- 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.
- 4 For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
- 5But seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el 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 Beth-el.
- 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?
- 21 I 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
AMOS 5
Read the chapter, follow a linked verse, and continue into related Watchman 33 teaching.
CHAPTER VISUAL
Amos 5 — Seek Good and Let Justice Roll Down.
About this illustration
The composition centers seek good and let justice roll down as the chapter’s defining visual. It keeps judgment non-graphic, reserves a quiet title area, and avoids written words and any bodily depiction of God.
Scripture basis: Amos 5:1–27King James Version · Standardized 1769 text with Strong’s numbering · Public domain outside the United Kingdom
EXPLORE THE MESSAGE
Related Watchman 33 Resources
Archaeological Evidence
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCEArtifact
Iron Age II, dismantled by the late eighth century BC
The Beersheba Horned Altar
Reused ashlar blocks from Tel Beersheba can be reassembled into a monumental four-horned altar, proving that a provincial Judahite center maintained substantial sacrificial architecture while leaving the reason, date, and royal sponsor of its dismantling uncertain.
Amos 5:5 · Amos 8:14 · 2 Kings 18:3–4
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCEArchitecture
Ninth–eighth centuries BC
The Planned Iron Age City at Tel Beer-sheba
Beer-sheba's compact gate, concentric streets, houses, storehouses, water system, and dismantled horned altar expose Judahite administration and cult at the desert frontier without identifying a biblical reformer.
2 Kings 23:8 · Amos 5:4–6 · Amos 8:13–14
ARCHAEOLOGY EVIDENCEManuscript
Last third of the first century BC (early Herodian bookhand, approximately 35–1 BC)
4Q Minor Prophets (4Q82)
4Q82 preserves portions of at least nine books of the Twelve in one late Second Temple Hebrew scroll, witnessing both the collection's continuity and a scribe who sometimes clarified, harmonized, or stylistically adjusted the text.
Amos 5:11–15 · Jonah 1:1–9 · Micah 4:1–2
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In “Church History & Function #12 - The Key of David - Heart of Worship,” Pastor Dean Odle presents a Scripture-centered message about worship, David’s example, the condition of the church. Drawing especially from Revelation 3, Deuteronomy 21, Psalm 80, Psalm 90, the teaching emphasizes that true worship centers on God and is expressed through reverence, surrender, and obedience. Odle connects that foundation with the conviction that David’s choices are used to examine leadership, testing, repentance, and renewed dependence on God.
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View sermon Showing 1–3 of 4 sermons