Amos 5:4-6

5:4 The Lord says this to the family ¹  of Israel:

“Seek me ²  so you can live!

5:5 Do not seek Bethel! ³ 

Do not visit Gilgal!

Do not journey down ⁴  to Beer Sheba!

For the people of Gilgal ⁵  will certainly be carried into exile; ⁶ 

and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds.” ⁷ 

5:6 Seek the Lord so you can live!

Otherwise he will break out ⁸  like fire against Joseph’s ⁹  family; ¹⁰ 

the fire ¹¹  will consume

and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. ¹² 

Amos 5:14-15

5:14 Seek good and not evil so you can live!

Then the Lord, the God who commands armies, just might be with you,

as you claim he is.

5:15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right!

Promote ¹³  justice at the city gate! ¹⁴ 

Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on ¹⁵  those who are left from ¹⁶  Joseph. ¹⁷ 

¹ tn Heb “house.”

² sn The following verses explain what it meant to seek the Lord. Israel was to abandon the mere formalism and distorted view of God and reality that characterized religious activity at the worship sites, as well as the social injustice that permeated Israelite society. Instead the people were to repent and promote justice in the land. This call to seek the Lord echoes the challenge in 4:13 to prepare to meet him as he truly is.

³ sn Ironically, Israel was to seek after the Lord, but not at Bethel (the name Bethel means “the house of God” in Hebrew).

⁴ tn Heb “cross over.”

⁵ tn Heb “For Gilgal.” By metonymy the place name “Gilgal” is used instead of referring directly to the inhabitants. The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁶ tn In the Hebrew text the statement is emphasized by sound play. The name “Gilgal” sounds like the verb גָּלָה (galah, “to go into exile”), which occurs here in the infinitival + finite verb construction (גָּלֹה יִגְלֶה, galoh yigleh). The repetition of the “ג” (g) and “ל” (l) sounds draws attention to the announcement and suggests that Gilgal’s destiny is inherent in its very name.

⁷ tn Heb “disaster,” or “nothing”; NIV “Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”

⁸ tn Heb “rush.” The verb depicts swift movement.

⁹ sn Here Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

¹⁰ tn Heb “house.”

¹¹ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹² tn Heb “to/for Bethel.” The translation assumes that the preposition indicates advantage, “on behalf of.” Another option is to take the preposition as vocative, “O Bethel.”

¹³ tn Heb “set up, establish.” In the ancient Near East it was the responsibility especially of the king to establish justice. Here the prophet extends that demand to local leaders and to the nation as a whole (cf. 5:24).

¹⁴ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate (see the note in v. 12). This repetition of this phrase serves to highlight a deliberate contrast to the injustices cited in vv. 11-13.

¹⁵ tn Or “will show favor to.”

¹⁶ tn Or “the remnant of” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “what’s left of your people.”

¹⁷ sn Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.