Amos 5:14-24

14 Seek good and not evil, that you may live; And thus may the LORD God of hosts be with you, ¹Just as you have said!

15 ²Hate evil, love good, And establish justice in the gate! Perhaps the LORD God of hosts ³May be gracious to the ⁴remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts, the Lord, "There is ⁵wailing in all the plazas, And in all the streets they say, 'Alas! Alas!' They also call the ⁶farmer to mourning And ⁷professional mourners to lamentation.

17 "And in all the ⁸vineyards there is wailing, Because I will pass through the midst of you," says the LORD.

18 Alas, you who are longing for the ⁹day of the LORD, For what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you? It will be ¹⁰darkness and not light;

19 As when a man ¹¹flees from a lion And a bear meets him, Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall And a snake bites him.

20 Will not the day of the LORD be ¹²darkness instead of light, Even gloom with no brightness in it?

21 "I hate, I ¹³reject your festivals, Nor do I ¹⁴delight in your solemn assemblies.

22 "Even though you ¹⁵offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the ¹⁶peace offerings of your fatlings.

23 "Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.

24 "But let ¹⁷justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

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Amos 5:14-24 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 17

1. Micah 3:11
2. Psalms 97:10; Romans 12:9
3. Joel 2:14
4. Mic 5:3, 7, 8
5. Jer 9:10, 18-20; Amos 8:3
6. Joel 1:11
7. 2 Chronicles 35:25; Jeremiah 9:17
8. Isaiah 16:10; Jeremiah 48:33
9. Isaiah 5:19; Jeremiah 30:7; Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1, 11, 31
10. Isaiah 5:30; Joel 2:2
11. Job 20:24; Isaiah 24:17, 18; Jeremiah 15:2, 3; Jeremiah 48:44
12. Isaiah 13:10; Zephaniah 1:15
13. Isaiah 1:11-16; Isaiah 66:3; Amos 4:4, 5; Amos 8:10
14. Leviticus 26:31; Jeremiah 14:12; Hosea 5:6
15. Isaiah 66:3; Micah 6:6, 7
16. Leviticus 7:11-15; Amos 4:5
17. Jeremiah 22:3; Ezekiel 45:9; Micah 6:8

Footnotes 4

[a]. I.e. the place where court was held
[b]. Lit "those who know lamentation"
[c]. Or "Then"
[d]. Lit "like to smell"