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英文原文
The scope of this chapter is to prosecute the exhortation given to Israel in the close of the foregoing chapter to prepare to meet their God; the prophet here tells them, I. What preparation they must make; they must "seek the Lord," and not seek any more to idols (Am 5:4-8); they must seek good, and love it, Am 5:14,15. II. Why they must make this preparation to meet their God, 1. Because of the present deplorable condition they were in, Am 5:1-3. 2. Because it was by sin that they were brought into such a condition, Am 5:7,10-12. 3. Because it would be their happiness to seek God, and he was ready to be found of them, Am 5:8,9,14. 4. Because he would proceed, in his wrath, to their utter ruin, if they did not seek him, Am 5:5,6,13,16,17. 5. Because all their confidences would fail them if they did not seek unto God, and make him their friend. (1.) Their profane contempt of God's judgments, and setting them at defiance, would not secure them, Am 5:18-20. (2.) Their external services in religion, and the shows of devotion, would not avail to turn away the wrath of God, Am 5:21-24. (3.) Their having been long in possession of church-privileges, and in a course of holy duties, would not be their protection, while all along they had kept up their idolatrous customs, Am 5:25-27. They have therefore no way left them to save themselves, but by repentance and reformation.
1-3
Invitations and Warnings (790 BC)
呼召與警告（主前790年）
¹ 以色列家啊，當聽我為你們所作的哀歌。
² 以色列民的女子跌倒，不得再起；躺在地上，無人攙扶。
³ 主耶和華如此說：以色列家啊，出一千兵的城只剩一百，出一百的只剩十個。
本章以當聽這話開始，正如前兩章一樣。神既有口說話，我們就當有耳可聽；這是我們的本分，也是我們的利益；然而大多數人如此遲鈍，以至於需要一再被呼召去聽耶和華的話，去聆聽、去留心。當聽這話。這使人知罪、使人甦醒的話，正如安慰和平安的話一樣，必須被聆聽和留意；那攻擊我們的話，正如那為我們的話一樣，都當聽；因為無論我們聽或不聽，神的話必發生效力，一點一畫也不落空。這是我所舉起的話——不僅是先知，更是差遣他的神。這是耶和華所說的話，Am 3:1。當聽的話是哀歌——對以色列國如今悲慘狀態的可悲陳述，以及對它將被徹底毀滅的可悲預言。他們的處境是悲哀的：以色列民的女子跌倒（Am 5:2），從她從前的地位落下；那國家雖不像童女那樣純潔貞淨，卻是華美嬌艷、富有魅力的；她自己高高在上，也被許多人如童女一般追求；但她跌倒在輕蔑和貧窮中，普受鄙視。不，他們的處境是無助的：她不得再起，再也不能恢復先前的尊嚴。神近來開始剪除以色列（2Ki 10:32），因他們不悔改，不久就將以色列砍倒了。1. 那當扶持他們的君王失去能力：她躺在自己的地上。不僅她所結盟的海外之友令她失望，連國內的朋友也離棄了她；她若不是先在自己地上被離棄、被摔在地上、一切真正利益被那些本當關心的人所拋棄，就不會被擄到異鄉。無人攙扶，無人能作，也無人願意伸出援手。2. 那當扶持他們的百姓數量減少，Am 5:3。「出兵一千的城，戰後檢閱只剩一百；出兵一百的城只剩十個回來——殺戮如此之大，為著公眾的安全和服事而留給以色列家的如此之少。」在當救這卑微、喪膽之國的手中，十人中幾乎無一人能逃脫。請注意，神屬靈的以色列在人數上因死亡或退後而減少，實在是值得哀痛的事；因為當他如此變為微小之時，雅各怎能興起呢？誰能修復敬虔的衰敗呢？
英文原文
Invitations and Warnings (790 BC)
¹ Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel.
² The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
³ For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave a hundred, and that which went forth by a hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.
This chapter begins, as those two next foregoing began, with, Hear this word. Where God has a mouth to speak we must have an ear to hear; it is our duty, it is our interest, yet so stupid are most men that they need to be again and again called upon to hear the word of the Lord, to give audience, to give attention. Hear this word. this convincing awakening word must be heard and heeded, as well as words of comfort and peace; the word that is taken up against us, as well as that which makes for us; for, whether we hear or forbear, the word of God shall take effect, and not a tittle of it shall fall to the ground. It is the word which I take up—not the prophet only, but the God that sent him. It is the word that the Lord has spoken, Am 3:1. The word to be heard is a lamentation, a lamentable account of the present calamitous state of the kingdom of Israel, and a lamentable prediction of its utter destruction. Their condition is sad: The virgin of Israel has fallen (Am 5:2), has come down from what she was; that state, though not pure and chaste as a virgin, yet was beautiful and gay, and had its charms; she looked high herself, and was courted by many as a virgin; but she has fallen into contempt and poverty, and is universally slighted. Nay, and their condition is helpless: She shall no more rise, shall never recover her former dignity again. God had lately begun to cut Israel short (2Ki 10:32), and, because they repented not, it was not long before he cut Israel down. 1. Their princes, that should have helped them up, were disabled: She is forsaken upon her land. Not only those she was in alliance with abroad failed her, but her friends at home deserted her; she would not have been carried captive into a strange land if she had not first been forsaken upon her own land and thrown to the ground there, and all her true interests abandoned by those that should have had them at heart. There is none to raise her up, none that can do it, not that cares to lend her a hand. 2. Their people, that should have helped them up, were diminished, Am 5:3. "The city that had a militia, 1000 strong, and, in the beginning of the war, had furnished out 1000 effective men, able-bodied and well-armed, when they come to review their troops after the battle, shall find but 100 left; and, in proportion, the city that sent out 100 shall have but ten come back, so great a slaughter shall be made, and so few left to the house of Israel for the public service and safety." Scarcely one in ten shall escape of the hands that should relieve this abject, this dejected, nation. Note, The lessening of the numbers of God's spiritual Israel, by death or desertion, is just a matter for lamentation; for by whom shall Jacob arise, by whom shall the decays of piety be repaired, when he is thus made small?
