Amos
Chapter 5
LAMENTATION FOR ISRAEL
Lament for the House of Israel
Listen to these words, this lament I pronounce over you, nation of Israel:
“Virgin Israel is fallen, never to rise again! With none to help her up, abandoned, she lies upon her own land.”
For the Lord says this: “The city that went forth to war a thousand strong shall be left with a hundred, and that which went forth with a hundred shall be left with ten in Israel.”
For the Lord says this to the nation of Israel: “Seek me, that you may live,
but not in Bethel; nor come to Gilgal; nor pass through to Beersheba. For Gilgal shall be led into exile and Bethel brought to nothing.”
Seek the Lord so that you may live; otherwise, he will rush like fire upon the nation of Joseph, and no one will be at Bethel to quench the blaze.
First Woe: Justice in the Courts
Woe to those who issue bitterness instead of justice and trample on rights!
He who created the Pleiades and Orion, who changes dusk to dawn and turns the day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them out over the earth —the Lord is His name.
He unleashes destruction upon the strong and brings ruin to the fortified city.
You hate those who rebuke in court; you despise those who speak the truth.
Because you have oppressed the poor and collected unjust taxes on their grain, even though you have built mansions with cut stone, you will not live in them; even though you have planted fine vineyards, you will not drink their wine.
For I know the number of your crimes and how grievous your sins are: persecuting the righteous, accepting bribes, turning away the needy at the gates.
See how the wise remain silent during this time, for it is an evil time.
Seek good and avoid evil, so that you may live. Then the Lord, the God of hosts, as you have claimed, will be with you.
Hate wickedness and love virtue, and let justice prevail in the courts; perhaps the Lord, the God of hosts,will take pity on the remnant of Joseph.
The Lord, God of hosts, says: “In every square, wailing will be heard; in every street, cries of anguish. Farmers will be called to mourn, and professional mourners to weep loudly.
There will be lamentation in every vineyard, for I will pass through your midst, says the Lord.”
Second Woe: Worship and Justice
Woe to you who long for the Lord’s day! Why do you desire that day? It will be a day of darkness, not of dawn,
as if a man flees from a lion only to run into a bear; or as if he enters his house, rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a viper.
The day of the Lord will be dark, not light, filled with gloom and lacking any brightness.
“I hate, I reject your feasts, I take no pleasure when you assemble
to offer me your burnt offerings. Your cereal offerings, I will not accept! Your offerings of fattened beasts, I will not look upon!
Remove the noise of your chanting and your harp strumming.
But let justice flow like water, and righteousness be like an endless river.
Did you, Israel, bring me offerings and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness?
But now, you lift up King Sukuth and Kaiwan, your idols, which you made yourselves.
Therefore, I will send you into exile, beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is God of hosts.
Commentaries
Title.
This section explains why the northern kingdom will be judged. The first three oracles start with the phrase “Hear this word” (3:1; 4:1; 5:1). These are followed by three “woes” as warnings (5:7; 5:18; 6:1) to those who refuse to listen.
Lament for the House of Israel.
The prophet calls on the people to mourn their coming death in advance, even though, at that time, during the reign of Jeroboam II, Israel was still enjoying prosperity and political stability. The judgment of the people is imminent, but the Lord invites individuals to seek Him and live (6). “The house of Joseph” refers to the northern kingdom, the region inhabited by the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of the patriarch Joseph.
First Woe: Justice in the Courts.
The “woes” are a warning about the judgment that will fall on those who keep on sinning. In this first case, justice has become “poison” (7) because judges ignore the truthful witness (10) and “trample on the poor” (11). God states that they will not enjoy what they have gained through usury and bribery (11-12). Verses 8-9 are a doxology that shows the Almighty as both creator and destroyer.
Second Woe: Worship and Justice.
The prophet warns against the false hope that the day of the Lord will bring a miraculous intervention by God to exalt His people and defeat their enemies. Instead, it will be a dark day for Israel from which there will be no escape. The outward act of offering sacrifices and burnt offerings must stem from the relationship established by the covenant, where love for God and love for neighbor are inherently connected (cf. Ps 51:17). Ironically, the prophet states that idolatry will continue even during the deportation that the northern tribes will endure after the Assyrian conquest in 721 BC (26-27).