Amos 5:1-10

``Seek Me that You May Live"

1 Hear this word which I take up for you as a ¹dirge, O house of Israel:

2 She has fallen, she will ²not rise again - The ³virgin Israel. She lies neglected on her land; There is ⁴none to raise her up.

3 For thus says the Lord GOD, "The city which goes forth a thousand strong Will have a ⁵hundred left, And the one which goes forth a hundred strong Will have ⁶ten left to the house of Israel."

4 For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel, "⁷Seek Me ⁸that you may live.

5 "But do not resort to ⁹Bethel And do not come to ¹⁰Gilgal, Nor cross over to ¹¹Beersheba; For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity And Bethel will come to trouble.

6 "¹²Seek the LORD that you may live, Or He will break forth like a ¹³fire, O house of Joseph, And it will consume with none to quench it for Bethel,

7 For those who turn ¹⁴justice into wormwood And cast righteousness down to the earth."

8 He who made the ¹⁵Pleiades and Orion And ¹⁶changes deep darkness into morning, Who also ¹⁷darkens day into night, Who ¹⁸calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the surface of the earth, The ¹⁹LORD is His name.

9 It is He who ²⁰flashes forth with destruction upon the strong, So that ²¹destruction comes upon the fortress.

10 They hate him who ²²reproves in the gate, And they ²³abhor him who speaks with integrity.

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Amos 5:1-10 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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 23

1. Jeremiah 7:29; Jeremiah 9:10, 17; Ezekiel 19:1
2. Amos 8:14
3. Jeremiah 14:17
4. Isaiah 51:18; Jeremiah 50:32
5. Isaiah 6:13
6. Amos 6:9
7. Deuteronomy 4:29; Deuteronomy 32:46, 47; Jeremiah 29:13
8. Isaiah 55:3
9. 1 Kings 12:28, 29; Amos 3:14; Amos 4:4; Amos 7:10, 13
10. 1 Samuel 7:16; 1 Samuel 11:14
11. Genesis 21:31-33; Amos 8:14
12. Is 55:3, 6, 7; Amos 5:14
13. Deuteronomy 4:24
14. Amos 2:3; Amos 5:12; Amos 6:12
15. Job 9:9; Job 38:31
16. Job 12:22; Job 38:12; Isaiah 42:16
17. Psalms 104:20
18. Psalms 104:6-9; Amos 9:6
19. Amos 4:13
20. Isaiah 29:5; Amos 2:14
21. Micah 5:11
22. Isaiah 29:21; Amos 5:15
23. 1 Kings 22:8; Isaiah 59:15; Jeremiah 17:16-18

Footnotes 7

[a]. Heb "YHWH," usually rendered LORD, and so throughout the ch
[b]. Lit "seek"
[c]. Or "become iniquity"
[d]. Or in "the house"
[e]. Lit "they have put down"
[f]. Lit "And He darkened"
[g]. I.e. the place where court was held