Amos 5

Amos 5:2

The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.

That Israelitish commonwealth, which was as a virgin untouched, is now fallen under the yoke of bondage; and so fallen, as that she shall no more rise: so is she forsaken, as that there is none to raise her up again.

Amos 5:3

The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, &c.

For so few shall be left alive, after the hard and long sieges of the Assyrians, that, in those cities of Israel, whereout a thousand able men had wont to go forth to war, there now shall be left but a hundred, &c.

Amos 5:5

But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for &c.

But go not up to the calves of Beth-el, nor to the high places and idolatrous altars of Gilgal and Beer-sheba: for &c.

Amos 5:6

Lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph.

Lest he send the enemy upon you, which, like a consuming fire, shall devour the royal tribe of Ephraim, the posterity of Joseph.

Amos 5:7

Ye who turn judgment to wormwood.

Ye, who corrupt judgment, and make it grievous and hateful to my people.

Amos 5:8

Seek 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.

Seek ye him, who maketh the great frame of the heaven, and all the glorious stars therein; who turneth the blackest night into a clear morning, and causeth the brightest day to end in a dark night; who causeth the waters of the sea to overswell their banks, and to drown the face of the earth: the Lord is his name.

Amos 5:10

They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

They hate him, that judgeth uprightly, and that doth freely and unpartially rebuke the wicked man upon the bench of justice; and they abhor him, that speaketh justly.

Amos 5:11

Forasmuch 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.

Forasmuch therefore as ye do grievously oppress the poor, and extort from him costly gifts; howsoever ye have, by your bribes and exactions, built unto yourselves houses of hewn stone, yet ye shall not dwell in them.

Amos 5:13

Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.

Therefore, those, that are prudent, when they shall see these foretold calamities to fall upon Israel, shall lay their hands upon their mouths, in an humble silence, and acknowledge the justice of God in these events; for the times shall be very grievous and miserable.

Amos 5:14

Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live.

Wherefore, that ye may avoid these plagues, frame your-

Amos 5:16

And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.

And husbandmen shall have their part in the common sorrow, forasmuch as their corn shall be wasted and devoured; and those, whose trade, and practice, is to make common lamentation, shall now mourn in earnest, without a hire.

Amos 5:18

Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to whet end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.

Woe to those amongst you, that mock at the tidings of this sad day of the Lord; and scornfully ask, why it doth not come, and when it will come! they shall find that it will come, smally to their comfort: they shall find it is not a day for mirth or pleasure, but for heaviness and sorrow.

Amos 5:19

As 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.

It shall be with you, as with a man, who, flying from a lion, meets in his way with a bear; and, to escape both, flies into a house, and, laying his hand upon the wall, to get over, is bitten by a serpent: so shall you, shunning one danger, fall into another.

Amos 5:23

Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; &c.

Do not think to please me with the musical harmony of your formal devotions, while I hear and abhor the discordous noise of your sins.

Amos 5:24

But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

No; notwithstanding all these your outward services, I will cause my judgments to gush out upon you as waters; and my righteous vengeance, as a mighty stream, shall bear you over.

Amos 5:25

Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

Have ye not whole forty years together, in the wilderness, bewrayed your averseness from me, and your inclination to idolatry? was it to me, that in this while ye offered your sacrifices, O ye house of Israel?

Amos 5:26

But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chium your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.

No; howsoever ye pretended to bear my tabernacle, yet indeed ye did your services and oblations to your god Moloch, and the other images of those planetary gods, whom ye worshipped.