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 5,11 Amos 5,11
Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say unto their lords, Bring, and let us drink.
Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build a house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not use the fruit thereof.
For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah {Hebrew: the plant of his delight.}his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, {Or, shedding of blood}oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry.
Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the locust shall consume it.
Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no room, and ye be made to dwell alone in the midst of the land!
Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them, but thou shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worm shall eat them.
transgressing and denying Jehovah, and turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
And justice is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and uprightness cannot enter.
They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and my chosen shall {Hebrew: wear out.}long enjoy the work of their hands.
And they covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
Thou shalt sow, but shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but shalt not anoint thee with oil; and the vintage, but shalt not drink the wine.
And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know justice?
ye who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
And their wealth shall become a spoil, and their houses a desolation: yea, they shall build houses, but shall not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but shall not drink the wine thereof.
But ye have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and themselves drag you before the judgment-seats?
Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
And their {Greek: carcase.}dead bodies lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.
And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do men look upon their {Greek: carcase.}dead bodies three days and a half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.
And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and make merry; and they shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth.