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NASB Bible

Amos 5

"Seek Me that You May Live"

1

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

2

She has fallen, she will  anot rise again-- The  bvirgin Israel. She lies neglected on her land; There is  cnone to raise her up.

3

For thus says the Lord  1GOD, "The city which goes forth a thousand strong Will have a  ahundred left, And the one which goes forth a hundred strong Will have  bten left to the house of Israel."

4

For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel, " aSeek Me  bthat you may live.

5

"But do not  1resort to  aBethel And do not come to  bGilgal, Nor cross over to  cBeersheba; For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity And Bethel will  2come to trouble.

6

aSeek the LORD that you may live, Or He will break forth like a  bfire,  1O house of Joseph, And it will consume with none to quench it for Bethel,

7

For those who turn  ajustice into wormwood And  1cast righteousness down to the earth."

8

He who made the  aPleiades and Orion And  bchanges deep darkness into morning,  1Who also  cdarkens day into night, Who  dcalls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the surface of the earth, The  eLORD is His name.

9

It is He who  aflashes forth with destruction upon the strong, So that  bdestruction comes upon the fortress.

10

They hate him who  areproves in the  1gate, And they  babhor him who speaks with integrity.

11

Therefore because you  1impose heavy rent on the poor And exact a tribute of grain from them, Though you have built  ahouses of well-hewn stone, Yet you will not live in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, yet you will  bnot drink their wine.

12

For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great, You who  adistress the righteous and accept bribes And  1turn aside the poor in the  2gate.

13

Therefore at  1such a time the prudent person  akeeps silent, for it is an evil time.

14

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

15

 aHate evil, love good, And establish justice in the  1gate! Perhaps the LORD God of hosts  bMay be gracious to the  cremnant of Joseph.

16

Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts, the Lord, "There is  awailing in all the plazas, And in all the streets they say, `Alas! Alas!' They also call the  bfarmer to mourning And  1 cprofessional mourners to lamentation.

17

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

18

Alas, you who are longing for the  aday of the LORD, For what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you? It will be  bdarkness and not light;

19

As when a man  aflees from a lion And a bear meets him,  1Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall And a snake bites him.

20

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

21

"I hate, I  areject your festivals, Nor do I  1 bdelight in your solemn assemblies.

22

"Even though you  aoffer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the  bpeace 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  ajustice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25

1 aDid you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel?

26

aYou also carried along  1Sikkuth your king and  2Kiyyun, your images,  3the star of your gods which you made for yourselves.

27

"Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus," says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.



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(Produced: Sat Dec 22 11:24:00 2007)

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