Amos 5:4

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

“Seek me ²  so you can live!

Amos 5:17

5:17 In all the vineyards there will be wailing,

for I will pass through ³  your midst,” says the Lord.

[5:4]  ¹ tn Heb “house.”

[5:4]  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.

[5:17]  ³ sn The expression pass through your midst alludes to Exod 12:12, where the Lord announced he would “pass through” Egypt and bring death to the Egyptian firstborn.