Amos 5

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5:1 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel.
5:2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
5:3 For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.
5:4 For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live: 5:5 But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.
5:6 Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel.
5:7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, 5:8 Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name: 5:9 That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.
5:10 They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
5:11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.
5:12 For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.
5:13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.
5:14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
5:15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
5:16 Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.
5:17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD.
5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
5:19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
5:20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? 5:21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
5:22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.
5:23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
5:24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
5:25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 5:26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
5:27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.


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Everything King James Bible:Amos

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to: Amos
Book: Amos
Chapter: 5

Overview:
Israel is called to seek the Lord. (1-6) Earnest exhortations
to Repentance. (7-17) Threatenings respecting idolatries.
(18-27)

1-6 The convincing, awakening Word must be heard and heeded, as
Well as words of comfort and peace; for whether we hear or
forbear, the Word of God shall take effect. The Lord still
proclaims Mercy to men, but they often expect deliverance from
such self-invented forms as make their condemnation sure. While
they refuse to come to Christ and to seek Mercy in and By him,
that they may live, the Fire of Divine wrath breaks forth upon
them. Men may make an Idol of the world, but will find it cannot
protect.

7-17 The same almighty power can, for repenting sinners, easily
turn affliction and sorrow into prosperity and joy, and as
easily turn the prosperity of daring sinners into utter
Darkness. Evil times will not Bear Plain dealing; that is, evil
men will not. And these men were evil men indeed, when Wise and
good men thought it in vain even to speak to them. Those who
will seek and Love that which is good, may help to save the land
from ruin. It behooves us to plead God's spiritual promises, to
beseech him to create in us a Clean Heart, and to renew a right
Spirit within us. The Lord is ever ready to be gracious to the
souls that seek him; and then Piety and every duty will be
attended to. But as for sinful Israel, God's judgments had often
passed By them, now they shall pass through them.

18-27 Woe unto those that desire the Day of the Lord's
judgments, that wish for times of War and confusion; as some who
long for changes, hoping to rise upon the ruins of their
country! but this should be So great a Desolation, that nobody
could gain By it. The Day of the Lord will be a dark, dismal,
gloomy Day to all impenitent sinners. When God makes a Day dark,
all the world cannot make it Light. Those who are not reformed
By the Judgments of God, will be pursued By them; if they escape
one, another stands ready to seize them. A pretence of Piety is
double iniquity, and So it will be found. The people of Israel
copied the crimes of their forefathers. The Law of worshipping
the Lord our God, is, Him only we must serve. Professors thrive
So little, because they have little or No Communion with God in
their duties. They were led Captive By Satan into Idolatry,
therefore God caused them to go into Captivity among idolaters.