Amos 5:4-24

New International Version

⁴This is what the Lord says to Israel:

“Seek^(A) me and live;^(B)
⁵    do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,^(C)
    do not journey to Beersheba.^(D)
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
    and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.^[a]^(E)”
⁶Seek^(F) the Lord and live,^(G)
    or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;^(H)
it will devour them,
    and Bethel^(I) will have no one to quench it.^(J)

⁷There are those who turn justice into bitterness^(K)
and cast righteousness^(L) to the ground.^(M)

⁸He who made the Pleiades and Orion,^(N)
    who turns midnight into dawn^(O)
    and darkens day into night,^(P)
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.^(Q)
⁹With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
    and brings the fortified city to ruin.^(R)

¹⁰There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court^(S)
and detest the one who tells the truth.^(T)

¹¹You levy a straw tax on the poor^(U)
    and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,^(V)
    you will not live in them;^(W)
though you have planted lush vineyards,
    you will not drink their wine.^(X)
¹²For I know how many are your offenses
    and how great your sins.^(Y)

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes^(Z)
and deprive the poor^(AA) of justice in the courts.^(AB)
¹³Therefore the prudent keep quiet^(AC) in such times,
for the times are evil.^(AD)

¹⁴Seek good, not evil,
    that you may live.^(AE)
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
    just as you say he is.
¹⁵Hate evil,^(AF) love good;^(AG)
    maintain justice in the courts.^(AH)
Perhaps^(AI) the Lord God Almighty will have mercy^(AJ)
    on the remnant^(AK) of Joseph.

¹⁶Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:

“There will be wailing^(AL) in all the streets^(AM)
    and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers^(AN) will be summoned to weep
    and the mourners to wail.
¹⁷There will be wailing^(AO) in all the vineyards,
    for I will pass through^(AP) your midst,”
says the Lord.^(AQ)

The Day of the Lord

¹⁸Woe to you who long
    for the day of the Lord!^(AR)
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?^(AS)
    That day will be darkness,^(AT) not light.^(AU)
¹⁹It will be as though a man fled from a lion
    only to meet a bear,^(AV)
as though he entered his house
    and rested his hand on the wall
    only to have a snake bite him.^(AW)
²⁰Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,^(AX) not light—
    pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?^(AY)

²¹“I hate,^(AZ) I despise your religious festivals;^(BA)
    your assemblies^(BB) are a stench to me.
²²Even though you bring me burnt offerings^(BC) and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.^(BD)
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.^(BE)
²³Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.^(BF)
²⁴But let justice^(BG) roll on like a river,
    righteousness^(BH) like a never-failing stream!^(BI)