Amos 5:14-24

Devote yourself to what is good, not evil, so that you may live. And YAHWEH, the God of Angel Armies, will really be with you, just as you claim he is. Hate what is evil, love what is right, and let justice prevail in the courts. It may be that YAHWEH, God of Angel Armies, will show mercy to the remnant of Israel. Because of Israel’s sins, Lord YAHWEH, God of Angel Armies, says this: “Wailing and sorrow everywhere! In every street they will mourn the dead. Those who work in the fields will be expected to mourn along with the professional mourners. There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst to punish you,” declares YAHWEH. Woe to you who long for the day of YAHWEH! Why do you long for the day of YAHWEH? Its arrival will mean darkness, not light. You will be seized like someone who runs from a lion and a bear charges at him. Then he hides indoors and leans his hand against the wall only to have a venomous snake bite him. Will not the day of YAHWEH bring darkness, not light— a day of gloom without a ray of light? YAHWEH “I hate your religious festivals; I absolutely despise them! Your pious gatherings make me sick! Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. And though you bring me choice peace offerings of fattened animals, I won’t even look at them. Spare me the monotonous melodies of your ‘worship.’ I don’t want to hear your strumming guitars anymore. It’s just noise to me. However, I delight in a land where justice flows like a river and where true righteousness rolls like a steady flowing stream.