The Bible

 

Amos 5

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1 Hear this word, a lamentation, which I take up against you, O house of Israel.

2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more arise: she is cast down upon her land; there is none to raise her up.

3 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred shall have ten left, for the house of Israel.

4 For thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel: Seek ye me, and ye shall live.

5 And seek not Bethel, neither go to Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.

6 Seek Jehovah, 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 Bethel.

7 Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth,

8 [seek him] that made the Pleiades 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: Jehovah is his name.

9 He causeth destruction to break forth suddenly upon the strong, and bringeth destruction upon the fortress.

10 They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

11 Forasmuch, therefore, as ye trample upon the poor, and take from him presents of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, and ye shall not drink the wine of them.

12 For I know how manifold are your transgressions and your sins mighty: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside [the right of] the needy in the gate.

13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in this time; for it is an evil time.

14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so Jehovah, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye say.

15 Hate evil, and love good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all broadways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! alas! And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.

17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah.

18 Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! To what end is the day of Jehovah for you? It shall be darkness and not light:

19 as if a man fled 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.

20 Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

21 I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will not smell [a sweet odour] in your solemn assemblies.

22 For if ye offer up unto me burnt-offerings and your oblations, I will not accept [them]; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fatted beasts.

23 Take away from me the noise of thy songs, and I will not hear the melody of thy lutes;

24 but let judgment roll down as waters, and righteousness as an ever-flowing stream.

25 Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and oblations in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

26 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of your Moloch, and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye had made to yourselves;

27 and I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts.

   

The Bible

 

Hosea 4

Study

   

1 Hear the word of Jehovah, ye children of Israel; for Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land; for there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.

2 Swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, -- they break out; and blood toucheth blood.

3 For this shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens, yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

4 Yet let no man strive, and let no man reprove; for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.

5 And thou shalt stumble by day; and the prophet also shall stumble with thee by night: and I will destroy thy mother.

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; for thou hast rejected knowledge, and I will reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me; seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.

7 As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me: I will change their glory into shame.

8 They eat the sin of my people, and their soul longeth for their iniquity.

9 And it shall be as the people so the priest; and I will visit their ways upon them, and recompense to them their doings;

10 and they shall eat, and not have enough; they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: for they have left off taking heed to Jehovah.

11 Fornication, and wine, and new wine take away the heart.

12 My people ask counsel of their stock, and their staff declareth unto them; for the spirit of whoredoms causeth [them] to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God:

13 they sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oak and poplar and terebinth, because the shade thereof is good; therefore your daughters play the harlot and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.

14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot, nor your daughters-in-law for their committing adultery; for they themselves go aside with harlots, and they sacrifice with prostitutes: and the people that doth not understand shall come to ruin.

15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, let not Judah trespass; and come ye not unto Gilgal, neither go up to Beth-aven, nor swear [As] Jehovah liveth!

16 For Israel is refractory as an untractable heifer; now will Jehovah feed them as a lamb in a wide [pasture].

17 -- Ephraim is joined to idols: leave him alone.

18 Their drink is sour; they give themselves up to whoredom; her great men passionately love [their] shame.

19 The wind hath wrapped her up in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.

   

Commentary

 

Cities

  

Cities of the mountain and cities of the plain (Jeremiah 33:13) signify doctrines of charity and faith.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 2418)