Amos 5:1-17

Seek the Lord and Live

1 Hear this word that I ¹take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:

2 "Fallen, no more to rise, is ²the virgin Israel; forsaken on her land, with none to raise her up."

3 For thus says the Lord GOD: "The city that went out a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went out a hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel."

4 For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: ³"Seek me and live;

5 but do not seek ⁴Bethel, and do not enter into ⁵Gilgal or cross over to ⁶Beersheba; for ⁷Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and ⁸Bethel shall come to nothing."

6 ⁹Seek the LORD and live, ¹⁰lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, with none to quench it for ¹¹Bethel,

7 O ¹²you who turn justice to wormwood^[a] and cast down righteousness to the earth!

8 He who made the ¹³Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning and ¹⁴darkens the day into night, who ¹⁵calls for the waters of the sea ¹⁶and pours them out on the surface of the earth, ¹⁷the LORD is his name;

9 ¹⁸who makes destruction flash forth against the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

10 ¹⁹They hate him who reproves ²⁰in the gate, and they ²¹abhor him who speaks the truth.

11 Therefore because you ²²trample on^[b] the poor and you exact taxes of grain from him, ²³you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; ²⁴you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine.

12 For I know how many are your transgressions and how great are your sins-- you who afflict the righteous, who ²⁵take a bribe, and ²⁶turn aside the needy ²⁷in the gate.

13 Therefore he who is prudent will ²⁸keep silent in such a time, ²⁹for it is an evil time.

14 ³⁰Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, ³¹the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said.

15 ³²Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice ³³in the gate; ³⁴it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore thus says the LORD, ³⁵the God of hosts, the Lord: "In all the squares ³⁶there shall be wailing, and in all the streets they shall say, 'Alas! Alas!' They shall call the farmers to mourning and ³⁷to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,

17 and in all vineyards there shall be wailing, for ³⁸I will pass through your midst," says the LORD.

Amos 5:1-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 5

In this chapter the prophet exhorts Israel to hear his lamentation over them for their impending ruin, Am 5:1-3; nevertheless to seek the Lord, and all that is good; to forsake their idols, and repent of their sins, in hopes of finding mercy, and living comfortably; or otherwise they must expect the wrath of God for their iniquities, especially their oppression of the poor, Am 5:4-15; otherwise it would be a time of weeping and wailing, of darkness and distress, however they might harden or flatter themselves, or make a jest of it, Am 5:16-20; for all their sacrifices and ceremonial worship would signify nothing, so long as they continued their idolatry with them Am 5:21-26; and therefore should surely go into captivity, Am 5:27.

Cross References

• 1. Ezekiel 19:1
• 2. Lamentations 2:1; [Isaiah 47:1]
• 3. 2 Chronicles 15:2; Isaiah 55:6; Zephaniah 2:3
• 4. See Amos 4:4
• 5. See Amos 4:4
• 6. Amos 8:14
• 7. See Amos 4:4
• 8. See Amos 4:4
• 9. [See ver. 4 above]
• 10. [Isaiah 9:18, 19]
• 11. [See ver. 5 above]
• 12. [Amos 6:12]
• 13. Job 9:9; Job 38:31
• 14. Psalms 104:20; [Amos 4:13; Amos 8:9]
• 15. Amos 9:6; [Genesis 6:17; Psalms 104:6, 7]
• 16. Amos 9:6; [Genesis 6:17; Psalms 104:6, 7]
• 17. See Amos 4:13
• 18. [Jeremiah 50:32]
• 19. Isaiah 29:21; [Proverbs 15:5, 10]
• 20. See Ruth 4:1
• 21. [1 Kings 22:8]
• 22. [James 2:6]
• 23. Deuteronomy 28:30, 39; Micah 6:15; Zephaniah 1:13
• 24. Deuteronomy 28:30, 39; Micah 6:15; Zephaniah 1:13
• 25. 1 Samuel 8:3; 1 Samuel 12:3; [Psalms 26:10]
• 26. Amos 2:7; Isaiah 29:21
• 27. [See ver. 10 above]
• 28. [Ecclesiastes 3:7]
• 29. Micah 2:3
• 30. [Deuteronomy 30:15, 19; Zephaniah 2:3]
• 31. Amos 3:13
• 32. Psalms 97:10; Romans 12:9
• 33. [See ver. 10 above]
• 34. Joel 2:14; [Exodus 32:30]
• 35. [See ver. 14 above]
• 36. [Jeremiah 9:17, 18]
• 37. [Jeremiah 9:17, 18]
• 38. Exodus 12:12

Footnotes

• [a]. Or to bitter fruit
• [b]. Or you tax