JPS - Amos - 5

5:1  Hear ye this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel:

5:2  The virgin of Israel is fallen, she shall no more rise; she is cast down upon her land, there is none to raise her up.

5:3  For thus saith the L-rd GOD: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred shall have ten left, of the house of Israel.

5:4  For thus saith HaShem unto the house of Israel: Seek ye Me, and live;

5:5  But 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.

5:6  Seek HaShem, and live--lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Bethel--

5:7  Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and cast righteousness to the ground;

5:8  Him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and bringeth on the shadow of death in the morning, and darkeneth the day into night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; HaShem is His name;

5:9  That causeth destruction to flash upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress.

5:10  They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

5:11  Therefore, because ye trample upon the poor, and take from him exactions 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 thereof.

5:12  For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins; ye that afflict the just, that take a ransom, and that turn aside the needy in the gate.

5:13  Therefore the prudent doth keep silence in such a time; for it is an evil time.

5:14  Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so HaShem, the G-d of hosts, will be with you, as ye say.

5:15  Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that HaShem, the G-d of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

5:16  Therefore thus saith HaShem, the G-d of hosts, the L-rd: Lamentation shall be in all the broad places, and they shall say in all the streets: 'Alas! alas!' and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and proclaim lamentation to such as are skilful of wailing.

5:17  And in all vineyards shall be lamentation; for I will pass through the midst of thee, saith HaShem.

5:18  Woe unto you that desire the day of HaShem! Wherefore would ye have the day of HaShem? It is darkness, and not light.

5:19  As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; and went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

5:20  Shall not the day of HaShem be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?

5:21  I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

5:22  Yea, though ye offer me burnt-offerings and your meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts.

5:23  Take thou away from Me the noise of thy songs; and let Me not hear the melody of thy psalteries.

5:24  But let justice well up as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

5:25  Did ye bring unto Me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

5:26  So shall ye take up Siccuth your king and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.

5:27  Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith He, whose name is HaShem G-d of hosts.