Amos 5

Amos · Chapter 5

Amos 5:14

1Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel.2The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.3For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.4For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:5But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.6Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel.7Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,8Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth 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: The LORD is his name:9That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.10They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.11Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens 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 wine of them.12For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.13Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.14Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.15Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.16Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.17And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD.18Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.19As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.20Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?21I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.22Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.23Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.24But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.25Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?26But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.27Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
14Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.Seek good, not evil, so that you may live. And the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed.Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be with you, as ye say.

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
seekדִּרְשׁוּ־dir-shu-H1875
to seek

דָּרַשׁ (da.rash) 1) to resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to resort to, frequent (a place), (tread a place) 1a2) to consult, enquire of, seek 1a2a) of God 1a2b) of heathen gods, necromancers 1a3) to seek deity in prayer and worship 1a3a) God 1a3b) heathen deities 1a4) to seek (with a demand), demand, require 1a5) to investigate, enquire 1a6) to ask for, require, demand 1a7) to practice, study, follow, seek with application 1a8) to seek with care, care for 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to allow oneself to be enquired of, consulted (only of God) 1b2) to be sought, be sought out …

goodט֥וֹבTovH2896B
good

טוֹב (tov) 1) a good thing, benefit, welfare 1a) welfare, prosperity, happiness 1b) good things (collective) 1c) good, benefit 1d) moral good

and may not [it be]וְאַל־ve-'al-H0408
not

אַל (al) 1) not, no, nor, neither, nothing (as wish or preference) 1a) do not, let not (with a verb) 1b) let there not be (with a verb understood) 1c) not, no (with substantive) 1d) nothing (as substantive) Aramaic equivalent: al (אַל "not" H0409)

evilרָ֖עra'H7451B
bad: evil

רַע (ra) 1) evil, distress, misery, injury, calamity 1a) evil, distress, adversity 1b) evil, injury, wrong 1c) evil (ethical)

so thatלְמַ֣עַןle-MA-'anH4616
because

מַ֫עַן (ma.an) 1) purpose, intent prep 1a) for the sake of 1b) in view of, on account of 1c) for the purpose of, to the intent that, in order to conj 1d) to the end that

you will liveתִּֽחְי֑וּtich-YUH2421
to live

חֲיָא (cha.ya) 1) to live 1a) (P'al) to live 1b) (Aphel) to let live, keep alive

and it may beוִיהִי־vi-hi-H1961
to be

הָיָה (ha.yah) 1) to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out 1a) (Qal) 1a1) --- 1a1a) to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come to pass 1a1b) to come about, come to pass 1a2) to come into being, become 1a2a) to arise, appear, come 1a2b) to become 1a2b1) to become 1a2b2) to become like 1a2b3) to be instituted, be established 1a3) to be 1a3a) to exist, be in existence 1a3b) to abide, remain, continue (with word of place or time) 1a3c) to stand, lie, be in, be at, be situated (with word of locality) 1a3d) to accompany, be with 1b) (Niphal) …

thusכֵ֞ןkhenH3651C
right

כֵּן (ken) adv adj 1) right, just, honest, true, veritable 1a) right, just, honest 1b) correct 1c) true, veritable

Yahwehיְהוָ֧הYAH-wehH3068G
Lord

אֲדֹנָי (a.do.nai) Lord - a title, spoken in place of Yahweh in Jewish display of reverence Another name of ye.ho.vah (יהוה "LORD" H3068G)

God ofאֱלֹהֵֽי־'e-lo-hei-H0430G
God

אֱלֹהִים (e.lo.him) This name means "gods" (plural intensive-singular meaning), "God" Another name of ye.ho.vah (יהוה "LORD" H3068G)

hostsצְבָא֛וֹתtze-va-'otH6635B
Hosts

צָבָא (tsa.va) The Hosts (of the Lord) Another name of ye.ho.vah (יהוה "LORD" H3068G)

[will be] with youאִתְּכֶ֖ם'i-te-KHEMH0854
with

אֵת (et) 1) with, near, together with 1a) with, together with 1b) with (of relationship) 1c) near (of place) 1d) with (poss.) 1e) from...with, from (with other prep)

just asכַּאֲשֶׁ֥רka-'a-SHERH0834D
as which

כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka.a.sher) conj 1) according as, as, when 1a) according to that which, according as, as 1b) with a causal force: in so far as, since 1c) with a temporal force: when

you have saidאֲמַרְתֶּֽם׃'a-mar-TEMH0559
to say

אָמַר (a.mar) 1) to say, speak, utter 1a) (Qal) to say, to answer, to say in one's heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend 1b) (Niphal) to be told, to be said, to be called 1c) (Hithpael) to boast, to act proudly 1d) (Hiphil) to avow, to avouch Aramaic equivalent: a.mar (אֲמַר "to say" H0560)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.