wil be called on to mourn, the professional mourners tolament,	16 Therefore, thus says the Lord God of hosts, the Sovereign: In all the streets, there will be wailing. And in every place where they are outdoors, they will say, “Woe, woe!” And they will call the farmer to mourn, and those who know mourning to lamentation.
17 and there wil be wailing in every vineyard, for I mean to pass through among you, Yahweh says.	17 And in all the vineyards there will be wailing. For I will cross through your midst, says the Lord.
18 Disaster for you who long for the Day of Yahweh! What will the Day of Yahweh mean for you? It wilmean darkness, not light,	18 Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord. What is it to you? The day of the Lord is this: darkness and not light.
19 as when someone runs away from a lion, only to meet a bear; he goes into his house and puts hishand on the wal , only for a snake to bite him.	19 It is as if a man flees from the face of a lion, only to have a bear meet him; or, he enters a house and leans with his hand against the wall, only to have a snake bite him.
20 Will not the Day of Yahweh be darkness, not light, total y dark, without a ray of light?	20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?
21 I hate, I scorn your festivals, I take no pleasure in your solemn assemblies.	21 I hate and have rejected your feasts; and I will not accept the odor from your gatherings.
22 When you bring me burnt offerings . . . your oblations, I do not accept them and I do not look at yourcommunion sacrifices of fat cattle.	22 For if you offer me holocausts and your gifts, I will not receive them; and I will not look upon the vows of your fatness.
23 Spare me the din of your chanting, let me hear none of your strumming on lyres,	23 Take away from me the tumult of your songs, and I will not listen to the canticles of your lyre.
24 but let justice flow like water, and uprightness like a never-failing stream!	24 And judgment will be revealed like water, and justice like a mighty torrent.
25 Did you bring me sacrifices and oblations those forty years in the desert, House of Israel?	25 Was it you who offered victims and sacrifices to me in the desert for forty years, house of Israel?
26 Now you must shoulder Sakkuth your king and the star of your God, Kaiwan, those idols you made foryourselves;	26 And you carried a tabernacle for your Moloch and the image of your idols: the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.
27 for I am about to drive you into captivity beyond Damascus, Yahweh says -- God Sabaoth is hisname.	27 And I will cause you to go into captivity across Damascus, says the Lord. The God of hosts is his name.