Seek Me and Live...1
"Seek the lord and live.
Lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph.
And devour it...
The Lord is His name, he rains ruin upon the strong...
You hate the one who rebukes you in the gate.
You abhor the one who speaks uprightly.
Therefore you tread the poor
and take taxes from him.
Though you have built houses of hewn stone you will not dwell in them.
You have planted pleasant vineyards but you will not drink wine from them.
For I know your manifold transgressions
and your mighty sins.
You afflict the just and take bribes.
You divert the poor from justice at the gate.
Seek good and not evil that you may live;
So the Lord of hosts will be with you.
As you have spoken,
Hate evil and love good,
Establish justice in the gate.
It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
For what good is the day of the Lord to you?
It will be darkness, and not light.
It will be as though a man fled from a lion,
And a bear met him...
I hate, despise your feast days
I do not savor your sacred assembly
Though you offer me your offerings I will not accept them, your peace offerings.
Take away from me the noise of your song,
for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
But let justice rain down like water
And righteousness like almighty stream".2
"For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible, who can endure it?
Turn to me with all your heart
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning
So rend your heart and not your garments
Return to the Lord your God
For he is gracious and merciful
Slow to anger and of great kindness
And he relents from doing harm...3
Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said:
“Behold, I am setting a plumb line
In the midst of My people Israel;
I will not pass by them anymore.
The high places of Isaac shall be desolate,
And the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste.
I will rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam.”
Behold, a basket of summer fruit. And He said, “Amos, what do you see?” So I said, “A basket of summer fruit.”Then the Lord said to me: “The end has come upon My people Israel;
I will not pass by them anymore.
And the songs of the temple
Shall be wailing in that day,”
Says the Lord God—
Hear this, you who swallow up the needy, And make the poor of the land fail.,,,
Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom,
And I will destroy it from the face of the earth;
Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
Says the Lord.
“For surely I will command,
And will sift the house of Israel among all nations,
As grain is sifted in a sieve;
Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground.
All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword,
On that day I will raise up
The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,
And repair its damages;
I will raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
That they may possess the remnant of mankind,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,
Says the Lord who does this thing.