Amos 5
1Hear this word, O house of Israel, this lamentation I take up against you: 2“Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again. She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise her up.” 3This is what the Lord GOD says: “The city that marches out a thousand strong will only see a hundred return, and the one that marches out a hundred strong will have but ten left in the house of Israel.” 4For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live! 5Do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal; do not journey to Beersheba, for Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing. 6Seek the LORD and live, or He will sweep like fire through the house of Joseph; it will devour everything, with no one at Bethel to extinguish it. 7There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground. 8He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth— the LORD is His name— 9He flashes destruction on the strong, so that fury comes upon the stronghold. 10There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity. 11Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted. 12For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate. 13Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil. 14Seek good, not evil, so that you may live. And the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed. 15Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.” 16Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: “There will be wailing in all the public squares and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets. The farmer will be summoned to mourn, and the mourners to wail. 17There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” says the LORD. 18Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light. 19It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake. 20Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it? 21“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. 22Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard. 23Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. 24But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. 25Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 26You have taken along Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star god, the idols you made for yourselves. 27Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.
Life is short. Where are you going?
You just read God’s own words, and one day every one of us will stand before Him. “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). This life will be over sooner than you think — do you know where you are going when it is?
The Bible says, “Man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). If you died today, would you be ready?
Are you a good person?
Most of us think we are. But God doesn’t measure us against other people — He measures us by His Law. Look honestly at the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3–17):
- You shall have no other gods before Me.
- You shall not make for yourself an idol.
- You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
- Honor your father and mother.
- You shall not murder.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not bear false witness.
- You shall not covet.
Have you ever told a lie — even a small one? Have you ever taken something that wasn’t yours? Have you ever used God’s name as a curse word? Have you ever wanted what belongs to someone else? Jesus said that anyone who looks with lust “has already committed adultery … in his heart” (Matthew 5:28), and the Bible says “everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15).
If we’re honest, we have all broken God’s Law — and “whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). “There is no one righteous, not even one … there is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10–12).
That leaves every one of us guilty before a holy God. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and “whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). This is why our world is full of tragedy — and without Christ, every life ends in the greatest tragedy of all.
But God made a way
“God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Jesus lived the perfect life we never could, and on the cross He took the punishment we deserved: “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Three days later He rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3–4).
It’s like standing guilty in court when the judge steps down and pays your fine himself. Forgiveness is a free gift — you can’t earn it: “It is by grace you have been saved through faith … it is the gift of God, not by works” (Ephesians 2:8–9). “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.” Jesus — John 10:10
What will you do with Jesus?
“Repent and believe in the gospel!” (Mark 1:15). Turn from your sin, and put your trust in Jesus alone — “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Don’t put it off — “now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
And when you turn to Him, you won’t be met with a frown — you’ll be met with a celebration. Jesus said, “there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). God says, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live” (Ezekiel 33:11). He is “mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness … He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). Like the father who ran to embrace his lost son, He is waiting with open arms — and heaven throws a party when you come home (Luke 15:20–24).
If you died today, where would you spend eternity? Today you can be forgiven, made new, and have real, abundant life — now and forever.
Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), which is in the public domain.