A Lament for Israel
She will rise no more.
She lies forsaken on her land;
There is no one to raise her up.
“The city that goes out by a thousand
Shall have a hundred left,
And that which goes out by a hundred
Shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”
A Call to Repentance
Nor enter Gilgal,
Nor pass over to bBeersheba;
For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,
And cBethel shall come to nothing.
Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
And devour it,
With no one to quench it in Bethel—
He turns the shadow of death into morning
bAnd makes the day dark as night;
He ccalls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth;
dThe Lord is His name.
And take grain1 taxes from him,
Though byou have built houses of hewn stone,
Yet you shall not dwell in them;
You have planted1 pleasant vineyards,
But you shall not drink wine from them.
And your mighty sins:
bAfflicting the just and taking bribes;
cDiverting the poor from justice at the gate.
That you may live;
So the Lord God of hosts will be with you,
aAs you have spoken.
Establish justice in the gate.
bIt may be that the Lord God of hosts
Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
The Day of the Lord
“There shall be wailing in all streets,
And they shall say in all the highways,
‘Alas! Alas!’
They shall call the farmer to mourning,
aAnd skillful lamenters to wailing.
For what good is bthe day of the Lord to you?
It will be darkness, and not light.
And a bear met him!
Or as though he went into the house,
Leaned his hand on the wall,
And a serpent bit him!
Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?
I will not accept them,
Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
And Chiun, your idols,
The star of your gods,
Which you made for yourselves.
Says the Lord, bwhose name is the God of hosts.
| << Amos 4:13 | Amos 5:2 >> |
Amos 5:1
In order to impress Israel the more, Amos begins this his third appeal by a "dirge" over its destruction, mourning over those who were full of joy, and thought themselves safe and enviable. As if a living man, in the midst of his pride and luxury and buoyant recklessness of heart, could see his own funeral procession, and hear, as it were, over himself the "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust." It would give solemn thoughts, even though he should impatiently put them from him. So must it to Israel, when after the tide of victories of Jeroboam II, Amos said, "Hear this word which I am lifting up," as a heavy weight, to cast it down "against" or "upon you," a funeral "dirge," O house of Israel. Human greatness is so unstable, human strength so fleeting, that the prophet of decay finds a response in man' s own conscience, however he may silence or resent it. He would not resent it, unless he felt its force.
Dionysius: "Amos, an Israelite, mourneth over Israel, as Samuel did over Saul I Samuel 15:35, or as Isaiah says, "I will weep bitterly; labor not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people" Isaiah 22:4; images of Him who wept over Jerusalem." "So are they bewailed, who know not why they are bewailed, the more miserable, because they know not their own misery."
Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Amos 5:1:
| << Amos 4:13 | Amos 5:2 >> |
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