4-15
God's Message to Israel; The Aggravated Sins of Israel; Warnings and Exhortations; Exhortations and Encouragements (790 BC)
神給以色列的信息；以色列加重了的罪惡；警告與勸誡；勸誡與鼓勵（主前790年）
⁴ 因為耶和華對以色列家如此說：你們要尋求我，就必存活。
⁵ 不要往伯特利尋求，不要進入吉甲，不要過到別是巴；因為吉甲必被擄去，伯特利必歸於無有。
⁶ 要尋求耶和華，就必存活；免得祂如火在約瑟家中發出，吞滅它，在伯特利無人能撲滅。
⁷ 你們這些使公平變為茵蔯，將公義丟棄於地的，
⁸ 要尋求那造昴星和參星，使死蔭變為晨光，使白日變為黑夜，召海水澆在地面的——祂的名字是耶和華。
⁹ 祂使毀滅忽然臨到堅固城，使毀壞臨到堡壘。
¹⁰ 你們怨恨那在城門口責備人的，憎惡那說正直話的。
¹¹ 你們踐踏貧寒人，向他勒索麥子；你們用鑿過的石頭建造房屋，卻不得住在其內；栽種美好的葡萄園，卻不得喝其酒。
¹² 我知道你們的罪過何等多，你們的罪惡何等大。你們苦待義人，收受賄賂，在城門口屈枉窮乏人。
¹³ 所以通達人在這時必靜默無言，因為這是邪惡的時候。
¹⁴ 你們要求善，不要求惡，就必存活。這樣，耶和華萬軍之神必照你們所說的與你們同在。
¹⁵ 要惡惡好善，在城門口秉公行義；或者耶和華萬軍之神向約瑟所餘剩的施恩。
這是神給以色列家的信息，其中：
I. 他們被告知自己的過失，好叫他們看見有何悔改歸正的需要，在被召歸回之時就不必問：我們當從何事上歸回呢？
1. 神總的告訴他們（Am 5:12）：「我知道你們的罪過何等多，你們的罪惡何等大；你們也必被使知道。」我們在悔罪中反省罪惡時，必須如神在祂的審判性評語中、並在大日將要作的那樣，考慮：（1.）罪惡極其繁多；是我們的許多過犯，種類繁多、屢次重複的罪。我們裏面藏了多少虛妄污穢的意念！我們口中說了多少無益、愚昧、邪惡的話！我們在多少事上放縱並滿足了敗壞的食慾和情慾！我們又遺漏了多少本分、在本分中虧缺了多少！誰能明白自己的錯失呢？誰能知道自己得罪了多少次呢？神知道我們的過犯有多少——確切知道有多少；沒有一樣逃過祂的眼目；我們知道它們對我們來說多得無法數算，比頭髮還多；我們也當看見我們因許多的過犯——因我們日積月累無數的罪——把自己置於何等危險之中，又為悔改製造了多少工作。（2.）其中有些極其可惡；是我們的大罪惡；那些在其本性上罪大惡極、又是蓄意放膽而犯的罪，違背自然之光的罪，公然悖逆的罪，能壓倒你的良知、將審判引到身上的罪。
2. 祂特別指出這些大罪惡中的幾個。（1.）他們敗壞了對神的敬拜，轉向了偶像；這是Am 5:5所暗示的。他們尋求伯特利——那裏有一個金牛犢；他們常去吉甲——他們選擇在那裏設立偶像的地方，因為那地在約書亞時代因神向祂百姓奇妙顯現而聞名。別是巴——在族長時代聞名之地——如今也成了偶像的另一個聚集之處，如Am 8:14所見。他們雖遠在猶大地，仍過到那裏。他們既如此可恥地偏離神行淫，無疑理當感到自己當歸向祂。（2.）他們在他們中間顛倒是非（Am 5:7）：「你們使公平變為茵蔯」——就是使你們的司法變為苦澀可憎、為神人所深惡痛絕。那果子變成了雜草，園中的雜草；正如按公義正當施行審判，沒有比這更可敬、更有價值的，同樣，在行公義的幌子和藉口之下蓄意行惡，也沒有比這更有害、更可憎的。Corruptio optimi est pessima——最好的敗壞了，就成為最壞的。「你們將公義丟棄於地」，彷彿那些行惡的人只對天上的神負責，而不對地上的君王和審判官負責一般。這樣，就如洪水以前，那時地上滿了強暴。（3.）他們極力欺壓窮人，使他們更窮；他們踐踏窮人（Am 5:11），踐踏他們，欺凌他們，以他們為腳凳，對那些最恭順、最卑微的人最為蠻橫、最為野蠻；他們不管把那些窮人、那些不能從中得到任何利益的人置於何等羞辱和奴役之中。審判官所求無非使自己致富，所以他們從窮人那裏勒索麥子的重擔——或作賄賂、或作重利而勒索的。窮人除了獻上他們和家人本當賴以活命的穀物的馬馱之外，無法自救免被踐踏成泥，而他們竟強迫他們如此行。有人讀作：他們從窮人那裏收取麥子的債。那或許是法理上應付的租金或所借的穀物，但他們向那些因神的護理而無力償還的人嚴苛追討，如Ne 5:2,5。即使在索討和收回正當的債務時，我們也當小心，免得行事不義或缺乏愛心。他們又被控以這欺壓之罪（Am 5:12）：他們苦待義人，將律法和公義之劍的鋒刃轉向那些無辜在世上安靜的人；他們恨惡人，因為那些人比自己更義，那離惡的人反倒成了他們的獵物。他們從富人那裏收受賄賂，以庇護他們欺壓窮人，所以手中有錢的人必穩操勝券，無論他的案子多麼糟糕。如此他們在城門口屈枉窮乏人——在法庭中奪去他的權利。窮人若為自己的權利起訴，他不能賄賂，或因誠實而不肯賄賂，無論那權利多麼清楚、多麼接近，他都被不義的判決拒之門外，無法得著。所以通達人那時必靜默不言，Am 5:13。人被冤屈受屈之時，會認為靜默不作聲、不向官長投訴乃是明智之舉，因為這毫無用處；他們不能得到公義。（4.）他們惡意逼迫神忠心的僕人和百姓，Am 5:10。他們的心如此專注於行惡，以至於不能忍受責備——[1.] 不能忍受話語事奉的責備，即律法的宣讀和解釋，以及先知奉耶和華的名所傳的信息。他們怨恨那在城門口責備人的——在耶和華殿的門口，或在他們的法庭，或在人群聚集之處，在那裏智慧發出呼聲（Pr 1:21）。在城門口責備人的是按職責責備人的；他們恨惡這些人，視他們為仇敵，因為他們說實話，正如亞哈恨惡米該雅。他們不僅輕看他們，更對他們懷有敵意，企圖傷害他們。恨惡責備的，就是喜愛敗亡。[2.] 不能忍受誠實鄰舍的為人的責備。雖然情形普遍很壞，他們中間仍有一些說正直話的人——那些以所說的話為良心之事的人；這既是他們的讚美，也是那些說詭詐之話的人的羞恥，定了他們的罪，正如挪亞的信心定了當時世界的不信的罪，他們憎惡他們正是為此緣故。他們對所謂誠實這回事懷有如此深仇大恨，以至於不能忍受看見一個誠實人。凡是對人類共同利益稍有感覺的人，都會喜愛尊重那些說正直話的人，因為誠實是人類社會的紐帶；那些已將一切公義的觀念從自己心中驅逐、還要將它們從世上驅逐的人，他們的愚蠢和瘋狂到了何等地步——這樣就是把人類置於戰爭狀態之中，因為他們憎惡那說正直話的！也正因如此，通達人那時必靜默不言，Am 5:13。先知不能、也不敢靜默；他們所受的催逼不容他們按審慎的考量行事；他們必須大聲喊叫，不可止息。但其他明智良善的人必靜默不言，並以此為明智之舉，因為這是邪惡的時候。第一，他們會認為訴苦是危險的，所以靜默不言；他們苦待義人的方式之一，就是藉著誣告和牽強的暗諷，使人因一句話而成為有罪（Isa 29:21）；所以那些如同蛇一樣聰明的通達人，因為知道自己所說的話可能如何被曲解和誤傳，就謹慎到甚麼也不說的地步，免得自己陷入法網，因為這是邪惡的時候。請注意，因時代的邪惡，好人既被隱藏，也好靜默不言，而他們如此行乃是智慧；少說為妙，速改更好。但他們的安慰是，當不知能向誰坦然發言之時，仍可坦然向神發言。第二，他們會認為責備是無用的。他們看見惡事發生，心靈如保羅在雅典那樣激動；但他們認為明智之舉是不公開作證反對它，因為毫無用處。他們依附偶像，任憑他們吧。任人與鄰舍爭辯或責備；因為那不過是把珍珠丟在豬前。謹慎的人會對大膽責備的人說，如伊拉斯謨對路德所說的：「Abi in cellam, et dic, Miserere mei, Domine——回你的修道院去吧，呼喊：主啊，憐憫我！」把嚴肅的教訓和勸誡留給更好的人和更好的時候。而有靜默之時，也有說話之時，Ec 3:7。邪惡的時代不能容忍直言——就是邪惡的人不能容忍；而先知在此所說的人，有理由認為自己實在是邪惡的人，因為連智慧和良善的人都認為對他們說話是徒然的，並害怕與他們有任何瓜葛。
