Woe to Those at Ease in Zion

(A)“Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,
    and to those who feel secure on (B)the mountain of Samaria,
(C)the notable men of (D)the first of the nations,
    to whom the house of Israel comes!
Pass over to (E)Calneh, and see,
    and from there go to (F)Hamath the great;
    then go down to (G)Gath of the Philistines.
(H)Are you better than these kingdoms?
    Or is their territory greater than your territory,
(I)O you who put far away the day of disaster
    (J)and bring near the seat of violence?

“Woe to those (K)who lie on (L)beds of ivory
    (M)and stretch themselves out on their couches,
and eat lambs from the flock
    (N)and calves from the midst of the stall,
(O)who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp
    and like David (P)invent for themselves instruments of music,
(Q)who drink wine in bowls
    and (R)anoint themselves with the finest oils,
    but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
(S)Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile,
    and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.”

(T)The Lord God has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts:

“I abhor (U)the pride of Jacob
    and hate his strongholds,
    (V)and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”

And (W)if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And when one's relative, (X)the one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, (Y)“Silence! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

11 For behold, the Lord commands,
    and (Z)the great house shall be struck down into fragments,
    and the little house into bits.
12 Do horses run on rocks?
    Does one plow there[a] with oxen?
(AA)But you have turned justice into (AB)poison
    (AC)and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood[b]
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,[c]
    who say, (AD)“Have we not by our own strength
    captured Karnaim[d] for ourselves?”
14 “For behold, (AE)I will raise up against you a nation,
    O house of Israel,” declares the Lord, the God of hosts;
“and they shall oppress you from (AF)Lebo-hamath
    to the Brook of (AG)the Arabah.”

Warning Visions

(AH)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, (AI)he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings. When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,

“O Lord God, please forgive!
    (AJ)How can Jacob stand?
    He is so small!”
(AK)The Lord relented concerning this:
    “It shall not be,” said the Lord.

(AL)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling (AM)for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. Then I said,

“O Lord God, please cease!
    (AN)How can Jacob stand?
    He is so small!”
(AO)The Lord relented concerning this:
    “This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.

(AP)This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with (AQ)a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, (AR)“Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

“Behold, I am setting (AS)a plumb line
    in the midst of my people Israel;
    (AT)I will never again pass by them;
(AU)the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
    and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
    and I will rise against (AV)the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

Amos Accused

10 Then Amaziah (AW)the priest of Bethel sent to (AX)Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has (AY)conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos has said,

“‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
    and (AZ)Israel must go into exile
    away from his land.’”

12 And Amaziah said to Amos, (BA)“O seer, go, flee away (BB)to the land of Judah, and (BC)eat bread there, and prophesy there, 13 but (BD)never again prophesy at Bethel, for (BE)it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, (BF)“I was[e] no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but (BG)I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. 15 (BH)But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 (BI)Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.

“You say, (BJ)‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
    and (BK)do not preach against the house of (BL)Isaac.’

17 (BM)Therefore thus says the Lord:

“‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city,
    and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
    and your land (BN)shall be divided up with a measuring line;
you yourself shall die in an unclean land,
    and (BO)Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’”

The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning

(BP)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. And he said, (BQ)“Amos, what do you see?” And I said, (BR)“A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me,

(BS)“The end[f] has come upon my people Israel;
    I will never again pass by them.
(BT)The songs of the temple[g] (BU)shall become wailings[h] in that day,”
declares the Lord God.
(BV)“So many dead bodies!”
“They are thrown everywhere!”
(BW)“Silence!”

Hear this, (BX)you who trample on the needy
    and bring the poor of the land to an end,
saying, “When will (BY)the new moon be over,
    that we may sell grain?
And (BZ)the Sabbath,
    that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make (CA)the ephah small and the shekel[i] great
    and deal deceitfully with false balances,
that we may buy the poor for (CB)silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals
    and sell the chaff of the wheat?”

The Lord has sworn by (CC)the pride of Jacob:
“Surely (CD)I will never forget any of their deeds.
(CE)Shall not the land tremble on this account,
    and everyone mourn who dwells in it,
(CF)and all of it rise like the Nile,
    and be tossed about (CG)and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?”

