Amos 5:4-17

5:4 The Lord says this to the family ¹  of Israel:

“Seek me ²  so you can live!

5:5 Do not seek Bethel! ³ 

Do not visit Gilgal!

Do not journey down ⁴  to Beer Sheba!

For the people of Gilgal ⁵  will certainly be carried into exile; ⁶ 

and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds.” ⁷ 

5:6 Seek the Lord so you can live!

Otherwise he will break out ⁸  like fire against Joseph’s ⁹  family; ¹⁰ 

the fire ¹¹  will consume

and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. ¹² 

5:7 The Israelites ¹³  turn justice into bitterness; ¹⁴ 

they throw what is fair and right ¹⁵  to the ground. ¹⁶ 

5:8 (But there is one who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion;

he can turn the darkness into morning

and daylight ¹⁷  into night.

He summons the water of the seas

and pours it out on the earth’s surface.

The Lord is his name!

5:9 He flashes ¹⁸  destruction down upon the strong

so that destruction overwhelms ¹⁹  the fortified places.)

5:10 The Israelites ²⁰  hate anyone who arbitrates at the city gate; ²¹ 

they despise anyone who speaks honestly.

5:11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops ²² 

and exact a grain tax from them,

you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone,

nor will you drink the wine from the fine ²³  vineyards you planted. ²⁴ 

5:12 Certainly ²⁵  I am aware of ²⁶  your many rebellious acts ²⁷ 

and your numerous sins.

You ²⁸  torment the innocent, you take bribes,

and you deny justice to ²⁹  the needy at the city gate. ³⁰ 

5:13 For this reason whoever is smart ³¹  keeps quiet ³²  in such a time,

for it is an evil ³³  time.

5:14 Seek good and not evil so you can live!

Then the Lord, the God who commands armies, just might be with you,

as you claim he is.

5:15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right!

Promote ³⁴  justice at the city gate! ³⁵ 

Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on ³⁶  those who are left from ³⁷  Joseph. ³⁸ 

5:16 Because of Israel’s sins ³⁹  this is what the Lord, the God who commands armies, the sovereign One, ⁴⁰  says:

“In all the squares there will be wailing,

in all the streets they will mourn the dead. ⁴¹ 

They will tell the field workers ⁴²  to lament

and the professional mourners ⁴³  to wail.

5:17 In all the vineyards there will be wailing,

for I will pass through ⁴⁴  your midst,” says the Lord.

[5:4]  ¹ tn Heb “house.”

[5:4]  ² sn The following verses explain what it meant to seek the Lord. Israel was to abandon the mere formalism and distorted view of God and reality that characterized religious activity at the worship sites, as well as the social injustice that permeated Israelite society. Instead the people were to repent and promote justice in the land. This call to seek the Lord echoes the challenge in 4:13 to prepare to meet him as he truly is.

[5:5]  ³ sn Ironically, Israel was to seek after the Lord, but not at Bethel (the name Bethel means “the house of God” in Hebrew).

[5:5]  map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[5:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “cross over.”

[5:5]  sn To worship at Beer Sheba, northern worshipers had to journey down (i.e., cross the border) between Israel and Judah. Apparently, the popular religion of Israel for some included pilgrimage to holy sites in the South.

[5:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “For Gilgal.” By metonymy the place name “Gilgal” is used instead of referring directly to the inhabitants. The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:5]  ⁶ tn In the Hebrew text the statement is emphasized by sound play. The name “Gilgal” sounds like the verb גָּלָה (galah, “to go into exile”), which occurs here in the infinitival + finite verb construction (גָּלֹה יִגְלֶה, galoh yigleh). The repetition of the “ג” (g) and “ל” (l) sounds draws attention to the announcement and suggests that Gilgal’s destiny is inherent in its very name.

[5:5]  sn That the people of Gilgal would be taken into exile is ironic, for Gilgal was Israel’s first campsite when the people entered the land under Joshua and the city became a symbol of Israel’s possession of the promised land.

[5:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “disaster,” or “nothing”; NIV “Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”

[5:5]  sn Again there is irony. The name Bethel means “house of God” in Hebrew. How surprising and tragic that Bethel, the “house of God” where Jacob received the inheritance given to Abraham, would be overrun by disaster.

[5:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “rush.” The verb depicts swift movement.

[5:6]  ⁹ sn Here Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[5:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “house.”

[5:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:6]  ¹² tn Heb “to/for Bethel.” The translation assumes that the preposition indicates advantage, “on behalf of.” Another option is to take the preposition as vocative, “O Bethel.”

