Amos 5:14-27

¶Seek (long for, require) good and not evil, that you may live; And so may the LORD God of hosts be with you, Just as you have said! Hate evil and love good, And establish justice in the [court of the city] gate. Perhaps the LORD God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph [that is, those who remain after God’s judgment]. Therefore, thus says the LORD God of hosts, the Lord, “There is wailing in all the public plazas, And in all the streets they say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ And they call the farmers to mourning [for those who have died] And professional mourners to wailing. “And in all vineyards there is wailing, For I will pass through your midst [in judgment],” says the LORD. [Ex 12:12] ¶Woe (judgment is coming) to you who desire the day of the LORD [expecting rescue from the Gentiles]! Why would you want the day of the LORD? It is darkness (judgment) and not light [and rescue and prosperity]; It is as if a man runs from a lion [escaping one danger] And a bear meets him [so he dies anyway], Or goes home, and leans with his hand against the wall And a snake bites him. Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, instead of light, Even very dark with no brightness in it? ¶“I hate, I despise and reject your [sacred] feasts, And I do not take delight in your solemn assemblies. “Even though you offer Me your burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fattened animals. “Take the noise of your songs away from Me [they are an irritation]! I shall not even listen to the melody of your harps. “But let justice run down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream [flowing abundantly]. “Did you bring Me sacrifices and grain offerings during those forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? [Certainly not!] You carried along your king Sikkuth and Kayyun [your man-made gods of Saturn], your images of your star-god which you made for yourselves [but you brought Me none of the appointed sacrifices]. Therefore, I will send you to go into exile far beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts. [Acts 7:42, 43]