“And on that day,” declares the Lord God,
    (CH)“I will make the sun go down at noon
    and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 (CI)I will turn your feasts into mourning
    and all your songs into lamentation;
(CJ)I will bring sackcloth on every waist
    (CK)and baldness on every head;
(CL)I will make it like the mourning for an only son
    and the end of it like a bitter day.

11 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
    “when (CM)I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
    (CN)but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 (CO)They shall wander from sea to sea,
    and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,
    (CP)but they shall not find it.

13 (CQ)“In that day the lovely virgins and the young men
    shall (CR)faint for thirst.
14 Those who swear by (CS)the Guilt of Samaria,
    and say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’
and, ‘As (CT)the Way of (CU)Beersheba lives,’
    they shall fall, and never rise again.”

The Destruction of Israel

I saw the Lord standing beside[j] the altar, and he said:

(CV)“Strike the capitals until (CW)the thresholds (CX)shake,
    (CY)and shatter them on the heads of all the people;[k]
and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword;
    (CZ)not one of them shall flee away;
    not one of them shall escape.

(DA)“If they dig into Sheol,
    from there shall my hand take them;
(DB)if they climb up to heaven,
    from there I will bring them down.
If they hide themselves on (DC)the top of Carmel,
    from there I will search them out and take them;
(DD)and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
    there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.
(DE)And if they go into captivity before their enemies,
    there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them;
(DF)and I will fix my eyes upon them
    for evil and not for good.”

The Lord God of hosts,
he who touches the earth and (DG)it melts,
    and all who dwell in it mourn,
(DH)and all of it rises like the Nile,
    (DI)and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;
(DJ)who builds his upper chambers in the heavens
    and founds his vault upon the earth;
(DK)who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—
(DL)the Lord is his name.

“Are you not like (DM)the Cushites to me,
    O people of Israel?” declares the Lord.
(DN)“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
    and (DO)the Philistines from (DP)Caphtor and the Syrians from (DQ)Kir?
Behold, (DR)the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,
    and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,
    (DS)except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.

“For behold, I will command,
    (DT)and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
    but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
    who say, (DU)‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’

The Restoration of Israel

11 “In that day (DV)I will raise up
    the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
    and raise up its ruins
    and rebuild it as in the days of old,
12 (DW)that they may possess the remnant of Edom
    and (DX)all the nations who are called by my name,”[l]
    declares the Lord who does this.

13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    (DY)“when the plowman shall overtake the reaper
    and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
(DZ)the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
    and all the hills shall flow with it.
14 (EA)I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
    and (EB)they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
(EC)they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
    and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 (ED)I will plant them on their land,
    (EE)and they shall never again be uprooted
    out of the land (EF)that I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.

Footnotes

  1. Amos 6:12 Or the sea
  2. Amos 6:12 Or into bitter fruit
  3. Amos 6:13 Lo-debar means nothing
  4. Amos 6:13 Karnaim means horns (a symbol of strength)
  5. Amos 7:14 Or am; twice in this verse
  6. Amos 8:2 The Hebrew words for end and summer fruit sound alike
  7. Amos 8:3 Or palace
  8. Amos 8:3 Or The singing women of the palace shall wail
  9. Amos 8:5 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters; a shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
  10. Amos 9:1 Or on
  11. Amos 9:1 Hebrew all of them
  12. Amos 9:12 Hebrew; Septuagint (compare Acts 15:17) that the remnant of mankind and all the nations who are called by my name may seek the Lord

