Add parallel Print Page Options

A Funeral Song about Israel

Listen to this message, this funeral song that I sing about you, nation of Israel:

The people of Israel have fallen,
    never to rise again.
    They lie abandoned in their own land.
    There is no one to help them.

This is what Adonay Yahweh says:

The city that sends 1,000 troops off to war
    will have only 100 left.
    The one that sends 100 troops off to war
    will have only 10 left for the nation of Israel.

A Threefold Call to Turn Away from Sin

This is what Yahweh says to the nation of Israel:

Search for me and live!
But don’t search for me at Bethel.
    Don’t go to Gilgal.
        Don’t travel to Beersheba.
        Gilgal will certainly go into exile.
    Bethel will come to nothing.
Search for Yahweh and live!
    If you don’t, he will spread like a fire through the house of Joseph
        and burn it down.
            Bethel will have no one to put it out.

You, Israel, turn justice into poison
    and throw righteousness on the ground.

Elohim made the constellations Pleiades and Orion.
    He turns deep darkness into dawn.
    He turns day into night.
    He calls for water from the sea
        to pour it over the face of the earth.
    His name is Yahweh.
He destroys strongholds and ruins fortresses.

10 Israel, you hate anyone who speaks out against injustice.
    You are disgusted by anyone who speaks the truth.
11 You trample on the poor
    and take their wheat from them for taxes.
        That is why you build houses from hand-cut stones,
            but you will not live in them.
        You plant beautiful vineyards,
            but you will not drink their wine.
12 I know that your crimes are numerous and your sins are many.
    You oppress the righteous by taking bribes.
        You deny the needy access to the courts.
13 That is why a wise person remains silent at such times,
    because those times are so evil.

14 Search for good instead of evil so that you may live.
    Then Yahweh Elohe Tsebaoth will be with you, as you have said.
15 Hate evil and love good.
    Then you will be able to have justice in your courts.
        Maybe Yahweh Elohe Tsebaoth
            will have pity on the faithful few of Joseph.

16 This is what Adonay Yahweh Elohe Tsebaoth, says:

There will be loud crying in every city square,
    and people will say in every street, “Oh, no!”
    They will call on farmers to mourn
    and on professional mourners to cry loudly.
17 There will be loud crying in every vineyard,
    because I will pass through your land with death.

Yahweh has said this.

The Terrifying Day of the Lord

18 How horrible it will be for those who long for the day of Yahweh!
    Why do you long for that day?
    The day of Yahweh is one of darkness and not light.
19 It is like a person who flees from a lion
    only to be attacked by a bear.
    It is like a person who goes home and puts his hand on the wall
        only to be bitten by a snake.
20 The day of Yahweh brings darkness and not light.
    It is pitch black, with no light.

The Lord Rejects Israel’s Worship

21 I hate your festivals; I despise them.
    I’m not pleased with your religious assemblies.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
    I won’t accept them.
    I won’t even look at the fellowship offerings of your choicest animals.
23 Spare me the sound of your songs.
    I won’t listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice flow like a river
    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings
    in the desert for 40 years, nation of Israel?
26 You carried along the statues of the god Sikkuth as your king
    and the star Kiyyun,
        the gods you made for yourselves.

27 I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,
    says Yahweh, whose name is Elohe Tsebaoth.

A Lament and Call to Repentance

Hear this word, Israel, this lament(A) I take up concerning you:

“Fallen is Virgin(B) Israel,
    never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
    with no one to lift her up.(C)

This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:

“Your city that marches out a thousand strong
    will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
    will have only ten left.(D)

This is what the Lord says to Israel:

“Seek(E) me and live;(F)
    do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,(G)
    do not journey to Beersheba.(H)
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
    and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.[a](I)
Seek(J) the Lord and live,(K)
    or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;(L)
it will devour them,
    and Bethel(M) will have no one to quench it.(N)

There are those who turn justice into bitterness(O)
    and cast righteousness(P) to the ground.(Q)

He who made the Pleiades and Orion,(R)
    who turns midnight into dawn(S)
    and darkens day into night,(T)
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.(U)
With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
    and brings the fortified city to ruin.(V)

10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court(W)
    and detest the one who tells the truth.(X)

11 You levy a straw tax on the poor(Y)
    and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,(Z)
    you will not live in them;(AA)
though you have planted lush vineyards,
    you will not drink their wine.(AB)
12 For I know how many are your offenses
    and how great your sins.(AC)

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes(AD)
    and deprive the poor(AE) of justice in the courts.(AF)
13 Therefore the prudent keep quiet(AG) in such times,
    for the times are evil.(AH)

14 Seek good, not evil,
    that you may live.(AI)
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
    just as you say he is.
15 Hate evil,(AJ) love good;(AK)
    maintain justice in the courts.(AL)
Perhaps(AM) the Lord God Almighty will have mercy(AN)
    on the remnant(AO) of Joseph.

16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:

“There will be wailing(AP) in all the streets(AQ)
    and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers(AR) will be summoned to weep
    and the mourners to wail.
17 There will be wailing(AS) in all the vineyards,
    for I will pass through(AT) your midst,”
says the Lord.(AU)

The Day of the Lord

18 Woe to you who long
    for the day of the Lord!(AV)
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?(AW)
    That day will be darkness,(AX) not light.(AY)
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion
    only to meet a bear,(AZ)
as though he entered his house
    and rested his hand on the wall
    only to have a snake bite him.(BA)
20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,(BB) not light—
    pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?(BC)

21 “I hate,(BD) I despise your religious festivals;(BE)
    your assemblies(BF) are a stench to me.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings(BG) and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.(BH)
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.(BI)
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.(BJ)
24 But let justice(BK) roll on like a river,
    righteousness(BL) like a never-failing stream!(BM)

25 “Did you bring me sacrifices(BN) and offerings
    forty years(BO) in the wilderness, people of Israel?
26 You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
    the pedestal of your idols,(BP)
    the star of your god[b]
    which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into exile(BQ) beyond Damascus,”
    says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.(BR)

Footnotes

  1. Amos 5:5 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see Hosea 4:15.
  2. Amos 5:26 Or lifted up Sakkuth your king / and Kaiwan your idols, / your star-gods; Septuagint lifted up the shrine of Molek / and the star of your god Rephan, / their idols