II. 他們被告知自己的危險，以及因罪而面臨何等審判。1. 他們拜偶像的地方有首先被毀的危險，Am 5:5。吉甲——拜偶像的總部——必被擄去，不僅居民，連偶像也是如此；而伯特利及其金牛犢必歸於無有。得勝的仇敵輕易就可奪取它——如此容易地被掠奪；又有效地使之歸於無有——如此徹底地被毀。偶像向來是虛無，是無有之物，當神起來廢除它們之時，就要證實如此。2. 全國也與它們同有被毀的危險，Am 5:6。有危險：你們若不及時尋求祂，祂要如火在約瑟家中發出，吞滅它；因為我們的神是公義的審判者，是烈火，以色列人作為罪犯在祂面前如同禾秸；那些使自己成為神怒氣之燃料的人有禍了。接著說：在伯特利無人能撲滅。他們的偶像在那裏，拜偶像的祭司也在那裏；他們把祭物帶到那裏，在那裏獻上禱告。但神告訴他們，當祂審判的火在他們身上點燃之時，他們在伯特利所事奉的一切神明都不能撲滅它，不能轉移審判，也不能在他們之下給予任何解救。如此，那些以世界為偶像的人，當神追討他們屬靈的偶像崇拜之時，將發現世界不足以保護他們。3. 他們以壓迫和勒索所得的必被奪去（Am 5:11）：「你們用鑿過的石頭建造房屋，以為可以長久；但你們不得住在其內，因為仇敵要將其焚毀，或自己佔據，或將你們擄去。你們栽種美好的葡萄園，設法使它各方面都令人滿意，指望在其中享受許多愉快的散步；但你們不得不離開，永不得喝其酒。」律法曾體恤地規定，人若建造房屋或栽種葡萄園，可以免役從軍，De 20:5-6。但如今情勢如此迫切，不能允許了；人人都須上陣，而那些最近才在建房栽植的人中必有許多倒在戰場，永遠享受不了他們勞碌所得。不以正當手段得來的，不能指望長久享受。
III. 他們被告知自己的本分，並大受鼓勵認真去行，也有充足的理由。這裏所吩咐的本分是敬虔和誠實——在向神的操練上認真，在對人的交往上公義；兩者都附有恰當的論據加以勸勉。
1. 他們在此被勸勉在向神的仰望上要真誠敬虔，Am 5:4。神對以色列家說：你們要尋求我，理由充分，因為百姓豈不尋求自己的神嗎？（Isa 8:19）除了他們的保護者，他們還能到哪裏去呢？以色列是與神較力得勝的王子；讓他的後裔如他一樣尋求耶和華，他們也必如此。如今為要如此行，他們必須放棄偶像崇拜。若非專一，就不是真正尋求神，因為祂不容忍競爭者：「你們要尋求耶和華，不要尋求伯特利（Am 5:5），不要求問你們偶像的神諭，也不要向伯特利的祭司求問；不要向那裏的金牛犢尋求保護，也不要再帶你們的禱告和祭物到那裏，或到吉甲去，因為你們若隨從那些虛謊的虛無，就是離棄自己的憐憫。但要尋求耶和華（Am 5:6,8）；尋求認識祂的心意為你們的法則，尋求確保祂的恩寵為你們的福樂。」為加強這勸勉，我們被告知要考慮：（1.）我們尋求神將得著甚麼；那是我們的生命；我們必尋見祂，並在祂裏面得著福樂。所以祂親自告訴他們（Am 5:4）：你們要尋求我，就必存活。那些尋求會朽壞之神的人必與它們同亡（Am 5:5），但那些尋求永生神的人必與祂同活：「你們必從所威脅的致死的審判中獲救；你們的國必存活，必從如今的衰敗中恢復；你們的靈魂必存活；你們必被分別為聖、得著安慰，成為永遠有福。你們必存活。」（2.）我們所當尋求的神是怎樣的神，Am 5:8-9。[1.] 祂自己是全能的神。偶像本是無能之物，既不能降禍也不能降福，所以畏懼或信靠它們都是愚妄；但以色列的神凡事都作，也凡事都能，所以我們理當尋求祂；那掌握一切權能的理當得著我們的敬奉，而以祂為我們一邊乃是我們的利益。這裏舉出神作為創造者在自然界國度中的權能的多個證據和實例——祂既設立又治理那國度。比較Am 4:13。第一，星宿是祂手中的工作；外邦人所敬拜的那些星（Am 5:26），你們神的星——那些星是神的受造之物和僕役。祂造昴星和參星——兩個非常顯著的星座；阿摩司作為牧人，夜間看守牲畜之時，曾特別觀察過它們的運行。祂起初造了它們，至今仍使它們對這地球成為它們所是的；祂或繫住或解開這裏所提到的兩個星座——昴星和參星的甘甜的影響。見Job 38:31，Job 9:9——阿摩司在此似乎引用了這些經文，使他們記起在神被稱為以色列的神之前那些對神榮耀的古老發現。第二，日夜不斷的更替受祂指引，由祂的權能和護理維持。是祂使如同死蔭般黑暗的夜因日出而變為早晨，又因日落而使白日變為黑夜；同樣的權能能為謙卑悔改者輕易地將患難和憂傷變為繁榮喜樂，也能輕易地將頑梗罪人的繁榮變為黑暗——變為全然的黑暗。第三，雨水的升降隨祂的定意。祂召海水；水氣被太陽的熱力從其中吸上，聚成雲，澆在地面上，滋潤它使之結實。這正是最近從他們收回的憐憫（Am 4:7）；所以他們除了到那有權賜下此憐憫的主那裏，還當到誰那裏呢？因為列國的虛無不能降雨，天本身也不能降甘霖（Jer 14:22）。這一切是神所造的；耶和華是祂的名——這是自然之神、全地之神向祂百姓以色列啟示自己並與他們立約的名。[2.] 祂自己是全能的神，照樣祂也將力量權能賜給祂的百姓——那些尋求祂的人，並重新賜力量給那失去力量的人，只要他們仰望祂而得著；因為（Am 5:9）祂使毀壞忽然臨到堅固城，使被欺壓的能起來攻擊堡壘，對那些欺壓他們的人發起勇敢而猛烈的攻擊。這是對百姓尋求耶和華的鼓勵：他們若如此行，必尋見神在上面為他們重整局勢，即使他們被帶到最低谷；他們雖是被毀壞的，他們的仇敵雖是強盛的，他們若能爭取神站在他們一邊，就必很快重振旗鼓，以致下次不僅成為攻擊者，更是得勝者；他們攻擊堡壘，以圖收復並成為其主人。
2. 他們在此被勸勉在與人的交往上要誠實公正，Am 5:14-15，請注意：（1.）所要求盡的本分：要求善，不要求惡。要惡惡好善，在城門口秉公行義——在那被趕出之處（Am 5:7）重新設立它。請注意，事情並非壞到不能改正的地步——只要採取正確的方法；我們不可絕望，怨情可以申訴，弊端可以糾正；在不義橫行之地，公義仍可勝出。為此，善必須被愛慕和尋求，惡必須被恨惡、不再追求。我們必須愛慕善的原則並持守它，愛慕行善並多多行善，愛慕善良的人和善意的交往以及善的本分；而且我們所行的任何善，都必須出於愛的原則，甘心樂意、帶著喜樂地去行。那些如此好善的人必尋求善，必設法盡力行一切所能行的善，尋找行善的機會，並竭力盡其所能去行。他們也必惡惡，必恨惡行不義之事的意念，遠避一切罪的模樣。我們若不在整個為人中尋求善，在敬拜中假裝尋求神便是徒然。（2.）所附加的理由。[1.] 這是使自己得福、並享受神持續同在的確實途徑：「要求善，不要求惡，就必存活」——能逃避你所尋求所愛慕之惡的刑罰（公義能救人脫離死亡），能得著神的恩寵——那就是你的生命，勝於生命本身；能心中得安慰，並活得有意義。「你必存活，因為耶和華萬軍之神必與你同在，作你的生命。」請注意，那保守在盡責之路上的人有神的同在——萬軍之神、全能之神的同在。「祂必照你們所說的與你們同在——就是如你們所誇口的；當你們走在不義之路上時，你們不過似乎擁有、並誇口如同擁有的，如今你們要真實得著。」那些真正悔改歸正的人，便進入對那安慰的享受——就是他們從前僅在想像中自欺的那安慰。或，「正如你們尋求耶和華之時所禱告的。活出你們的禱告，你們就必得著你們所求的。」[2.] 這是使國家得福的最可能途徑：「你們若尋求並愛慕善，就能為拯救這地免於毀滅作出貢獻。」或者耶和華萬軍之神向約瑟所餘剩的施恩；雖然只剩下餘民，但神若向那餘民施恩，它必再次成為大國；他們中間若有人轉離罪惡，尤其若在城門口秉公行義——我們雖不能確定，卻大有理由相信——國事必轉向新的、幸福的局面；人若改正自己的生活，一切都會好轉。暫時性的應許帶著或者而賜下；我們的禱告也當照此而獻。
英文原文
God's Message to Israel; The Aggravated Sins of Israel; Warnings and Exhortations; Exhortations and Encouragements (790 BC)
⁴ For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
⁵ But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.
