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Am.5:1. Hear the word of the Lord, for whom I accept your weeping: the house of Israel has fallen, and whosoever has not the strength to rise. Am.5:2. The maiden of Israel was cast down in her land, there was no one to raise her up. The Lord, out of his love for mankind, does not refuse to compose a lamentable song about those who are ill-disposed towards Him and do not want to repent. What was said: “whoever is not allowed to rise” does not contradict the gospel of liberation; for it means that the Israelites will no longer govern themselves and have their own king. And if anyone wants to understand more precisely, he will find the fulfillment of this after their frantic uprising against our Savior. For then they fell and remain in this state to this day. He calls Israel a virgin for her former piety, but a fallen and corrupted virgin - for later serving idols. The words: “there is no one who resists” mean that Israel will not use any human help. When the God of all things confronted Israel, neither the king of Egypt nor anyone else was able to protect them. God also foretells their future small number. For he says: Am.5:3. From a city that has come out of a worthless thousand, a hundred will remain in it; and from a worthless city that has come a hundred, ten will remain in it. Am.5:5. But do not seek Bethel, and do not enter Gilgal, and do not go to the storehouse of oaths, for Gilgal will be taken captive, and Bethel will be as if it were not But although it is too late, having finally left Bethel and Gilgal and the service of idols at the “treasury of the oath,” seek My providence for you; for in this you will find life for yourself; and Bethel and Gilgal, together with the idols, will be handed over to the enemies. It is obvious madness in this treasure trove, not only not to bring to mind Abraham’s piety, but also to dare to commit wickedness in the presence of it. Am.5:6. Seek the Lord, and live, so that the house of Joseph will not be kindled like a fire, and the house of Israel will not be quenched. From this we clearly understand that sin ignites the fire of disasters for us, but love and commitment to God brings us life. Am.5:7. Lord bring judgment on high and place righteousness on earth As a truthful one, you determine what He pleases, and the decisions of His judgment come to fruition on earth. Amos 5:8–9. Create and transform everything, and turn into the morning the shadow of death, and darken the day into night: they called for the water of the sea, and poured it out on the face of the earth: The Lord God Almighty is His name: Place your trust in the power of God, do not abandon this hope: God easily creates and implements what He pleases; It is easy for Him to turn great dangers into a reason for complacency (for the Prophet called great dangers “the shadow of death”); It is convenient for Him to bring those who are prosperous into a difficult state. And drawing sea water into the air with a wave, He irrigates the earth from the clouds; because He is God and Lord of all. divide contrition into the fortress, and bring disaster upon the stronghold. With great convenience he brings the weak to the former fortress, and consigns the strong to disaster. Am.5:10. You hate the one who punishes at the gates, and you abhor the word of the righteous. The ancients, as some say, had a custom of holding meetings and sessions at the city gates. Therefore, where these meetings took place, there the Prophets also uttered reproofs. But those living in untruths and iniquities did not heed the reproof of the truth and did not accept the words of the righteous. Therefore, since you did this, and moreover, you inflicted insults on those living in poverty with your hand and tongue, loving bribery, and tried to increase wealth in evil ways, then know that you will not live in the houses that you built and decorated so well and beautifully, and you will not reap the fruits in the vineyards that you planted with such great care. The excess of wickedness and lawlessness will deprive you of enjoying this; because you trampled the truth, accepting gifts from the powerful and condemning the poor in court. Am.5:13. For this reason, understand at that time he will remain silent, for time is evil. Every reasonable person, capable of understanding what is due, seeing the cloud of disasters befalling you, marveling in amazement at the untruthfulness of the prediction, will not be able to tell you anything out of grief. That's why: Amos 5:14–15. Seek good and not evil, so that you may live, and so the Lord God Almighty will be with you: as you rest: you have hated the evil, and loved the good: and set up judgment at the gates, so that the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the one who has abandoned Joseph. Let deeds follow words; saying that you love what is good and abhor wickedness, prove the truth of these words by your very deeds; because by doing this you will receive life from the God of all. And if this is not done by you; crying and sobbing will be heard on the haystacks and paths, and farmers, instead of cultivating the land, will indulge in lamentable cries. Nevertheless, this will happen as soon as I come and impose these punishments. Am.5:18. Alas, for those who long for the day of the Lord! What do you want this day of the Lord? This is darkness, not light. Since there were people brought up in audacity and self-confidence who disputed the prophetic prophecies, laughing at them, calling the words of God false and demanding the fulfillment of the prophecies, the Lord calls them worthy of mourning, as those who desired to see darkness instead of light. Those who want to see the fulfillment of the prophecy, He says, are no different from a man who escaped from an attacking lion, but after him meets a bear, then with fear he took refuge in his house, in the confusion that worries his soul, carelessly leans his hand on the wall, and is bitten by a fierce snake. Just as this person will see darkness on that day, and not a ray of light, so on the day of punishment they will be given over to deep darkness. Amos 5:21–23. I have hated and rejected your holidays, and I do not smell the sacrifices in your hosts: even if you offer Me your burnt offerings and sacrifices, I will not accept, and I will not despise your saving manifestation. Leave the voice of your songs away from Me, and the songs of your organs, I will not listen. The Lord God spoke to them through the mouth of Isaiah: “What is the multitude of your sacrifices? Says the Lord, “I am full of burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of lambs, and the blood of younglings and goats, I do not desire” (Isaiah 1:11), and in the words that follow he lists everything brought to Him according to the law, saying that he abhors all of these equally. So here he said that he hates holidays and will not accept sacrifices made “in the host,” for it is said: “I do not smell,” instead of: “I do not accept.” So blessed Moses said that even under Noah “the Lord God smelled the aroma of fragrance” (Gen. 7:8, 21), that is, he praised the intention of those who brought it; because God has no need for sacrifices. Even those who make sacrifices for their own salvation will not be worthy, says God, of My appearance. Therefore, stop both singing and using musical instruments; because I do not enjoy them; and in the beginning he commanded this to happen only in order to raise you to the highest through the pleasant. Amos 5:24–26. A court will collapse like water, and the truth is like a watercourse that is impassable. The food of the slaughter and the demands brought to the house of Israel in the wilderness for forty years? And you took the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Remphan, the images that you created for yourself. A truthful sentence pronounced on you, like a stream and strong water, will bring punishment on you, and you will not be able to find your way out. Remind yourself that while you were in the wilderness for forty years, you did not offer sacrifices to Me during worship; but even there they showed wickedness, making all sorts of images of idols and serving all these images and some stars, because Moloch and Remphan are the names of idols. The Prophet mentioned Moloch at the beginning of his prophecies. For this reason: Am.5:27. I will exile you beyond Damascus, says the Lord: God Almighty is His name. because it was difficult for the Syrians neighboring them to endure slavery; then, wanting to frighten with this prediction, he predicts a more distant slavery, meaning slavery to the Assyrians. And blessed Stephen, explaining this in Acts, said: “I will carry you beyond Babylon” (Acts 7:43).