Amos 5:6-8

Contemporary English Version

⁶Turn back to the Lord,
you descendants of Joseph,^[a]
    and you will live.
If you don't, the Lord
    will attack like fire.
Bethel will burn to the ground,
    and no one can save it.
⁷You people are doomed!
You twist the truth
    and trample on justice.

⁸^(A) But the Lord created the stars
    and put them in place.^[b]
He turns darkness to dawn
    and daylight to darkness;
he scoops up the ocean
    and empties it on the earth.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

5.6 descendants of Joseph: Another name for the people of the northern kingdom of Israel.
5.8 the stars … place: The Hebrew text mentions two groups of stars, Pleiades and Orion. Since the Lord is the Creator of the stars, he controls the seasons that are signaled by the different positions of the stars. Moreover, the stars are created objects and should not be worshiped.