Amos 5 – NIRV & KJV

New International Reader’s Version

Amos 5:1-27

Mourn and Turn Back to the Lord

1People of Israel, listen to the Lord’s message. Hear my song of sadness about you. I say,

2“The people of Israel have fallen.

They will never get up again.

They are deserted in their own land.

No one can lift them up.”

3Here is what the Lord and King says to Israel.

“A thousand soldiers will march out from a city.

But only a hundred will return.

A hundred soldiers will march out from a town.

But only ten will come back.”

4The Lord speaks to the people of Israel. He says,

“Look to me and live.

5Do not look to Bethel.

Do not go to Gilgal.

Do not travel to Beersheba.

The people of Gilgal will be taken away as prisoners.

Nothing will be left of Bethel.”

6Israel, look to the Lord and live.

If you don’t, he will sweep through

the tribes of Joseph like a fire.

It will burn everything up.

And Bethel won’t have anyone to put it out.

7There are people among you who turn what is fair into something bitter.

They throw down to the ground what is right.

8The Lord made the Pleiades and Orion.

He turns midnight into sunrise.

He makes the day fade into night.

He sends for the waters in the clouds.

Then he pours them out on the surface of the land.

His name is the Lord.

9With a flash of light he destroys places of safety.

He tears down cities

that have high walls around them.

10There are people among you who hate anyone who stands for justice in court.

They hate those who tell the truth.

11You make poor people pay tax on their straw.

You also tax their grain.

So, even though you have built stone houses,

you won’t live in them.

You have planted fruitful vineyards.

But you won’t drink the wine they produce.

12I know how many crimes you have committed.

You have sinned far too much.

Among you are people who crush those who have done no wrong.

They accept money from people who want special favors.

They take away the rights of poor people in the courts.

13So those who are wise keep quiet in times like these.

That’s because the times are evil.

14Look to what is good, not to what is evil.

Then you will live.

And the Lord God who rules over all

will be with you,

just as you say he is.

15Hate evil and love good.

Do what is fair in the courts.

Perhaps the Lord God who rules over all

will have mercy on you.

After all, you are the only ones left

in the family line of Joseph.

16The Lord God rules over all. The Lord says,

“People will weep in all the streets.

They will be very sad in every market place.

Even farmers will be told to cry loudly.

People will mourn for the dead.

17Workers will cry in all the vineyards.

That’s because I will punish you,”

says the Lord.

The Day of the Lord Is Coming

18How terrible it will be for you

who long for the day of the Lord!

Why do you want it to come?

That day will be dark, not light.

19It will be like a man running away from a lion

only to meet a bear.

He enters his house and rests his hand on a wall

only to be bitten by a snake.

20The day of the Lord will be dark, not light.

It will be very black.

There won’t be a ray of sunlight anywhere.

21The Lord says,

“I hate your holy feasts.

I can’t stand them.

Your gatherings stink.

22You bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings.

But I will not accept them.

You bring your best friendship offerings.

But I will not even look at them.

23Take the noise of your songs away!

I will not listen to the music of your harps.

24I want you to treat others fairly.

So let fair treatment roll on

just as a river does!

Always do what is right.

Let right living flow along

like a stream that never runs dry!

25“People of Israel, did you bring me sacrifices and offerings

for 40 years in the desert?

26Yes. But you have honored the place

where your king worshiped other gods.

You have carried the stands

the statues of your gods were on.

You have lifted up the banners

of the stars you worship as gods.

You made all those things for yourselves.

27So I will send you away

as prisoners beyond Damascus,”

says the Lord.

His name is God Who Rules Over All.

King James Version

Amos 5:1-27

1Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel. 2The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up. 3For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.

4¶ For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live: 5But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nought. 6Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el. 7Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, 8Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name: 9That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.5.9 spoiled: Heb. spoil 10They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. 11Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.5.11 pleasant…: Heb. vineyards of desire 12For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.5.12 a bribe: or, a ransom 13Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time. 14Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. 15Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

16Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. 17And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD. 18Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. 19As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

21¶ I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.5.21 in…: or, your holy days 22Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.5.22 peace…: or, thank offerings 23Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. 24But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.5.24 run: Heb. roll 25Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 26But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.5.26 the tabernacle…: or, Siccuth your king 27Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.