Amo Amos, chapter Book of Amos, chapter 5
Listen, people of Israel, to this funeral lament that I sing about you! Virgin Israel has fallen, and will never rise again! She lies abandoned on the ground, and there is no one to help her up. This is what the Lord says: From a city that sends out a thousand soldiers, only a hundred will return; from a city that sends out a hundred soldiers, only ten will return.
This is what the Lord says to the people of Israel: Look to me so you may live! Psa 34:10Do not look to the false gods of Bethel, do not go to the pagan shrines of Gilgal or travel to those of Beersheba. For Gilgal will go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing. Amo 4:4Look to the Lord so you may live! Otherwise he will explode like fire against the descendants of Joseph and no one from Bethel5:6. Possibly meaning the false gods of Bethel will be able to do nothing. will be able to quench it. Isa 55:6; Jer 17:27You twist justice and make it bitter,5:7. Literally, “wormwood,” a plant with a very bitter taste. you throw integrity to the ground.
The One who made the Pleiades and Orion,5:8. Two constellations of stars. who turns the darkness into morning, and daytime into night, who calls for the water of the seas, and pours it down as rain upon the earth—the Lord is his name! Amo 9:6In a flash he cuts down the strong and destroys the fortresses.
You hate anyone who confronts injustice5:10. This is the meaning of the Hebrew “in the gate”—the place where legal cases were heard. and loathe anyone who speaks honestly. Isa 29:21; Zep 1:12Because you trample down the poor and impose a tax on their grain, building for yourselves impressive houses, you will not live in them, and you will not drink wine from the fine vineyards you have planted. Zep 1:13For I know the extent of your wrongdoing and your numerous sins. You oppress good people by taking bribes, and you prevent the poor from getting justice in the courts. Isa 59:15; Amo 8:4So smart people keep quiet in such evil times. Amo 8:3Do what is right, and not evil, so you may live. Then the Lord God of power will be with you, as you claim he is. Psa 34:14; Isa 1:16; Rom 12:9Hate evil and love good—and make sure justice wins out in your courts. Maybe the Lord God of power will have mercy on those who are left of Jacob's people.Psa 97:10
For this is what the Lord, the Lord God of power says: There will be weeping in the city squares and wailing5:16. Literally, “saying ‘Alas! Alas!’” in the streets. They will call even the farmers to grieve, as well as the professional mourners. Jer 9:17There will be wailing in every vineyard, for I will pass through5:17. In punishment. Vineyards, normally places of laughter and celebration, are filled with weeping and wailing. the midst of you, says the Lord.
How disastrous it will be for those of you who long for the day of the Lord. Why would you want the day of the Lord to come? It will bring darkness, not light. Isa 5:19; Jer 30:7; Jol 2:11; Zep 1:15It will be like a man running away from a lion only to meet a bear; or a man who goes home and leans his hand on a wall, only to be bitten by a snake. Isa 24:18; Jer 48:44Isn't the day of the Lord darkness without light? Yes, pitch dark without a glimmer of light. Jol 2:2I hate, I despise your festivals and take no delight in your religious assemblies. Isa 1:11; Jer 6:20Even though you present me with burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. As for your peace offerings of fattened cattle—I will not even look at them. Mal 2:13Stop your noisy worship songs. I will not listen to the melody of your harps. Mat 15:8Rather let justice flow like a river, and doing right like an ever-flowing stream.Isa 11:9; Isa 56:1
Did you bring me sacrifices during those forty years in the desert, people of Israel? Act 7:42But now you carry idols of Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god that you made for yourselves. Act 7:43So I will send you into exile in a land beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of power.