Hear ye this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel.
The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she {Or, lieth forsaken}is cast down upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred shall have ten left, to the house of Israel.
For thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live;
but seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall {Or, become vanity (Hebrew: Aven)}come to nought.
Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el.
Ye who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth,
seek him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth {Or, deep darkness}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 (Jehovah is his name);
that {Or, causeth destruction to flash forth}bringeth sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress.
They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
Forasmuch therefore as ye trample upon the poor, and take exactions from him 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 the wine thereof.
For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins— ye that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy in the gate from their right.
Therefore he that is prudent shall keep silence in such a time; for it is an evil time.
Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be with you, as ye say.
Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate: it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all the broad ways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, {Hebrew: and proclaim wailing to such as are skillful in lamentation.}and such as are skilful in lamentation to wailing.
And in all vineyards shall be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah.
Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! Wherefore would ye have the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light.
As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; {Or, and}or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
I hate, I despise your feasts, and I {Hebrew: will not smell a savor.}will take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Yea, though ye offer me {Or, burnt-offerings with your meal-offerings}your burnt-offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the {Or, ever-flowing}peace-offerings of your fat beasts.
Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and {Or, meal-offerings}offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
Yea, ye {Or, shall take up…And I will cause &c.}have borne the tabernacle of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts.
Querverweise zu Amos 5,4 Amos 5,4
Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el.
The meek shall eat and be satisfied;They shall praise Jehovah that seek after him:Let your heart live for ever.
And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither Jehovah thy God hath driven thee,
and shalt return unto Jehovah thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul;
that then Jehovah thy God will {Or, return to}turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the peoples, whither Jehovah thy God hath scattered thee.
If any of thine outcasts be in the uttermost parts of heaven, from thence will Jehovah thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
and Jehovah thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
And Jehovah thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
And Jehovah thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, that persecuted thee.
And thou shalt return and obey the voice of Jehovah, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.
The meek have seen it, and are glad:Ye that seek after God, let your heart live.
And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Jehovah searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
Glory ye in his holy name:Let the heart of them rejoice that seek Jehovah.
and he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: Jehovah is with you, while ye are with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.
Seek ye Jehovah and his strength;Seek his face evermore.
And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek unto Jehovah; and he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherim, and the graven images, and the molten images.
Jehovah looked down from heaven upon the children of men,To see if there were any that did {Or, deal wisely}understand,That did seek after God.
When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee,Thy face, Jehovah, will I seek.
Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near:
let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
And ye shall call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Jehovah is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Jehovah.
Seek ye Jehovah, all ye meek of the earth, that have kept his ordinances; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye will be hid in the day of Jehovah's anger.
for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.