Amos 5:4

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

“Seek me ²  so you can live!

Amos 5:6

5:6 Seek the Lord so you can live!

Otherwise he will break out ³  like fire against Joseph’s ⁴  family; ⁵ 

the fire ⁶  will consume

and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. ⁷ 

[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.

[5:6]  ³ tn Heb “rush.” The verb depicts swift movement.

[5:6]  ⁴ sn Here Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[5:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “house.”

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

[5:6]  ⁷ 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.”