Woe to the Complacent

Woe to you(A) who are complacent(B) in Zion,
    and to you who feel secure(C) on Mount Samaria,(D)
you notable men of the foremost nation,
    to whom the people of Israel come!(E)
Go to Kalneh(F) and look at it;
    go from there to great Hamath,(G)
    and then go down to Gath(H) in Philistia.
Are they better off than(I) your two kingdoms?
    Is their land larger than yours?
You put off the day of disaster
    and bring near a reign of terror.(J)
You lie on beds adorned with ivory
    and lounge on your couches.(K)
You dine on choice lambs
    and fattened calves.(L)
You strum away on your harps(M) like David
    and improvise on musical instruments.(N)
You drink wine(O) by the bowlful
    and use the finest lotions,
    but you do not grieve(P) over the ruin of Joseph.(Q)
Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;(R)
    your feasting and lounging will end.(S)

The Lord Abhors the Pride of Israel

The Sovereign Lord has sworn by himself(T)—the Lord God Almighty declares:

“I abhor(U) the pride of Jacob(V)
    and detest his fortresses;(W)
I will deliver up(X) the city
    and everything in it.(Y)

If ten(Z) people are left in one house, they too will die. 10 And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them[a](AA) asks anyone who might be hiding there, “Is anyone else with you?” and he says, “No,” then he will go on to say, “Hush!(AB) We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

11 For the Lord has given the command,
    and he will smash(AC) the great house(AD) into pieces
    and the small house into bits.(AE)

12 Do horses run on the rocky crags?
    Does one plow the sea[b] with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison(AF)
    and the fruit of righteousness(AG) into bitterness(AH)
13 you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar[c]
    and say, “Did we not take Karnaim[d] by our own strength?(AI)

14 For the Lord God Almighty declares,
    “I will stir up a nation(AJ) against you, Israel,
that will oppress you all the way
    from Lebo Hamath(AK) to the valley of the Arabah.(AL)

Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line

This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:(AM) He was preparing swarms of locusts(AN) after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. When they had stripped the land clean,(AO) I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive?(AP) He is so small!(AQ)

So the Lord relented.(AR)

“This will not happen,” the Lord said.(AS)

This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire;(AT) it dried up the great deep and devoured(AU) the land. Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!(AV)

So the Lord relented.(AW)

“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.(AX)

This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb,[e] with a plumb line[f] in his hand. And the Lord asked me, “What do you see,(AY) Amos?(AZ)

“A plumb line,(BA)” I replied.

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.(BB)

“The high places(BC) of Isaac will be destroyed
    and the sanctuaries(BD) of Israel will be ruined;
    with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam.(BE)

Amos and Amaziah

10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel(BF) sent a message to Jeroboam(BG) king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy(BH) against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words.(BI) 11 For this is what Amos is saying:

“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
    and Israel will surely go into exile,(BJ)
    away from their native land.’”(BK)

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer!(BL) Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there.(BM) 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel,(BN) because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple(BO) of the kingdom.(BP)

14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet(BQ) nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.(BR) 15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock(BS) and said to me, ‘Go,(BT) prophesy(BU) to my people Israel.’(BV) 16 Now then, hear(BW) the word of the Lord. You say,

“‘Do not prophesy against(BX) Israel,
    and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.’

17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“‘Your wife will become a prostitute(BY) in the city,
    and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword.
Your land will be measured and divided up,
    and you yourself will die in a pagan[g] country.
And Israel will surely go into exile,(BZ)
    away from their native land.(CA)’”

A Basket of Ripe Fruit

This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:(CB) a basket of ripe fruit. “What do you see,(CC) Amos?(CD)” he asked.

“A basket(CE) of ripe fruit,” I answered.

Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.(CF)

“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.[h](CG) Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!(CH)

Hear this, you who trample the needy
    and do away with the poor(CI) of the land,(CJ)

saying,

“When will the New Moon(CK) be over
    that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
    that we may market(CL) wheat?”(CM)
skimping on the measure,
    boosting the price
    and cheating(CN) with dishonest scales,(CO)
buying the poor(CP) with silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals,
    selling even the sweepings with the wheat.(CQ)

The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob:(CR) “I will never forget(CS) anything they have done.(CT)

“Will not the land tremble(CU) for this,
    and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise like the Nile;
    it will be stirred up and then sink
    like the river of Egypt.(CV)

