Israel's Guilt and Punishment

(A)Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

(B)“You only have I known
    of all the families of the earth;
(C)therefore I will punish you
    for all your iniquities.

“Do two walk together,
    unless they have agreed to meet?
Does a lion roar in the forest,
    when he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
    if he has taken nothing?
Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
    when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
    when it has taken nothing?
(D)Is a trumpet blown in a city,
    and the people are not afraid?
(E)Does disaster come to a city,
    unless the Lord has done it?

“For the Lord God does nothing
    (F)without revealing his secret
    to his servants the prophets.
The lion has roared;
    who will not fear?
(G)The Lord God has spoken;
    who can but prophesy?”

Proclaim to the strongholds in (H)Ashdod
    and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on (I)the mountains of Samaria,
    and see the great tumults within her,
    and (J)the oppressed in her midst.”
10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,
    (K)“those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”

11 Therefore thus says the Lord God:

(L)“An adversary shall surround the land
    and bring down[a] your defenses from you,
    and (M)your strongholds shall be plundered.”

12 Thus says the Lord: (N)“As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, (O)so shall the people of Israel (P)who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part[b] of a bed.

13 “Hear, (Q)and testify against the house of Jacob,”
    declares the Lord God, (R)the God of hosts,
14 “that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,
    (S)I will punish the altars of Bethel,
and (T)the horns of the altar shall be cut off
    and fall to the ground.
15 (U)I will strike (V)the winter house along with (W)the summer house,
    and (X)the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses[c] shall come to an end,”
declares the Lord.

“Hear this word, (Y)you cows of Bashan,
    who are (Z)on the mountain of Samaria,
(AA)who oppress the poor, (AB)who crush the needy,
    who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’
(AC)The Lord God has sworn by his holiness
    that, behold, the days are coming upon you,
(AD)when they shall take you away with hooks,
    (AE)even the last of you with fishhooks.
(AF)And you shall go out through the breaches,
    each one straight ahead;
    and you shall be cast out into Harmon,”
declares the Lord.

(AG)“Come to Bethel, and transgress;
    to (AH)Gilgal, and multiply transgression;
(AI)bring your (AJ)sacrifices every morning,
    your tithes every three days;
offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of (AK)that which is leavened,
    and proclaim (AL)freewill offerings, publish them;
    (AM)for so you love to do, O people of Israel!”
declares the Lord God.

Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord

“I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
    and (AN)lack of bread in all your places,
(AO)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

“I also (AP)withheld the rain from you
    when there were yet three months to the harvest;
(AQ)I would send rain on one city,
    and send no rain on another city;
one field would have rain,
    and the field on which it did not rain would wither;
so two or three cities (AR)would wander to another city
    to drink water, and would not be satisfied;
(AS)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

(AT)“I struck you with blight and mildew;
    your many gardens and your vineyards,
    your fig trees and your olive trees (AU)the locust devoured;
(AV)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

10 “I sent among you a pestilence (AW)after the manner of Egypt;
    I killed your young men with the sword,
and (AX)carried away your horses,[d]
    and (AY)I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
(AZ)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

11 “I overthrew some of you,
    (BA)as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
    and you were (BB)as a brand[e] plucked out of the burning;
(BC)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
    because I will do this to you,
    prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

13 For behold, (BD)he who forms the mountains and creates the wind,
    and (BE)declares to man what is his thought,
(BF)who makes the morning darkness,
    and (BG)treads on the heights of the earth—
    (BH)the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!

Seek the Lord and Live

Hear this word that I (BI)take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:

“Fallen, no more to rise,
    is (BJ)the virgin Israel;
forsaken on her land,
    with none to raise her up.”

For thus says the Lord God:

“The city that went out a thousand
    shall have a hundred left,
and that which went out a hundred
    shall have ten left
    to the house of Israel.”

For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:

(BK)“Seek me and live;
    but do not seek (BL)Bethel,
and do not enter into (BM)Gilgal
    or cross over to (BN)Beersheba;
for (BO)Gilgal shall surely go into exile,
    and (BP)Bethel shall come to nothing.”

(BQ)Seek the Lord and live,
    (BR)lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
    and it devour, with none to quench it for (BS)Bethel,
O (BT)you who turn justice to wormwood[f]
    and cast down righteousness to the earth!

He who made the (BU)Pleiades and Orion,
    and turns deep darkness into the morning
    and (BV)darkens the day into night,
who (BW)calls for the waters of the sea
    (BX)and pours them out on the surface of the earth,
(BY)the Lord is his name;
(BZ)who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,
    so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

10 (CA)They hate him who reproves (CB)in the gate,
    and they (CC)abhor him who speaks the truth.
11 Therefore because you (CD)trample on[g] the poor
    and you exact taxes of grain from him,
(CE)you have built houses of hewn stone,
    but you shall not dwell in them;
(CF)you have planted pleasant vineyards,
    but you shall not drink their wine.
12 For I know how many are your transgressions
    and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who (CG)take a bribe,
    and (CH)turn aside the needy (CI)in the gate.
13 Therefore he who is prudent will (CJ)keep silent in such a time,
    (CK)for it is an evil time.

14 (CL)Seek good, and not evil,
    that you may live;
and so the Lord, (CM)the God of hosts, will be with you,
    as you have said.
15 (CN)Hate evil, and love good,
    and establish justice (CO)in the gate;
(CP)it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
    will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore thus says the Lord, (CQ)the God of hosts, the Lord:

“In all the squares (CR)there shall be wailing,
    and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They shall call the farmers to mourning
    and (CS)to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,
17 and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,
    for (CT)I will pass through your midst,”
says the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Amos 3:11 Hebrew An adversary, one who surrounds the land—he shall bring down
  2. Amos 3:12 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
  3. Amos 3:15 Or and many houses
  4. Amos 4:10 Hebrew along with the captivity of your horses
  5. Amos 4:11 That is, a burning stick
  6. Amos 5:7 Or to bitter fruit
  7. Amos 5:11 Or you tax

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