Amos 5:4-6

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

“Seek me ²  so you can live!

5:5 Do not seek Bethel! ³ 

Do not visit Gilgal!

Do not journey down ⁴  to Beer Sheba!

For the people of Gilgal ⁵  will certainly be carried into exile; ⁶ 

and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds.” ⁷ 

5:6 Seek the Lord so you can live!

Otherwise he will break out ⁸  like fire against Joseph’s ⁹  family; ¹⁰ 

the fire ¹¹  will consume

and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. ¹² 

Zefanya 2:2-3

2:2 before God’s decree becomes reality ¹³  and the day of opportunity disappears like windblown chaff, ¹⁴ 

before the Lord’s raging anger ¹⁵  overtakes ¹⁶  you –

before the day of the Lord’s angry judgment overtakes you!

2:3 Seek the Lord’s favor, ¹⁷  all you humble people ¹⁸  of the land who have obeyed his commands! ¹⁹ 

Strive to do what is right! ²⁰  Strive to be humble! ²¹ 

Maybe you will be protected ²²  on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.

[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.

[5:5]  ³ sn Ironically, Israel was to seek after the Lord, but not at Bethel (the name Bethel means “the house of God” in Hebrew).

[5:5]  map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[5:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “cross over.”

[5:5]  sn To worship at Beer Sheba, northern worshipers had to journey down (i.e., cross the border) between Israel and Judah. Apparently, the popular religion of Israel for some included pilgrimage to holy sites in the South.

[5:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “For Gilgal.” By metonymy the place name “Gilgal” is used instead of referring directly to the inhabitants. The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:5]  ⁶ tn In the Hebrew text the statement is emphasized by sound play. The name “Gilgal” sounds like the verb גָּלָה (galah, “to go into exile”), which occurs here in the infinitival + finite verb construction (גָּלֹה יִגְלֶה, galoh yigleh). The repetition of the “ג” (g) and “ל” (l) sounds draws attention to the announcement and suggests that Gilgal’s destiny is inherent in its very name.

[5:5]  sn That the people of Gilgal would be taken into exile is ironic, for Gilgal was Israel’s first campsite when the people entered the land under Joshua and the city became a symbol of Israel’s possession of the promised land.

[5:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “disaster,” or “nothing”; NIV “Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”

[5:5]  sn Again there is irony. The name Bethel means “house of God” in Hebrew. How surprising and tragic that Bethel, the “house of God” where Jacob received the inheritance given to Abraham, would be overrun by disaster.

[5:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “rush.” The verb depicts swift movement.

[5:6]  ⁹ sn Here Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[5:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “house.”

[5:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:6]  ¹² tn Heb “to/for Bethel.” The translation assumes that the preposition indicates advantage, “on behalf of.” Another option is to take the preposition as vocative, “O Bethel.”

[2:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “before the giving birth of a decree.” For various alternative readings, see J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 187-88.

[2:2]  ¹⁴ tn The second half of the line reads literally, “like chaff it passes by a day.” The translation above assumes the “day” is the brief time God is giving the nation to repent. The comparison of this quickly passing opportunity to chaff is consistent with the straw imagery of v. 1.

[2:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the fury of the anger of the Lord.” The synonyms are combined to emphasize the extreme degree of the Lord’s anger.

[2:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “comes upon.” This phrase occurs twice in this verse.

[2:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “seek the Lord,” but “favor” seems to be implied from the final line of the verse.

[2:3]  ¹⁸ tn Or “poor.” The precise referent of this Hebrew term is unclear. The word may refer to the economically poor or to the spiritually humble.

[2:3]  ¹⁹ tn The present translation assumes the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) here refers to God’s covenantal requirements and is a synonym for the Law. The word can mean “justice” and could refer more specifically to the principles of justice contained in the Law. In this case the phrase could be translated, “who have promoted the justice God demands.”

[2:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Seek what is right.”

[2:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “Seek humility.”

[2:3]  ²² tn Heb “hidden.” Cf. NEB “it may be that you will find shelter”; NRSV “perhaps you may be hidden.”