⁶ Seek the LORD, 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 leave off righteousness in the earth,
⁸ Seek him that maketh the seven stars 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: The LORD is his name:
⁹ That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.
¹⁰ They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
¹¹ Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.
¹² For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.
¹³ Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.
¹⁴ Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.
¹⁵ Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
This is a message from God to the house of Israel, in which,
I. They are told of their faults, that they might see what occasion there was for them to repent and reform, and that, when they were called to return, they might not need to ask, Wherein shall we return?
1. God tells them, in general (Am 5:12), "I know your manifold transgressions, and your mighty sins; and you shall be made to know them too." In our penitent reflections upon our sins we must consider, as God does in his judicial remarks upon them, and will do in the great day, (1.) That they are very numerous; they are our manifold transgressions, sins of various kinds and often repeated. Oh what a multitude of vain and vile thoughts lodge within us! What a multitude of idle, foolish, wicked words have been spoken by us! In what a multitude of instances have we gratified and indulged our corrupt appetites and passions! And how many our own omissions of duty and in duty! Who can understand his errors? Who can tell how often he offends? God knows how many, just how many, our transgressions are; none of them pass him unobserved; we know that they are to us innumerable; more than the hairs of our head; and we have reason to see what danger we have brought ourselves into, and what abundance of work we have made for repentance, by our manifold transgressions, by the numberless number of our sins of daily incursion. (2.) That some of them are very heinous; they are our mighty sins; sins that are more exceedingly sinful in their own nature and by being committed presumptuously and with a high hand, sins against the light of nature, flagrant crimes, that are mighty to overpower your convictions and to pull down judgments upon you.
2. He specifies some of these mighty sins. (1.) They corrupted the worship of God, and turned to idols; this is implied Am 5:5. They had sought to Bethel, where one of the golden calves was; they had frequented Gilgal, a place which they chose to set up idols in, because it had been made famous in the days of Joshua by God's wonderful appearances to and for his people. Beer-sheba likewise, a place that had been famous in the days of the patriarchs, was now another rendezvous of idols; as we find also, Am 8:14. And thither they passed, though it lay at a distance, in the land of Judah. Now, having thus shamefully gone a whoring from God, no doubt they should have felt themselves concerned to return to him. (2.) They perverted justice among themselves (Am 5:7): "You turn judgment to wormwood, that is, you make your administrations of justice bitter and nauseous, and highly displeasing both to God and man." That fruit has become a weed, a weed in the garden; as nothing is more venerable, nothing more valuable, than justice duly administered, so nothing is more hurtful, nothing more abominable, than designedly doing wrong under colour and pretence of doing right. Corruptio optimi est pessima—The best, when corrupted, becomes the worst. "You leave off righteousness in the earth, as if those that do wrong were accountable to the God of heaven only, and not to the princes and judges of the earth." Thus it was as before the flood, when the earth was filled with violence. (3.) They were very oppressive to the poor, and made them poorer; they trod upon the poor (Am 5:11), trampled upon them, hectored over them, made them their footstool, and were most imperious and barbarous to those that were most obsequious and submissive; they care not what shame and slavery they put those to who were poor and such as they could get nothing by. The judges aimed at nothing but to enrich themselves; and therefore they took from the poor burdens of wheat, took it by extortion, either by way of bribe or by usury. The poor had no other way to save themselves from being trodden upon, and trodden to dirt, by them, than by presenting to them horse-loads of that corn which they and their families should have had to subsist upon, and they forced them to do it. They took from the poor debts of wheat, so some read it. It was legally due either for rent or for corn lent, but they exacted it with rigour from those who were disabled by the providence of God to pay it, as Ne 5:2,5. In demanding and recovering even a just debt we must take heed lest we act either unjustly or uncharitably. This sin of oppression by are again charged with (Am 5:12): They afflict the just, by turning the edge of the law and of the sword of justice against those that are the innocent and quiet in the land; they hated men because they were more righteous than themselves, and he that departed from evil thereby made himself a prey to them. They take a bribe from the rich to patronize and protect them in oppressing the poor, so that he who has money in his hand is sure to have the judgment on his side, be his cause ever so bad. Thus they turn aside the poor in the gate, in the courts of justice, from their right. If the poor sue for their right, who cannot bribe them, or are so honest that they will not, though they have it ever so clear in view and ever so near, yet they are turned away from it by their unrighteous sentence and cannot come at it. And therefore the prudent will keep silence, Am 5:13. Men will reckon it their prudence, when they are wronged and injured, to be silent, and make no complaints to the magistrates, for it will be to no purpose; they shall not have justice done them. (4.) They were malicious persecutors of God's faithful ministers and people, Am 5:10. Their hearts were so fully set in them to do evil that they could not bear to be reproved, [1.] By the ministry of the word, by the reading and expounding of the law, and the messages which prophets delivered to them in the name of the Lord. They hate him that rebukes in the gate, in the gate of the Lord's house, or in their courts of justice, or in the places of concourse, where Wisdom is lifting up her voice, Pr 1:21. Reprovers in the gate are reprovers by office; these they hated, counting them their enemies because they told them the truth, as Ahab hated Micaiah. They not only despised them, but had an enmity to them, and sought to do them mischief. Those that hate reproof love ruin. [2.] By the conversation of their honest neighbours. Though things were generally very bad, yet there were some among them that spoke uprightly that made conscience of what they said, and, as it was their praise, so it was the shame of those that spoke deceitfully, and condemned them, as Noah's faith condemned the unbelief of the old world, and for that reason they abhorred them; they were such inveterate enemies to the thing called honesty that they could not endure the sight of an honest man. All that have any sense of the common interest of mankind will love and value such as speak uprightly, for veracity is the bond of human society; to what a pitch of folly and madness then have those arrived who, having banished all notions of justice out of their own hearts, would have them banished out of the world too, and so put mankind into a state of war, for they abhor him that speaks uprightly! And for this reason the prudent shall keep silence in that time, Am 5:13. Prophets cannot, dare not, keep silence; the impulse they are under will not allow them to act on prudential considerations; they must cry aloud, and not spare. But as for other wise and good men they shall keep silence, and shall reckon it is their prudence to do so, because it is an evil time. First, They shall think it dangerous to complain, and therefore shall keep silence; this was one way in which they afflicted the just, that by false suggestions and strained innuendos they made men offenders for a word (Isa 19:21); and therefore the prudent, who were wise as serpents, because they knew not how what they said might be misinterpreted and misrepresented, were so cautious as to say nothing, lest they should run themselves into a premunire, because it was an evil time. Note, Through the iniquity of the times, as good men are hidden, so good men are silent, and it is their wisdom to be so; little said soon amended. But it is their comfort that they may speak freely to God when they know not to whom else they can speak freely. Secondly, They shall think if fruitless to reprove. They see what wickedness is committed, and their spirits are stirred up, as Paul's at Athens; but they shall think it prudent not to bear an open testimony against it, because it is to no purpose. They are joined to their idols; let them alone. Let no man strive or rebuke another; for it is but casting pearls before swine. The cautious men will say to a bold reprover, as Erasmus to Luther, "Abi in cellam, et dic, Miserere mei, Domine—Away to thy cell, and cry, Have mercy on me, O Lord!" Let grave lessons and counsels be kept for better men and better times. And there is a time to keep silence as well as a time to speak, Ec 3:7. Evil times will not bear plain dealing, that is evil men will not; and the men the prophet here speaks of had reason to think themselves evil men indeed, when wise and good men thought it in vain to speak to them and were afraid of having any thing to do with them.
