Amos 5

Amos · Chapter 5

Amos 5:8

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
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:He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth— the LORD is His name—seek him that maketh the Pleiades 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 (Jehovah is his name);

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
[the] maker ofעֹשֵׂ֨ה'o-SEHH6213H
to make

עֲבַד (a.vad) 1) to make, do 1a)(P'al) 1a1) to make, create 1a2) to do, perform 1b) (Ithp'al) 1b1) to be made into 1b2) to be done, be wrought, be performed, be executed, be carried out

Pleiadesכִימָ֜הkhi-MAHH3598
Pleiades

כִּימָה (ki.mah) Pleiades, a constellation of seven stars

and Orionוּכְסִ֗ילu-khe-SILH3685G
Orion

כְּסִיל (ke.sil) Constellation of Orion

and [the one who] turnsוְהֹפֵ֤ךְve-ho-FEKHH2015
to overturn

הָפַךְ (ha.phakh) 1) to turn, overthrow, overturn 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to overturn, overthrow 1a2) to turn, turn about, turn over, turn around 1a3) to change, transform 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to turn oneself, turn, turn back 1b2) to change oneself 1b3) to be perverse 1b4) to be turned, be turned over, be changed, be turned against 1b5) to be reversed 1b6) to be overturned, be overthrown 1b7) to be upturned 1c) (Hithpael) 1c1) to transform oneself 1c2) to turn this way and that, turn every way 1d) (Hophal) to turn on someone

into the morningלַבֹּ֙קֶר֙la-BO-kerH1242
morning

בֹּ֫קֶר (bo.qer) 1) morning, break of day 1a) morning 1a1) of end of night 1a2) of coming of daylight 1a3) of coming of sunrise 1a4) of beginning of day 1a5) of bright joy after night of distress (fig.) 1b) morrow, next day, next morning

deep darknessצַלְמָ֔וֶתtzal-MA-vetH6757
shadow

צַלְמָ֫וֶת (tsal.ma.vet) 1) death-shadow, deep shadow, deep darkness, shadow of death 1a) death-shadow 1b) death-shadow, deep shadow, darkness 1c) death-shadow (of distress, extreme danger) (fig) 1d) death-shadow (of place of the dead) (fig)

and dayוְי֖וֹםve-YOMH3117G
day

יוֹם (yom) : day/when/time/period 1) day, time, year 1a) day (as opposed to night) 1b) day (24 hour period) 1b1) as defined by evening and morning in Genesis 1 1b2) as a division of time 1b2a) a working day, a day's journey 1c) days, lifetime (pl.) 1d) time, period (general) 1e) year 1f) temporal references 1f1) today 1f2) yesterday 1f3) tomorrow

nightלַ֣יְלָהLAY-lahH3915
night

לַ֫יְלָה (lay.lah) 1) night 1a) night (as opposed to day) 1b) of gloom, protective shadow (fig.)

he makes darkהֶחְשִׁ֑יךְhech-SHIKHH2821
to darken

חָשַׁךְ (cha.shakh) 1) to be or become dark, grow dim, be darkened, be black, be hidden 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to be or grow dark 1a2) to have a dark colour 1a3) to grow dim 1b) (Hiphil) 1b1) to make dark, cause to be dark 1b2) to hide, conceal 1b3) to obscure, confuse (fig.)

the [one who] summonsהַקּוֹרֵ֣אha-ko-RE'H7121G
to call: call to

קָרָא (qa.ra) : call_to/invite/entreat 1) to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to call, cry, utter a loud sound 1a2) to call unto, cry (for help), call (with name of God) 1a3) to proclaim 1a4) to read aloud, read (to oneself), read 1a5) to summon, invite, call for, call and commission, appoint, call and endow 1a6) to call, name, give name to, call by 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to call oneself 1b2) to be called, be proclaimed, be read aloud, be summoned, be named 1c) (Pual) to be called, be named, be called out, be chosen

to [the] waters ofלְמֵֽי־le-mei-H4325G
water

מַי (ma.yim) 1) water, waters 1a) water 1b) water of the feet, urine 1c) of danger, violence, transitory things, refreshment (fig.)

the seaהַיָּ֗םhai-YAMH3220G
sea

יָם (yam) : sea 1) sea 1a) Mediterranean Sea 1b) Red Sea 1c) Dead Sea 1d) Sea of Galilee 1e) sea (general) 1f) mighty river (Nile) 1g) the sea (the great basin in the temple court) 1h) seaward, west, westward

and he poured out themוַֽיִּשְׁפְּכֵ֛םvai-yish-pe-KHEMH8210G
to pour: pour

שָׁפַךְ (sha.phakh) : pour 1) to pour, pour out, spill 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to pour, pour out 1a2) to shed (blood) 1a3) to pour out (anger or heart) (fig) 1b) (Niphal) to be poured out, be shed 1c) (Pual) to be poured out, be shed 1d) (Hithpael) 1d1) to be poured out 1d2) to pour out oneself

onעַל־'al-H5921A
upon

עַל (al) prep 1) upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against 1a) upon, on the ground of, on the basis of, on account of, because of, therefore, on behalf of, for the sake of, for, with, in spite of, notwithstanding, concerning, in the matter of, as regards 1b) above, beyond, over (of excess) 1c) above, over (of elevation or pre-eminence) 1d) upon, to, over to, unto, in addition to, together with, with (of addition) 1e) over (of suspension or extension) …

[the] surface ofפְּנֵ֥יpe-NEIH6440J
face: before

פָּנֶה (pa.neh) : before/to/front 1) face 1a) face, faces 1b) presence, person 1c) face (of seraphim or cherubim) 1d) face (of animals) 1e) face, surface (of ground) 1f) as adv of loc/temp 1f1) before and behind, toward, in front of, forward, formerly, from beforetime, before 1g) with prep 1g1) in front of, before, to the front of, in the presence of, in the face of, at the face or front of, from the presence of, from before, from before the face of

the earthהָאָ֖רֶץha-'A-retzH0776G
land: country/planet

אֶ֫רֶץ (e.rets) : country/field 1) land, earth 1a) earth 1a1) whole earth (as opposed to a part) 1a2) earth (as opposed to heaven) 1a3) earth (inhabitants) 1b) land 1b1) country, territory 1b2) district, region 1b3) tribal territory 1b4) piece of ground 1b5) land of Canaan, Israel 1b6) inhabitants of land 1b7) Sheol, land without return, (under) world 1b8) city (-state) 1c) ground, surface of the earth 1c1) ground 1c2) soil 1d) (in phrases) 1d1) people of the land 1d2) space or distance of country (in measurements of distance) 1d3) level or plain country 1d4) land of the living 1d5) end(s) of the earth …

[is] Yahwehיְהוָ֥הYAH-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)

name hisשְׁמֽוֹ׃ סshe-MOH8034
name

שֵׁם (shem) 1) name 1a) name 1b) reputation, fame, glory 1c) the Name (as designation of God) 1d) memorial, monument Aramaic equivalent: shum (שֻׁם "name" H8036)

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