Amos 5
5
Amos’ Song of Mourning over Israel
1Listen to this funeral song
that I sing over you, people of Israel:
2“Virgin Israel # 5:2 Israel is poetically portrayed as a virgin maiden who was carried off in death in her youth before she could marry and have a family. has fallen, never to rise again.
There she lies, abandoned on her own soil,
with no one to lift her up.”
3Lord Yahweh says this:
“The city that deployed a thousand soldiers
will only have a hundred come back,
and the city that deployed a hundred soldiers
will only have ten survivors.” # 5:3 Or “the house of Israel.” This phrase is in v. 4 as well.
No Salvation without Repentance
4For Yahweh says this to the people of Israel:
“Come, seek me, and you will live.
5But don’t go down to seek me at Beersheba.
Don’t try to find me at Bethel’s shrines
or at the altars at Gilgal.
For Gilgal will be taken into exile, # 5:5 The Hebrew text (haggilgal galoh yigleh) employs a repeating sequence of gl four times, and each word begins or ends with h. Gilgal can be viewed as a poetic metaphor for the conquest of Israel under Joshua.
and Bethel will be brought to nothing.”
6Come back to Yahweh and live,
or he will sweep down like fire upon the people of Israel. # 5:6 Or “the house of Joseph.” See v. 15 and footnote. Ephraim and Manasseh were the sons of Joseph and the two main tribes of the Northern Kingdom.
The fire will burn at Bethel
with no one there to put out the flames.
7They turn justice into a bitter pill to swallow # 5:7 Or “They [Israelites] turn justice into wormwood [bitterness].” Instead of “turning” to God, they turned justice into something bitter.
and trample righteousness into the mud.
Creator and Destroyer
8Creator of Constellations—Maker of the Pleiades and Orion, # 5:8 See Gen. 1:14–15; Job 9:9; 38:31–33; Ps. 19:1. It is important to remember that God is the Creator of the stars and the one who set the constellations in the heavens. According to Josephus, the constellations were designated by Adam, Seth, and Enoch (see Ant. 1.2.12–13). God has set his glory in the heavens, which would include the zodiac. Although the modern meaning of the twelve signs of the zodiac (astrology) has no significance for today’s believer (see Deut. 18:10), the word for “zodiac” (Hb. mazzarot), found in Job 38:32, makes it clear that God is the one who controls the movement of the stars.
you turn the deepest darkness into dawn
and daylight into the darkest night.
You draw up # 5:8 Or “summon” or “gather.” drops of water distilled from the sea
to drench the earth with pouring rain.
Yahweh is your name.
9You destroy the mighty with a blinding flash
and overwhelm their strongholds with certain destruction. # 5:9 See Mic. 5:11. The precise meaning of the Hebrew text of v. 9 is uncertain.
Amos’ Warning
10They # 5:10 Although the text is ambiguous, “They” may refer to corrupt judges/attorneys. hate the one who challenges injustice
and despise the one who declares the whole truth in court. # 5:10 Or “at the city gate,” the place where civic court was held and decisions were rendered.
11-12For I know how outrageous are your many sins
and how many crimes you have committed.
You persecute the righteous,
trample # 5:11–12 Or “strike with the fist.” on the rights of the poor,
and seize their grain through extortion. # 5:11–12 That is, taxation.
By taking bribes, you prevent them
from getting justice in the courts. # 5:11–12 Or “in the [city] gates.”
This is why you will not live
in the fine stone houses you build
or enjoy the fruits of your luxury.
You will not drink wine
from the lush vineyards you plant,
for your judgment is imminent.
13Yes, the smartest thing for the prudent
is to remain silent in such an evil time as this. # 5:13 The implication is that those who understand God’s ways will not criticize God’s actions when he rises to judge wickedness.
Amos’ Exhortation
14Devote 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.
15Hate 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. # 5:15 Or “Joseph.”
Israel’s Impending Punishment
16Because of Israel’s sins,
Lord Yahweh, God of Angel Armies, says this:
“Wailing and sorrow everywhere! # 5:16 Or “in every public square.”
In every street they will mourn the dead. # 5:16 Or “they will say, ‘Ah! Ah!’ ” This is the Hebrew word ho, which is a variant form of hoy, a word used to express sorrow and mourning for the dead. See 1 Kings 13:30; Jer. 22:18; 34:5.
Those who work in the fields will be expected to mourn
along with the professional mourners.
17There will be wailing in all the vineyards,
for I will pass through your midst to punish you,” # 5:17 As God did to the Egyptians (see Ex. 12:12) in passing through their midst, so he will do to his rebellious people.
declares Yahweh.
False Sense of Security
18Woe 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.
19You 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.
20Will not the day of Yahweh bring darkness, not light—
a day of gloom without a ray of light?
Yahweh’s Rebuke of Religious Formalism
21“I hate your religious festivals; # 5:21 The truth of this verse is repeated frequently by the prophets. Part of the role of prophetic ministry is to call the church away from dead formalism into a loving, obedient relationship with God. See 1 Sam. 15:22; Pss. 40:6–8; 50:5–15; 51:16–17; Isa. 1:10–16; 29:13–14; 58:1–8; Jer. 6:20; Hos. 6:6; Joel 2:13; Mic. 6:5–8; Zech. 7:4–6.
I absolutely despise them!
Your pious gatherings make me sick! # 5:21 Or “I cannot smell your solemn assemblies.” The implication is that God cannot tolerate pretentiousness and longs for us to meet with him heart-to-heart.
22Even though you offer me
your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them. # 5:22 Or “I take no pleasure in them.”
And though you bring me choice peace offerings of fattened animals,
I won’t even look at them.
23Spare me # 5:23 Or “Away with.” the monotonous melodies # 5:23 Or “noise.” God finds the whole worship presentation intolerable. of your ‘worship.’
I don’t want to hear your strumming guitars # 5:23 Or “music of your harps [stringed instruments].” anymore.
It’s just noise to me.
24However, I delight in
a land where justice flows like a river
and where true righteousness rolls like a steady flowing stream.
25Listen, people of Israel!
Didn’t you worship me with your offerings and sacrifices
during those forty years in the wilderness?
26Now you carry around # 5:26 Or “you used to carry around.” There is some ambiguity here as to whether these idolatrous practices occurred in Israel’s more distant past or closer to the time of Amos (mid-700s BC) or perhaps both. the pagan idols
that you made to worship your phony king, Sakkuth, # 5:26 An alternative reading here results from translating the Hebrew term sikkut as “shrine”: “You have lifted up the shrine of your pagan king.”
and your very own star-god, Kaiwan. # 5:26 Sakkuth and Kaiwan are most likely Babylonian or Assyrian gods. Kaiwan (or Chiun) was another name for the Roman god Saturn. When God’s people wander away from him, they quickly turn to false gods and vain idols (see 2 Kings 17:29–31; Jer. 2:13 and the footnotes). Additionally, there is a possible alternative reading, based on the translation of the Hebrew term kiyyun as “pedestal”: “. . . and the pedestal of your idols—your star-god.”
27Therefore, you can carry them all the way beyond Damascus, # 5:27 That is, to Assyria.
where I am about to drive you into captivity,”
says Yahweh.
God of Angel Armies is his name!
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Amos 5: TPT
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