II. They are told of their danger and what judgments they lay exposed to for their sins. 1. The places of their idolatry are in danger of being ruined in the first place, Am 5:5. Gilgal, the head-quarters of idolatry, shall go into captivity, not only its inhabitants, but its images, and Bethel, with its golden calf shall come to nought. The victorious enemy shall make nothing of it, so easily shall it be spoiled, and shall bring it to nothing, so effectually shall it be spoiled. Idols were always vanity, and things of nought, and so they shall prove when God appears to abolish them. 2. The body of the kingdom is in danger of being ruined with them, Am 5:6. There is danger lest, if you seek him not in time, he break out like a fire in the house of Joseph and devour it; for our God is a righteous Judge, is a consuming fire, and the men of Israel, as criminals, are stubble before him; woe to those that make themselves fuel to the fire of God's wrath. It follows, And there shall be none to quench it in Bethel. There their idols were, and their idolatrous priests; thither they brought their sacrifices, and there they offered up their prayers. But God tells them that when the fire of his judgments should kindle upon them all the gods they served at Bethel should not be able to quench it, should not turn away the judgment, nor be any relief to them under it. Thus those that make an idol of the world will find it insufficient to protect them when God comes to reckon with them for their spiritual idolatry. 3. What they have got by oppression and extortion shall be taken from them (Am 5:11): "You have built houses of hewn stone, which you thought would be lasting; but you shall not dwell in them, for your enemies shall burn them down, or possess them for themselves, or take you into captivity. You have planted pleasant vineyards, have contrived how to make them every way agreeable, and have promised yourselves many a pleasant walk in them; but you shall be forced to walk off, and shall never drink wine of them." The law had tenderly provided that if a man had built a house, or planted a vineyard, he should be at his liberty to return from the wars, De 20:5,6. But now the necessity would be so urgent that it would not be allowed; all must go to the battle, and many of those who had lately been building and planting should fall in battle, and never enjoy what they had been labouring for. What is not honestly got is not likely to be long enjoyed.
III. They are told their duty, and have great encouragement to set about it in good earnest, and good reason. The duties here prescribed to them are godliness and honesty, seriousness in their applications to God and justice in their dealings with men; and each of these is here pressed upon them with proper arguments to enforce the exhortation.
1. They are here exhorted to be sincere and devout in their addresses to God, Am 5:4. God says to the house of Israel, Seek you me, and with good reason, for should not a people seek unto their God? Isa 8:19. Whither else should they go but to their protector? Israel was a prince with God; let his descendants seek the Lord, as he did, and they shall be so too. Now, in order to their doing this, they must abandon their idolatries. God is not sought truly if he be not sought exclusively, for he will endure no rivals: "Seek you the Lord, and seek not Bethel (Am 5:5), consult not your idol-oracles, nor ask at the mouth of the priests of Bethel; seek not to the golden calf there for protection, nor bring your prayers and sacrifices any longer thither, or to Gilgal, for you forsake your own mercies if you observe those lying vanities. But seek the Lord (Am 5:6,8); enquire after him; enquire of him; seek to know his mind as your rule, to secure his favour as your felicity." To press this exhortation we are told to consider, (1.) What we shall get by seeking God; it will be our life; we shall find him, and shall be happy in him. So he tells them himself (Am 5:4): Seek you me, and you shall live. Those that seek perishing gods shall perish with them (Am 5:5), but those that seek the living God shall live with him: "You shall be delivered from the killing judgments which you are threatened with; your nation shall live, shall recover from its present languishings; your souls shall live; you shall be sanctified and comforted, and made for ever blessed. You shall live." (2.) What a God he is whom we are to seek, Am 5:8,9. [1.] He is a God of almighty power himself. The idols were impotent things, could do neither good nor evil, and therefore it was folly either to fear or trust them; but the God of Israel does every thing, and can do any thing, and therefore we ought to seek him; he challenges our homage who has all power in his hand, and it is our interest to have him on our side. Divers proofs and instances are here given of God's power, as Creator, in the kingdom of nature, as both founding and governing that kingdom. Compare Am 4:13. First, The stars are the work of his hands; those stars which the heathens worshipped (Am 5:26), the stars of your god, those stars are God's creatures and servants. He makes the seven stars and Orion, two very remarkable constellations, which Amos, a herdsman, while he kept his cattle by night, had particularly observed the motions of. He made them at the first, he still makes them to be what they are to this earth and either binds or looses the sweet influences of Peliades and Orion, the two constellations here mentioned. See Job 38:31, Job 9:9, to which passages Amos seems here to refer, putting them in mind of those ancient discoveries of the glory of God before he was called the God of Israel. Secondly, The constant succession of day and night is under his direction, and is kept up by his power and providence. It is he that turns the night (which is dark as the shadow of death) into the morning by the rising of the sun, and by the setting of the sun makes the day dark with night; and the same power can, for humble penitents, easily turn affliction and sorrow into prosperity and joy, but can as easily turn the prosperity of presumptuous sinners into darkness, into utter darkness. Thirdly, The rain rises and falls as he appoints. He calls for the waters of the sea; out of them vapours are drawn up by the heat of the sun, which gather into clouds, and are poured out upon the face of the earth, to water it and make it fruitful. This was the mercy that had been withholden from them of late (Am 4:7); and therefore to whom should they apply but to him who had power to give it? For all the vanities of the heathen could not give rain, nor could the heavens themselves give showers Jer 14:22. It is God that has made these things; Jehovah is his name, the name by which the God of nature, the God of the whole earth, has made himself known to his people Israel and covenanted with them. [2.] As he is God of almighty power himself, so he gives strength and power unto his people that seek him, and renews strength to those that had lost it, if they wait upon him for it; for (Am 5:9) he strengthens the spoiled against the strong to such a degree that the spoiled come against the fortress and make bold and brave attacks upon those that had spoiled them. This is an encouragement to the people to seek the Lord, that, if they do so, they shall find him above to retrieve their affairs, when they are brought to the lowest ebb; though they are the spoiled, and their enemies are the strong, if they can but engage God for them, they shall soon recruit so as the next time to be not only the aggressors, but the conquerors; they come against the fortress, to make reprisals and become masters of it.
2. They are here exhorted to be honest and just in their dealings with men, Am 5:14,15, where observe, (1.) The duty required: Seek good, and not evil. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate; re-establish it there, whence it has been banished, Am 5:7. Note, Things are not so bad but that they may be amended if the right course be taken; we must not despair but that grievances may be redressed and abuses rectified; justice may yet triumph where injustice tyrannizes. In order to this, good must be loved and sought, evil must be hated and no longer sought. We must love good principles and adhere to them, love to do good and abound in doing it, love good people, and good converse, and good duties; and, whatever good we do, we must do it from a principle of love, do it of choice and with delight. Those who thus love good will seek it, will contrive to do all the good they can, enquire for opportunities of doing it, and endeavor to do it to the utmost of their power. They will also hate evil, will abhor the thought of doing an unjust thing, and abstain from all appearance of it. In vain do we pretend to seek God in our devotions if we do not seek good in our whole conversations. (2.) The reasons annexed. [1.] This is the sure way to be happy ourselves and to have the continual presence of God with us: "Seek good, and not evil, that you may live, may escape the punishment of the evil you have sought and loved (righteousness delivereth from death), that you may have the favour of God, which is your life, which is better than life itself, that you may have comfort in yourselves and may live to some good purpose. You shall live, for so the Lord God of hosts shall be with you and be your life." Note, Those that keep in the way of duty have the presence of God with them, as the God of hosts, a God of almighty power. "He will be with you as you have spoken, that is, as you have gloried; you shall have that really which, while you went on in unrighteous ways, you only seemed to have and boasted of as if you had." Those that truly repent and reform enter into the enjoyment of that comfort which before they had only flattered themselves with the imagination of. Or, "As you have prayed when you sought the Lord. Live up to your prayers, and you shall have what you pray for." [2.] This is the likeliest way to make the nation happy: "If you seek and love that which is good, you may contribute to the saving of the land from ruin." It may be, the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph; though there is but a remnant left, yet, if God be gracious to that remnant, it will rise to a great nation again; and if some among them turn from sin, especially if judgment be established in the gate, though we cannot be certain, yet there is a great probability that public affairs will take a new and happy turn, and every thing will mend if men mend their lives. Temporary promises are made with an It may be; and our prayers must be made accordingly.