“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,

“I will make the sun go down at noon
    and darken the earth in broad daylight.(CW)
10 I will turn your religious festivals(CX) into mourning
    and all your singing into weeping.(CY)
I will make all of you wear sackcloth(CZ)
    and shave(DA) your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son(DB)
    and the end of it like a bitter day.(DC)

11 “The days are coming,”(DD) declares the Sovereign Lord,
    “when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
    but a famine(DE) of hearing the words of the Lord.(DF)
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
    and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
    but they will not find it.(DG)

13 “In that day

“the lovely young women and strong young men(DH)
    will faint because of thirst.(DI)
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria(DJ)
    who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’(DK)
    or, ‘As surely as the god[i] of Beersheba(DL) lives’—
    they will fall,(DM) never to rise again.(DN)

Israel to Be Destroyed

I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:

“Strike the tops of the pillars
    so that the thresholds shake.
Bring them down on the heads(DO) of all the people;
    those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
    none will escape.(DP)
Though they dig down to the depths below,(DQ)
    from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens above,(DR)
    from there I will bring them down.(DS)
Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,(DT)
    there I will hunt them down and seize them.(DU)
Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea,(DV)
    there I will command the serpent(DW) to bite them.(DX)
Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
    there I will command the sword(DY) to slay them.

“I will keep my eye on them
    for harm(DZ) and not for good.(EA)(EB)

The Lord, the Lord Almighty—
he touches the earth and it melts,(EC)
    and all who live in it mourn;
the whole land rises like the Nile,
    then sinks like the river of Egypt;(ED)
he builds his lofty palace[j](EE) in the heavens
    and sets its foundation[k] on the earth;
he calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.(EF)

“Are not you Israelites
    the same to me as the Cushites[l]?”(EG)
declares the Lord.
“Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt,
    the Philistines(EH) from Caphtor[m](EI)
    and the Arameans from Kir?(EJ)

“Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord
    are on the sinful kingdom.
I will destroy(EK) it
    from the face of the earth.
Yet I will not totally destroy
    the descendants of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.(EL)
“For I will give the command,
    and I will shake the people of Israel
    among all the nations
as grain(EM) is shaken in a sieve,(EN)
    and not a pebble will reach the ground.(EO)
10 All the sinners among my people
    will die by the sword,(EP)
all those who say,
    ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’(EQ)

Israel’s Restoration

11 “In that day

“I will restore David’s(ER) fallen shelter(ES)
    I will repair its broken walls
    and restore its ruins(ET)
    and will rebuild it as it used to be,(EU)
12 so that they may possess the remnant of Edom(EV)
    and all the nations that bear my name,[n](EW)
declares the Lord, who will do these things.(EX)

13 “The days are coming,”(EY) declares the Lord,

“when the reaper(EZ) will be overtaken by the plowman(FA)
    and the planter by the one treading(FB) grapes.
New wine(FC) will drip from the mountains
    and flow from all the hills,(FD)
14     and I will bring(FE) my people Israel back from exile.[o](FF)

“They will rebuild the ruined cities(FG) and live in them.
    They will plant vineyards(FH) and drink their wine;
    they will make gardens and eat their fruit.(FI)
15 I will plant(FJ) Israel in their own land,(FK)
    never again to be uprooted(FL)
    from the land I have given them,”(FM)

says the Lord your God.(FN)

Footnotes

  1. Amos 6:10 Or to make a funeral fire in honor of the dead
  2. Amos 6:12 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text plow there
  3. Amos 6:13 Lo Debar means nothing.
  4. Amos 6:13 Karnaim means horns; horn here symbolizes strength.
  5. Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  6. Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain; also in verse 8.
  7. Amos 7:17 Hebrew an unclean
  8. Amos 8:3 Or “the temple singers will wail
  9. Amos 8:14 Hebrew the way
  10. Amos 9:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  11. Amos 9:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  12. Amos 9:7 That is, people from the upper Nile region
  13. Amos 9:7 That is, Crete
  14. Amos 9:12 Hebrew; Septuagint so that the remnant of people / and all the nations that bear my name may seek me
  15. Amos 9:14 Or will restore the fortunes of my people Israel