Parallel Bible results for "amos 5"

Amos 5

The Bible in Basic English BBE

1 Give ear to this word, my song of sorrow over you, O children of Israel.

2 The virgin of Israel has been made low, never again to be lifted up: she is stretched out by herself on her land; there is no one to put her on her feet again.

3 For these are the words of the Lord God: The town which was able to send out a thousand, will have only a hundred; and that which sent out a hundred, will have only ten, in Israel.

4 For these are the words of the Lord to the children of Israel: Let your hearts be turned to me, so that you may have life:

5 Do not be looking for help to Beth-el, and do not go to Gilgal, or make your way to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal will certainly be taken prisoner, and Beth-el will come to nothing.

6 Go to the Lord for help so that you may have life; for fear that he may come like fire bursting out in the family of Joseph, causing destruction, and there will be no one to put it out in Beth-el.

7 You who make the work of judging a bitter thing, crushing down righteousness to the earth;

8 Go for help to him who makes Orion and the Pleiades, by whom the deep dark is turned into morning, who makes the day black with night; whose voice goes out to the waters of the sea, sending them out over the face of the earth: the Lord is his name;

9 Who sends sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the walled town.

10 They have hate for him who makes protest against evil in the public place, and he whose words are upright is disgusting to them.

11 So because the poor man is crushed under your feet, and you take taxes from him of grain: you have made for yourselves houses of cut stone, but you will not take your rest in them; the fair vine-gardens planted by your hands will not give you wine.

12 For I have seen how your evil-doing is increased and how strong are your sins, you troublers of the upright, who take rewards and do wrong to the cause of the poor in the public place.

13 So the wise will say nothing in that time; for it is an evil time.

14 Go after good and not evil, so that life may be yours: and so the Lord, the God of armies, will be with you, as you say.

15 Be haters of evil and lovers of good, and let right be done in the public place: it may be that the Lord, the God of armies, will have mercy on the rest of Joseph.

16 So these are the words of the Lord, the God of armies, the Lord: There will be weeping in all the open spaces; and in all the streets they will say, Sorrow! sorrow! and they will get in the farmer to the weeping, and the makers of sad songs to give cries of grief.

17 In all the vine-gardens there will be cries of grief: for I will go through among you, says the Lord.

18 Sorrow to you who are looking for the day of the Lord! what is the day of the Lord to you? it is dark and not light.

19 As if a man, running away from a lion, came face to face with a bear; or went into the house and put his hand on the wall and got a bite from a snake.

20 Will not the day of the Lord be dark and not light? even very dark, with no light shining in it?

21 Your feasts are disgusting to me, I will have nothing to do with them; I will take no delight in your holy meetings.

22 Even if you give me your burned offerings and your meal offerings, I will not take pleasure in them: I will have nothing to do with the peace-offerings of your fat beasts.

23 Take away from me the noise of your songs; my ears are shut to the melody of your instruments.

24 But let the right go rolling on like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 Did you come to me with offerings of beasts and meal offerings in the waste land for forty years, O Israel?

26 Truly, you will take up Saccuth your king and Kaiwan your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.

27 And I will send you away as prisoners farther than Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of armies.

Good News Translation GNT

1 Listen, people of Israel, to this funeral song which I sing over you:

2 Virgin Israel has fallen, Never to rise again! She lies abandoned on the ground, And no one helps her up.

3 The Sovereign Lord says, "A city in Israel sends out a thousand soldiers, but only a hundred return; another city sends out a hundred, but only ten come back."

4 The Lord says to the people of Israel, "Come to me, and you will live.

5 Do not go to Beersheba to worship. Do not try to find me at Bethel - Bethel will come to nothing. Do not go to Gilgal - her people are doomed to exile."

6 Go to the Lord, and you will live. If you do not go, he will sweep down like fire on the people of Israel. The fire will burn up the people of Bethel, and no one will be able to put it out.

7 You are doomed, you that twist justice and cheat people out of their rights!

8 The Lord made the stars, the Pleiades and Orion. He turns darkness into daylight and day into night. He calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the earth. His name is the Lord.

9 He brings destruction on the mighty and their strongholds.

10 You people hate anyone who challenges injustice and speaks the whole truth in court.

11 You have oppressed the poor and robbed them of their grain. And so you will not live in the fine stone houses you build or drink wine from the beautiful vineyards you plant.

12 I know how terrible your sins are and how many crimes you have committed. You persecute good people, take bribes, and prevent the poor from getting justice in the courts.

13 And so, keeping quiet in such evil times is the smart thing to do!

14 Make it your aim to do what is right, not what is evil, so that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty really will be with you, as you claim he is.

15 Hate what is evil, love what is right, and see that justice prevails in the courts. Perhaps the Lord will be merciful to the people of this nation who are still left alive.

16 And so the Sovereign Lord Almighty says, "There will be wailing and cries of sorrow in the city streets. Even farmers will be called to mourn the dead along with those who are paid to mourn.

17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards. All this will take place because I am coming to punish you." The Lord has spoken.

18 How terrible it will be for you who long for the day of the Lord! What good will that day do you? For you it will be a day of darkness and not of light.

19 It will be like someone who runs from a lion and meets a bear! Or like someone who comes home and puts his hand on the wall - only to be bitten by a snake!

20 The day of the Lord will bring darkness and not light; it will be a day of gloom, without any brightness.

21 The Lord says, "I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them!

22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings.

23 Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps.

24 Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.

25 "People of Israel, I did not demand sacrifices and offerings during those forty years that I led you through the desert.

26 But now, because you have worshiped images of Sakkuth, your king god, and of Kaiwan, your star god, you will have to carry those images

27 when I take you into exile in a land beyond Damascus," says the Lord, whose name is Almighty God.