16-20
Threatenings and Reproofs (790 BC)
威嚇與責備（主前790年）
¹⁶ 所以耶和華萬軍之神、主如此說：各街上必有哀號；一切寬闊路上必有人說：哀哉！哀哉！他們又必叫農夫來哭號，叫善唱哀歌的來舉哀。
¹⁷ 在各葡萄園必有哀號，因為我必從你中間經過。這是耶和華說的。
¹⁸ 想望耶和華日子的人有禍了！那日子對你們有甚麼益處呢？耶和華的日子不是黑暗沒有光明嗎？
¹⁹ 景況好像人躲避獅子又遇見熊，或是進房屋以手靠牆，就被蛇咬。
²⁰ 耶和華的日子不是黑暗沒有光明嗎？不是幽暗毫無光輝嗎？
這裏有：I. 對將臨之毀滅極其可怕的威嚇，Am 5:16-17。他們既不肯走正路以得著神的恩寵，神就要採取有效的途徑使他們感受祂不悅的分量。這威嚇以非同尋常的莊嚴引入，為要使他們心生敬畏；這不僅是先知的話（若是如此，可能被輕看），而是主耶和華——那有無限永遠存在者的話，是萬軍之神——那有無邊不可抵擋之權能者的話，又是Adonai——主——那有絕對無可爭辯之主權和普世統治權者的話。是祂說的——祂能也必使自己的話應驗；祂已說了：1. 以色列地必被陷入哀悼——真正的哀悼，各處都因將臨的災禍而充滿哀號。看看各城，各街上必有哀號——大街上、小巷裏都有。看看鄉間，一切寬闊路上必有人說：哀哉！哀哉！我們都完了！哀號必大到不能關在屋內，也不能守著端莊的界限，而要在街頭巷尾被傳揚，肆意蔓延。農夫要因國家的災禍被從犁旁召來，發出天然的哀悼之聲；又因來的人不足以表達這悲痛之分量，要召善唱哀歌的來舉行為之哀悼，以他們的哀哉、哀哉為真實哀悼者的哀號加上重音。就是在各葡萄園——那向來只有歡笑喜樂之處——也必有普遍的哀號，當外國軍隊入侵這地、毀壞一切、無力抵抗之時，除了禱告和眼淚之外再無武器。2. 以色列地必被帶到毀滅，而毀滅的逼近正是這一切哀號的緣由：我必從你中間經過，如同滅命的天使經過埃及地擊殺長子，那時卻越過以色列人的房屋。神的審判屢次從他們旁邊經過，如今卻要從他們中間經過，將他們刺透。
II. 對那些輕看這些威嚇、厚顏無恥地挑戰神的公義和祂審判之人的公正而嚴厲的責備，Am 5:18。想望耶和華日子的人有禍了！有些人因心裏不安而切望戰爭混亂之時，切慕變動；或選擇渾水摸魚，盼望如有些人所作的，在國家的廢墟上建立自己的家業；但先知告訴他們，這荒涼必如此之大，無人能從中得利。或者這話是對那些在他們的哀號中因所處災禍而切願自己能死、從悲慘中得解脫的人說的，如約伯在激憤中所行的。先知指出這事的愚昧。他們可知道，對那些沒有預備的人而言，死亡是甚麼，它比這一生中可能遭遇的任何事都可怕得多嗎？或者這話更是對那些以戲謔口吻談論先知如此嚴肅地所說的耶和華日子的人說的；他們想望它，意思是挑戰它；他們說：任祂行最壞的吧；任祂急速加快祂作為，Isa 5:19。祂降臨的應許在哪裏呢？2Pe 3:4。這暗示：1. 他們不相信。他們說願那日子來到，其實因為他們不相信它會來；除非看見，否則他們不相信。2. 他們不懼怕；雖然或有幾分相信，卻對它毫無思考，心完全放在別的事上，以至於對它所帶來的危險毫無察覺；他們不是以良心去敬畏它，而是以好奇心去想望它。為回答這話：（1.）祂指出那些厚顏無恥地想望神任何審判、把主任何可畏之事當作笑談之人的愚昧：「那日子對你們有甚麼益處呢？你們要發現它既確實又悲哀；不是可以戲弄的，因為它來不來既不容置疑，來了也不可以輕慢對待。耶和華的日子不是黑暗沒有光明嗎（Am 5:18），不是嗎？（Am 5:20）。你們自己的良心豈不告訴你們，它必幽暗，毫無光輝嗎？」請注意，耶和華的日子對一切不悔改的罪人是黑暗、陰沉、憂鬱的日子；審判的日子如此；有時他們現今患難的日子也如此。當神使一個日子黑暗之時，全世界都不能使它光明。（2.）祂指出那些急躁地想望神審判有所改變、盼望下一個會更好更可忍受之人的愚昧。他們盼望自己能更好（雖然心和生活沒有改正），或至少知道最壞的如何，而想望耶和華的日子。但先知告訴他們，他們不知道自己所求的是甚麼，Am 5:19。那好像人躲避獅子又遇見熊——一種比獅子更殘忍更貪婪的猛獸；或如一人為逃避外面一切危險進房屋以求安全，以手靠牆歇息，那裏卻有蛇咬他。請注意，那些不被神的審判所改正的人，必被它們追趕；他們若逃脫一個，另一個已準備好抓住他們；恐懼、陷坑、網羅四面圍繞他們，Isa 24:17-18。所以向耶和華的日子挑戰乃是瘋狂。
英文原文
Threatenings and Reproofs (790 BC)
¹⁶ Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, 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 thee, saith the LORD.
¹⁸ Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
¹⁹ As if a man did flee 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 the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
Here is, I. A very terrible threatening of destruction approaching, Am 5:16,17. Since they would not take the right course to obtain the favour of God, God would take an effectual course to make them feel the weight of his displeasure. The threatening is introduced with more than ordinary solemnity, to strike an awe upon them; it is not the word of the prophet only (if so, it might be made light of) but it is the Lord Jehovah, who has an infinite eternal being; it is the God of hosts, who has a boundless irresistible power, and it is Adonai—the Lord, who has an absolute incontestable sovereignty, and a universal dominion; it is he who says it, who can and will make his words good, and he has said, 1. That the land of Israel shall be put in mourning, true mourning, that all places shall be filled with lamentation for the calamities coming upon them. Look into the cities, and wailing shall be in all streets, in the great streets, in the by-streets. Look into the country, and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! we are all undone! The lamentation shall be so great as not to be confined within doors, nor kept within the bounds of decency, but it shall be proclaimed in the streets and highways, and shall run wild. The husbandman shall be called from the plough by the calamities of his country to the natural expressions of mourning; and, because those who will come short of the merits of the cause, such as are skilful of lamentation shall be called to artificial mourning, to put accents upon the lamentations of the real mourners with their Ahone, ahone. Even in all vineyards, where there used to be nothing but mirth and pleasure, there shall be general wailing, when a foreign force invades the country, lays all waste, and there is no making any head against it, no weapons left but prayers and tears. 2. That the land of Israel shall be brought to ruin, and the advances of that ruin are the occasion of all this wailing: I will pass through thee, as the destroying angel passed through the land of Egypt to destroy the first-born, but then passed over the houses of the Israelites. God's judgments had often passed by them, but now they shall pass through them, shall run them through.
II. A just and severe reproof to those who made light of these threatenings, and impudently bade defiance to the justice of God and his judgments, Am 5:18. Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord, that really wish for times of war and confusion, as some do who have restless spirits, and long for changes, or who choose to fish in troubled waters, hoping to raise their families, as some had done, upon the ruins of their country; but the prophet tells them that this should be so great a desolation that nobody could get by it. Or it is spoken to those who, in their wailings and lamentations for the calamities they were in, wished they might die, and be delivered out of their misery, as Job did, with passion. The prophet shows them the folly of this. Do they know what death is to those who are unprepared for it, and how much more terrible it will be than any thing that can befal them in this life? Or, rather, it is spoken to those who speak jestingly of that day of the Lord which the prophet spoke so seriously of; they desired it, that is, they challenged it; they said, Let him do his worst; let him make speed, and hasten his work, Isa 5:19. Where is the promise of his coming? 2Pe 3:4. It intimates, 1. That they do not believe it. They say that they wish it would come because they do not believe it will ever come; nor will they believe it unless they see it. 2. That they do not fear it; though they may have some belief of it, yet they had so little consideration of it, and their mind is so intent upon other things, that they are under no apprehension at all of peril from it; instead of having the conscience to dread it, they have the curiosity to desire it. In answer to this, (1.) He shows the folly of those who impudently wished for any of God's judgments, and made a jest of any of the terrors of the Lord: "To what end is it for you that the day of the Lord should come? You will find it both certain and sad; not a thing to be bantered, for it is neither a thing to be questioned whether it will come or no nor a thing to be turned off with a slight when it does come. The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light, Am 5:18. Shall it not be so? Am 5:20. Do not your own consciences tell you that it will be so, that it will be very dark, and no brightness in it?" Note, The day of the Lord will be a dark, dismal, gloomy day to all impenitent sinners; the day of judgment will be so; and sometimes the day of their present trouble. And, when God makes a day dark, all the world cannot make it light. (2.) He shows the folly of those who impatiently wished for a change of God's judgment, in hopes that the next would be better and more tolerable. They desire the day of the Lord, in hopes to better themselves (though their hearts and lives be not amended), or, at least, to know the worst. But the prophet tells them that they know not what they ask, Am 5:19. It is as if a man did flee from a lion and a bear met him, a beast of prey more cruel and ravenous than a lion, or as if a man, to escape all dangers abroad, went into the house for security, and leaned his hand on the wall to rest himself, and there a serpent bit him. Note, Those who are not reformed by the judgments of God will be pursued by them; and, if they escape one, another stands ready to seize them; fear and the pit and snare surround them, Isa 24:17,18. It is madness therefore to defy the day of the Lord.
