**The Cry for Justice: A Story from Amos 5**

The sun hung low over the kingdom of Israel, casting long shadows across the land. The golden light of evening painted the hills of Samaria, but beneath the beauty, a deep corruption festered. The people went about their days—buying, selling, feasting, and worshiping—yet their hearts were far from the Lord.

In the city of Bethel, where the great altar stood, the priests offered sacrifices with solemn faces, chanting prayers to the God of Israel. But their worship was empty, a hollow ritual performed while their hands dripped with the blood of the poor. The wealthy lounged on ivory couches, drinking wine by the bowlful, while the cries of the oppressed went unheard.

It was in this time that the voice of the prophet Amos thundered through the land like a storm. A shepherd from Tekoa, unpolished and unyielding, he stood before the gates of the great cities and spoke the words the Lord had given him.

*”Hear this word, O house of Israel! Listen to this lament I take up against you!”* His voice was rough, yet it carried the weight of divine sorrow.

The people paused in their business, some scoffing, others uneasy. Who was this rugged man to speak against them?

*”Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again—abandoned on her land, with no one to lift her up.”*

A murmur spread through the crowd. Some laughed. “What doom does this shepherd preach now?” they sneered.

But Amos continued, his eyes burning with holy fire. *”This is what the Lord says: ‘Seek me and live! Do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.'”*

The priests of Bethel stiffened. How dare he speak against the holy places? Yet Amos did not flinch.

*”Seek the Lord and live, lest He sweep through the house of Joseph like a fire, and none will quench it!”*

A wealthy merchant, his robes finely embroidered, stepped forward. “Prophet,” he said mockingly, “why do you trouble us with such words? We keep the feasts. We bring our offerings. Does not the Lord delight in our worship?”

Amos turned to him, his gaze piercing. *”I hate, I despise your religious festivals! Your assemblies are a stench to me! Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps!”*

The crowd grew silent. The air itself seemed to tremble.

*”But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”* Amos cried.

A woman in tattered garments, her face lined with sorrow, clutched the hem of her shawl. She had been cheated by the judges, her land taken by the greedy. She looked up, tears in her eyes, as if the prophet’s words were water to her parched soul.

Amos saw her and his voice softened, though it remained firm. *”You who trample the poor and force them to give you grain—you have built stone mansions, but you will not live in them. You have planted lush vineyards, but you will not drink their wine. For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins!”*

The wealthy shifted uncomfortably. The priests exchanged glances.

*”Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for it? That day will be darkness, not light!”* Amos declared. *”It will be as though a man fled from a lion, only to meet a bear, or as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall, only to be bitten by a snake!”*

The people began to disperse, some in anger, others in fear. But the prophet’s words lingered in the air, heavy with warning.

As the sun set, casting the land into twilight, Amos stood alone. The Lord had spoken, and the choice was set before Israel: *Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say He is.*

But would they listen?

The wind whispered through the hills, carrying the scent of coming judgment—and the faint, fading hope of repentance.

And so the word of the Lord remained, unchanging and true: *”Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.”*

But the time was short, and the hour late.

Would Israel turn back before it was too late?