[5:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “Those who”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity. In light of vv. 11-13, it is also possible that the words are directed at a more limited group within the nation – those with social and economic power.

[5:7]  ¹⁴ tn There is an interesting wordplay here with the verb הָפַךְ (hafakh, “overturn, turn”). Israel “turns” justice into wormwood (cf. 6:12), while the Lord “turns” darkness into morning (v. 8; cf. 4:11; 8:10). Israel’s turning is for evil, whereas the Lord’s is to demonstrate his absolute power and sovereignty.

[5:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they throw righteousness.”

[5:7]  ¹⁶ sn In v. 7 the prophet begins to describe the guilty Israelites, but then interrupts his word picture with a parenthetical, but powerful, description of the judge they must face (vv. 8-9). He resumes his description of the sinners in v. 10.

[5:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “darkens the day into night.”

[5:9]  ¹⁸ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb בָּלַג (balag, translated here “flashes”) is uncertain.

[5:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “comes upon.” Many prefer to repoint the verb as Hiphil and translate, “he brings destruction upon the fortified places.”

[5:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:10]  ²¹ sn In ancient Israelite culture, legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.

[5:11]  ²² tn Traditionally, “because you trample on the poor” (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The traditional view derives the verb from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”; cf. Isa. 14:25), but more likely it is cognate to an Akkadian verb meaning “to exact an agricultural tax” (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 49; S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 172-73).

[5:11]  ²³ tn Or “lovely”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “pleasant”; NAB “choice”; NIV “lush.”

[5:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Houses of chiseled stone you built, but you will not live in them. Fine vineyards you planted, but you will not drink their wine.”

[5:12]  ²⁵ tn Or “for.”

[5:12]  ²⁶ tn Or “I know” (so most English versions).

[5:12]  ²⁷ tn Or “transgressions,” “sins.” See the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3 and on the phrase “covenant violations” in 2:4.

[5:12]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Those who.”

[5:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “turn aside.” They “turn aside” the needy by denying them the justice they deserve at the city gate (where legal decisions were made, and therefore where justice should be done).

[5:12]  ³⁰ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate, where the town elders met.

[5:13]  ³¹ tn Or “the wise”; or “the prudent.” Another option is to translate “the successful, prosperous” and understand this as a reference to the rich oppressors. See G. V. Smith, Amos, 169-70. In this case the following verb will also have a different nuance, that is, the wealthy remain silent before the abuses they perpetuate. See the note on the verb translated “keeps quiet” later in this verse.

[5:13]  ³² tn Or “moans, laments,” from a homonymic verbal root. If the rich oppressors are in view, then the verb (whether translated “will be silenced” or “will lament”) describes the result of God’s judgment upon them. See G. V. Smith, Amos, 170.

[5:13]  ³³ tn If this is a judgment announcement against the rich, then the Hebrew phrase עֵת רָעָה (’et ra’ah) must be translated, “[a] disastrous time.” See G. V. Smith, Amos, 170.

[5:15]  ³⁴ tn Heb “set up, establish.” In the ancient Near East it was the responsibility especially of the king to establish justice. Here the prophet extends that demand to local leaders and to the nation as a whole (cf. 5:24).

[5:15]  ³⁵ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate (see the note in v. 12). This repetition of this phrase serves to highlight a deliberate contrast to the injustices cited in vv. 11-13.

[5:15]  ³⁶ tn Or “will show favor to.”

[5:15]  ³⁷ tn Or “the remnant of” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “what’s left of your people.”

[5:15]  ³⁸ sn Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[5:16]  ³⁹ tn Heb “Therefore.” This logical connector relates back to the accusation of vv. 10-13, not to the parenthetical call to repentance in vv. 14-15. To indicate this clearly, the phrase “Because of Israel’s sins” is used in the translation.

[5:16]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[5:16]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “they will say, ‘Ah! Ah!’” The Hebrew term הוֹ (ho, “ah, woe”) is an alternate form of הוֹי (hoy), a word used to mourn the dead and express outwardly one’s sorrow. See 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5. This wordplay follows quickly, as v. 18 begins with הוֹי (“woe”).

[5:16]  ⁴² tn Or “farmers” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[5:16]  ⁴³ tn Heb “those who know lamentation.”

[5:16]  sn Professional mourners are referred to elsewhere in the OT (2 Chr 35:25; Jer 9:17) and ancient Near Eastern literature. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 180.

[5:17]  ⁴⁴ sn The expression pass through your midst alludes to Exod 12:12, where the Lord announced he would “pass through” Egypt and bring death to the Egyptian firstborn.