21-27
Hypocritical Services Rejected; Threatenings against Israel (790 BC)
厭棄虛偽的事奉；對以色列的威嚇（主前790年）
²¹ 我厭惡你們的節期，藐視你們的嚴肅會；我不因你們的集會聞到香氣。
²² 你們雖然向我獻燔祭和素祭，我卻不悅納它們；你們肥畜的平安祭我也不顧。
²³ 要使你歌唱的聲音遠離我，因為我不聽你們琴瑟的樂聲。
²⁴ 惟願公平如大水滾滾，公義如江河滔滔。
²⁵ 以色列家啊，你們在曠野四十年，豈是將祭物和供物獻給我呢？
²⁶ 你們卻抬著你們摩洛的帳幕和你們神星的偶像，就是你們為自己所造的基汛。
²⁷ 所以我要把你們擄到大馬士革以外。這是耶和華說的，祂的名就是萬軍之神。
這些經文的要旨，是要表明當他們仍活在罪中之時，神如何輕看他們的虔誠外表，不，更是何等憎惡它們。請留意，
I. 他們虛偽的事奉在神眼中是何等不蒙悅納，不，更是何等令人厭惡。他們在伯特利有仿效耶路撒冷的節期，在其中假裝在神面前歡樂。他們有為宗教敬拜而設的嚴肅會，在其中擺出莊重的姿態，如同那些來到神面前作祂子民、坐在祂面前作祂子民的人。他們向神獻上燔祭以尊榮神，又照律法所吩咐的獻上與之同獻的素祭；他們獻上平安祭以懇求神的恩惠，而且是用他們所有的肥畜來獻，Am 5:21,22。他們又仿效聖殿的音樂，有歌唱的聲音和琴瑟的樂聲（Am 5:23），用聲樂和器樂來讚美神。他們企圖用這些事奉來彌補他們所犯的罪，並取得繼續犯罪的許可；因此這些事奉非但不能蒙神悅納，反而成了可憎的。祂厭惡、藐視他們的節期，不但視之為對祂毫無價值的服事，更因之為對祂的冒犯和挑釁而厭惡它們——正如我們厭惡別人虛情假意地對待我們、明明毫無敬意卻裝作恭敬一樣。沒有比虛偽更可憎、更可鄙的了。大聲祝福朋友的，當顯出他的心並不與他同在之時，就必被算為咒詛。神不願在他們的嚴肅會中聞到香氣，因為其中毫無令祂喜悅之處，倒有許多令祂厭惡之處。他們的祭物對祂而言不如挪亞的祭物那樣有馨香的氣息，Ge 8:21。祂不悅納它們；祂不顧它們，不願理會它們；祂不聽他們琴瑟的樂聲；因為當罪成為和諧中的不協和音時，在祂耳中就刺耳難忍：「把它拿走，」神說，「我受不了。」如今這暗示：1. 祭物本身在神眼中，與道德本分相比，實在微不足道；愛神和愛鄰舍比一切燔祭和祭物更好。2. 惡人的祭物實在是祂所憎惡的，Pr 15:8。虛假的敬虔是雙重的罪惡，終必如此被發現——若地獄中有一處比別處更熱，那必是虛偽者的分。
II. 為使他們的祭物蒙悅納，神所要求的是甚麼——沒有這個，任何祭物都不能蒙悅納（Am 5:24）：惟願公平如大水滾滾，公義如江河滔滔。意思是：1. 「願你們中間有普遍的品行改革；願宗教——神的判斷——和公義在你們身上發揮當有的影響；願你們的地被它澆灌，願它沖去邪惡和不虔不敬的一切攔阻；願它如溢流之水一般寬廣地流淌，卻又如江河滔滔般有力地奔流。」2. 「特別地，願官長和統治者按公義公正地施行審判；不要因偏私和賄賂使公義的潮流受阻，而要像水在自然河道中那樣自由流淌；要像活水一樣清澈，不被腐敗或任何歪曲公義之物所攪渾；要如江河滔滔般奔流，不因對人的懼怕而受阻或拖延；要讓人人都能如到一條公共的河流那樣自由地取用，並如栽在水邊的樹一般從中受益。」以色列被控告的重大罪行，就是把公平變為茵蔯（Am 5:7）；因此他們必須在這事上悔改歸正，Zec 7:9。這是神比祭物更渴望的，Ho 6:6，1Sa 15:22。
III. 神對自己的獻祭律法雖然也是祂親自設立的，卻在與道德誡命相比之時何等輕看它（Am 5:25）：「*你們在曠野四十年，豈是將祭物獻給我呢？*不是，你們並沒有。」在那段時間的極大部份裏，獻祭之事大受忽略，因為他們的狀態仍未定居；第二年以後，直到進入迦南，逾越節才被守著，其他制度也同樣被擱置；然而神所要的是憐憫而不是祭物，所以祂從未把這疏忽算為他們的罪，反而繼續看顧他們、恩待他們：令神不悅的不是這個，而是他們的發怨言和不信。那在自己百姓於別的事上緊緊跟從祂之時、雖他們不獻祭也承認他們為自己百姓的神，在他們於別的事上偏離祂之時，必不會因他們獻祭就承認他們。然而，儀文性的祭物雖可如此被豁免，屬靈的祭物卻不能；就是公義和誠實也不能成為缺乏禱告和讚美、缺乏憂傷痛悔的心和對神的愛的藉口。司提反引用這段經文（Ac 7:42），為要向猶太人表明，他們不該以為禮儀律法被廢除是希奇的事，因為從起初它就相對地被輕看。比較Jer 7:22-23。
IV. 當他們和他們的列祖一直沉迷於敬拜別神之時，他們有何理由指望他們的祭物能蒙神悅納。有人如此理解Am 5:25：「你們豈是將祭物獻給我，就是單單獻給我呢？不是；因此根本不是可蒙悅納地獻給我。」因為敬拜耶和華我們神的律法是：我們當單單事奉祂。「你們卻抬著你們摩洛的帳幕（Am 5:26），就是你們為了隨身攜帶而做的小型神龕——當你們不敢公開行之時所用的私人迷信的口袋偶像。你們有你們摩洛——就是你們的王——的偶像」（大概代表太陽，那坐在天體中如同為王者），「和基汛，或稱瑞法」（司提反如此稱之，Ac 7:43，依七十士譯本），據推測代表土星——七行星中最高的那顆。敬拜日、月、星辰，是最古老、最普遍、也最貌似有理的偶像崇拜。他們為自己造了他們神的星——他們取某一顆特定的星當作他們的神，或把那星的名字加在他們的神身上。以色列從起初就傾向於這種偶像崇拜（De 4:19）；對假神存著愛慕之心的，不能指望真神的恩寵。
V. 因他們堅持偶像崇拜，神要降下何等刑罰（Am 5:27）：我要把你們擄到大馬士革以外。他們既被撒但擄去陷入偶像崇拜，神就使他們被擄到偶像崇拜者中間，既如此貪戀外邦的神，就將他們趕逐到異地。他們被擄到大馬士革以外。亞述人所擄去他們的，遠比從前敘利亞人所擄去他們的更遠；因為較輕的審判若不能成就差它們來的目的，神就必差遣更重的。或者，以色列在撒縻以色手下被擄，遠比大馬士革在提革拉毗列色手下被擄更遠、更悲慘、更毀滅性，這是Am 1:5所預言的。因為，正如認信神之百姓的罪比別人的罪更大，照樣也可以預料，他們的刑罰也必與之相稱。我們看見大馬士革的掠物和撒瑪利亞的掠物被亞述王一同擄去，Isa 8:4。司提反讀作：我要把你們遷到巴比倫以外（Ac 7:43），比猶大被擄之地更遠——遠到他們不能歸回。為使這判決顯得更確實又更可畏，那宣告判決的自稱為耶和華，祂的名是萬軍之神，因此祂有能力執行這判決，因為祂有千軍萬馬聽祂調遣。
英文原文
Hypocritical Services Rejected; Threatenings against Israel (790 BC)
²¹ I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
²² Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.
