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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Amos 5 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/amos/5.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/amos/5-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Amos 5</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../amos/4.htm" title="Amos 4">◄</a> Amos 5 <a href="../amos/6.htm" title="Amos 6">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">Turn Back to the Lord</h3>1Listen, nation of Israel,to my mournful message:2You, dearest Israel, have fallen,never to rise again—you lie deserted in your own land,with no one to help you up.3The Lord God has warned,“From every ten soldiersonly one will be left;from a thousand troops,only a hundred will survive.”4The Lord keeps saying,“Israel, turn back to meand you will live!5Don't go to Gilgal or Bethelor even to Beersheba.<a href="#fn" id="link_Amos.5.5!f.1" class="notelink f-link">+</a> Gilgal will be dragged away,and Bethel will end upas nothing.”<a href="#fn" id="link_Amos.5.5!f.2" class="notelink f-link">+</a> 6Turn back to the Lord,you descendants of Joseph,<a href="#fn" id="link_Amos.5.6!f.1" class="notelink f-link">+</a> and you will live.If you don't, the Lordwill attack like fire.Bethel will burn to the ground,and no one can save it.7You people are doomed!You twist the truthand trample on justice.8<a href="#fn" id="link_Amos.5.8!x.1" class="notelink x-link"></a> But the Lord created the starsand put them in place.<a href="#fn" id="link_Amos.5.8!f.2" class="notelink f-link">+</a> He turns darkness to dawnand daylight to darkness;he scoops up the oceanand empties it on the earth.9God destroys mighty soldiersand strong fortresses.<h3 class="s1">Choose Good Instead of Evil!</h3><h5 class="sp">The Lord said:</h5>10You people hate judgesand honest witnesses;11you abuse the poor and demandheavy taxes from them.You have built expensive homes,but you won't enjoy them;you have planted vineyards,but you will get no wine.12I am the Lord, and I knowyour terrible sins.You cheat honest peopleand take bribes;you rob the poor of justice.13Times are so evilthat anyone with good sensewill keep quiet.14If you really want to live,you must stop doing wrongand start doing right.I, the Lord God All-Powerful,will then be on your side,just as you claim I am.15Choose good instead of evil!See that justice is done.Maybe I, the Lord All-Powerful,will be kind to what's leftof your people.<a href="#fn" id="link_Amos.5.15!f.1" class="notelink f-link">+</a> <h3 class="s1">Judgment Is Coming</h3>16This is what the Lord has sworn:Noisy crying will be heardin every town and street.Even farmers will be toldto mourn for the dead,together with thosewho are paid to mourn.<a href="#fn" id="link_Amos.5.16!f.1" class="notelink f-link">+</a> 17Your vineyards will be filledwith crying and weeping,<a href="#fn" id="link_Amos.5.17!f.1" class="notelink f-link">+</a> because I will punish you.I, the Lord, have spoken!<h3 class="s1">When the Lord Judges</h3>18You look forward to the daywhen the Lord comes to judge.But you are in for trouble!It won't be a time of sunshine;all will be darkness.19You will run from a lion,only to meet a bear.You will escape to your house,rest your hand on the wall,and be bitten by a snake.20The day when the Lord judgeswill be dark, very dark,without a ray of light.<h3 class="s1">What the Lord Demands</h3>21<a href="#fn" id="link_Amos.5.21!x.1" class="notelink x-link"></a> I, the Lord, hate and despiseyour religious celebrationsand your times of worship.22I won't accept your offeringsor animal sacrifices—not even your very best.23No more of your noisy songs!I won't listenwhen you play your harps.24But let justice and fairnessflow like a riverthat never runs dry.25<a href="#fn" id="link_Amos.5.25!x.1" class="notelink x-link"></a> Israel, for forty yearsyou wandered in the desert,without bringing offeringsor sacrifices to me.26Now you will have to carrythe two idols you made—Sakkuth, the one you call king,and Kaiwan, the one you builtin the shape of a star.<a href="#fn" id="link_Amos.5.26!f.1" class="notelink f-link">+</a> 27I will force you to marchas captives beyond Damascus.I, the Lord God All-Powerful,have spoken!<a href="#fn" id="link_Amos.5.27!f.1" class="notelink f-link">+</a> </div> </div> <a name="fn"></a> Footnotes: <note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">5.5 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Gilgal … Bethel … Beersheba: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">These were ancient places of worship, but the <char style="nd">Lord</char> had warned his people to stay away from them.</char></note> <note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">5.5 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Gilgal … nothing: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">In Hebrew “Gilgal” and “dragged away” sound something alike. Bethel (meaning “house of God”) is sometimes called “house of nothing” or “house of sin” by the prophets (see Hosea 4.15; 5.8; 10.5-8).</char></note> <note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">5.6 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">descendants of Joseph: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Another name for the people of the northern kingdom of Israel.</char></note> <note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">5.8 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">the stars … place: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The Hebrew text mentions two groups of stars, Pleiades and Orion. Since the <char style="nd">Lord</char> is the Creator of the stars, he controls the seasons that are signaled by the different positions of the stars. Moreover, the stars are created objects and should not be worshiped.</char></note> <note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">5.15 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">your people: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew “Joseph's descendants” (see the note at 5.6).</char></note> <note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">5.16 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">paid to mourn: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">In ancient times some people were paid to mourn and make loud cries at funerals.</char></note> <note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">5.17 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Your vineyards … weeping: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Instead of happy celebrations that were often held in vineyards after the harvest.</char></note> <note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">5.26 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">star: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 26.</char></note> <note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">5.27 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">I, the <char style="nd">Lord</char> … spoken: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Israel did not offer sacrifices and gifts to the <char style="nd">Lord</char> during the time they wandered through the desert. But now they have made idols to carry during their ceremonies. So the <char style="nd">Lord</char> warns that he will make them “march” away as captives beyond Damascus, where Israel had extended its borders by victories in war (see 2 Kings 14.28).</char></note></div></div> <div align="center">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®) © 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. Bible text from the Contemporary English Version 2nd Edition (CEV®) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (<a href="http://www.americanbible.org">www.americanbible.org</a>). Learn more at <a href="http://www.cev.bible">www.cev.bible</a>. 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