²³ Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
²⁴ But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
²⁵ Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
²⁶ But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
²⁷ Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.
The scope of these verses is to show how little God valued their shows of devotion, nay, how much he detested them, while they went on in their sins. Observe,
I. How unpleasing, nay, how displeasing, their hypocritical services were to God. They had their feast-days at Bethel, in imitation of those at Jerusalem, in which they pretended to rejoice before God. They had their solemn assemblies for religious worship, in which they put on the gravity of those who come before God as his people come, and sit before him as his people sit. They offered to God burnt-offerings, to the honour of God, together with the meat-offerings which by the law were to be offered with them; they offered the peace-offerings, to implore the favour of God, and they offered them of the fat beasts that they had, Am 5:21,22. In imitation likewise of the temple-music, they had the noise of their songs and the melody of their viols (Am 5:23), vocal and instrumental music, with which they praised God. With these services they hoped to make God amends for the sins they had committed, and to obtain leave to go on in sin; and therefore they were so far from being acceptable to God that they were abominable. He hated, he despised, their feast-days, not only despised them as no valuable services done to him, but hated them as an affront and provocation to him, as we hate to see men dissemble with us, pretend a respect for us when really they have none. Nothing more hateful, more despicable, than hypocrisy. He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, it shall be counted a curse, when it appears that his heart is not with him. God will not smell in their solemn assemblies, for there is nothing in them that is grateful to him, but a great deal that is offensive. Their sacrifices are not to him of a sweet smelling savour, as Noah's was, Ge 8:21. He will not accept them; he will not regard them, will not take any notice of them; he will not hear the melody of their viols; for, when sin is a jar in the harmony, it grates in his ears: "Take it away," says God, "I cannot bear it." Now this intimates, 1. That sacrifice itself is of small account with God in comparison with moral duties; to love God and our neighbour is better than all burnt offering and sacrifice. 2. That the sacrifice of the wicked is really an abomination to him, Pr 15:8. Dissembled piety is double iniquity, and so it will be found when, if any place in hell be hotter than another, that will be the hypocrite's portion.
II. What it was that he required in order to the acceptableness of their sacrifices and without which no sacrifice would be acceptable (Am 5:24): Let judgment run down as waters, among you, and righteousness as a mighty stream, that is 1. "Let there be a general reformation of manners among you; let religion (God's judgment) and righteousness have their due influence upon you; let your land be watered with it, and let it bear down all the opposition of vice and profaneness; let it run wide as overflowing waters, and yet run strong as mighty stream." (2.) "In particular, let justice be duly administered by magistrates and rulers; let not the current of it be stopped by partiality and bribery, but let it come freely as waters do, in the natural course; let it be pure as running waters, not muddied with corruption or whatever may pervert justice; let it run like a mighty stream, and not suffer itself to be obstructed, or its course retarded, by the fear of man; let all have free access to it as a common stream, and have benefit by it as trees planted by the rivers of waters." The great thing laid to Israel's charge was turning judgment into wormwood (Am 5:7); in that matter therefore they must reform, Zec 7:9. This was what God desired more than sacrifices, Ho 6:6, 1Sa 15:22.
III. What little stress God had laid upon the law of sacrifices, though it was his own law, in comparison with the moral precepts (Am 5:25): "Did you offer unto me sacrifices in the wilderness forty years? No, you did not." For the greatest part of that time sacrifice was very much neglected, because of the unsettledness of their state; after the second year, the passover was not kept till they came into Canaan, and other institutions were in like manner intermitted; and yet, because God will have mercy and not sacrifice, he never imputed the omission to them as their fault, but continued his care of them and kindness to them: it was not that, but their murmuring and unbelief, for which God was displeased with them. He that so owned his people, though they did not sacrifice, when in other things they kept close to him, will certainly disown them, though they do sacrifice, if in other things they depart from him. But, though ritual sacrifices may thus be dispensed with, spiritual sacrifices will not; even justice and honesty will not excuse for the want of prayer and praise, a broken heart and the love of God. Stephen quotes this passage (Ac 7:42), to show the Jews that they ought not to think it strange that ceremonial law was repealed when from the beginning it was comparatively made light of. Compare Jer 7:22,23.
IV. What little reason they had to expect that their sacrifices should be acceptable to God, when they and their fathers had been all along addicted to the worship of other gods. So some take Am 5:25, "Did you offer to me sacrifices, that is, to me only? No, and therefore not at all to me acceptably;" for the law of worshipping the Lord our God is, Him only we must serve. "But you have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch (Am 5:26), little shrines that you made to carry about with you, pocket-idols for your private superstition, when you durst not be seen to do it publicly. You have had the images of your Moloch—your king" (probably representing the sun, that sits king among the heavenly bodies), "and Chiun, or Remphan" (as Stephen calls it, Ac 7:43, after the LXX.), which it is supposed, represented Saturn, the highest of the seven planets. The worship of the sun, moon, and stars, was the most ancient, most general, and most plausible idolatry. They made to themselves the star of their God, some particular star which they took to be their god, or the name of which they gave to their god. This idolatry Israel was from the beginning prone to (De 4:19); and those that retain an affection for false gods cannot expect the favour of the true God.
V. What punishment God would inflict upon them for their persisting in idolatry (Am 5:27): I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus. They were led captive by Satan into idolatry, and therefore God caused them to go into captivity among idolaters, and hurried them into a strange land, since they were so fond of strange gods. They were carried beyond Damascus. Their captivity by the Assyrians was far beyond that by the Syrians; for, if less judgments do not work that for which they were sent, God will send greater. Or the captivity of Israel under Shalmaneser was far beyond that of Damascus under Tiglath-pileser, and much more grievous and destructive, which was foretold Am 1:5. For, as the sins of God's professing people are greater than the sins of others, so it may be expected that their punishments will be proportionable. We find the spoil of Damascus and that of Samaria carried off together by the king of Assyria, Isa 8:4. Stephen reads it, I will carry you away beyond Babylon (Ac 7:43), further than Judah shall be carried, so far further as not to return. And, to make this sentence appear both the more certain and the more dreadful, he that passes it calls himself the Lord, whose name is, The God of hosts, and who is therefore able to execute the sentence, having hosts at command.
本章的要旨，是接續前一章末尾對以色列發出的勸誡——要預備迎見他們的神；先知在此告訴他們：I. 他們當作甚麼預備；他們當「尋求耶和華」，不再尋求偶像（Am 5:4-8）；他們當尋求善並愛慕它，Am 5:14-15。II. 為何他們當預備迎見他們的神。1. 因他們目前所處的悲慘光景，Am 5:1-3。2. 因正是罪使他們落到如此光景，Am 5:7,10-12。3. 因尋求神乃是他們的幸福，而祂也預備好被他們尋見，Am 5:8,9,14。4. 因祂必在怒中施行徹底的毀滅，若他們不尋求祂，Am 5:5,6,13,16,17。5. 因他們若不歸向神、以祂為友，他們一切所倚靠的都必落空。（1.）他們對神審判不敬虔的藐視和挑釁，不能保全他們，Am 5:18-20。（2.）他們在宗教上的外表事奉和虔誠的表現，不能挽回神的怒氣，Am 5:21-24。（3.）他們長久擁有教會的特權、並持續履行聖潔的本分，也不能保護他們——若他們一直保持著偶像崇拜的習俗，Am 5:25-27。因此他們已無別法可自救，唯有悔改歸正。