Amos 6-8

New International Version

Woe to the Complacent

6 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)
²Go 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?
³You put off the day of disaster
    and bring near a reign of terror.^(J)
⁴You lie on beds adorned with ivory
    and lounge on your couches.^(K)
You dine on choice lambs
    and fattened calves.^(L)
⁵You strum away on your harps^(M) like David
    and improvise on musical instruments.^(N)
⁶You drink wine^(O) by the bowlful
    and use the finest lotions,
    but you do not grieve^(P) over the ruin of Joseph.^(Q)
⁷Therefore 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

⁸The 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)”

⁹If ten^(Z) people are left in one house, they too will die. ¹⁰And 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.”

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

¹²Do 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)—
¹³you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar^[c]
    and say, “Did we not take Karnaim^[d] by our own strength?^(AI)”

¹⁴For 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

7 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. ²When they had stripped the land clean,^(AO) I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive?^(AP) He is so small!^(AQ)”

³So the Lord relented.^(AR)

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

⁴This 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. ⁵Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!^(AV)”

⁶So the Lord relented.^(AW)

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

⁷This 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. ⁸And 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)

⁹“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

¹⁰Then 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) ¹¹For 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)

¹²Then 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) ¹³Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel,^(BN) because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple^(BO) of the kingdom.^(BP)”

¹⁴Amos 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) ¹⁵But the Lord took me from tending the flock^(BS) and said to me, ‘Go,^(BT) prophesy^(BU) to my people Israel.’^(BV) ¹⁶Now 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

8 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:^(CB) a basket of ripe fruit. ²“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)

³“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)”

⁴Hear this, you who trample the needy
and do away with the poor^(CI) of the land,^(CJ)

⁵saying,

“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)
⁶buying the poor^(CP) with silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals,
    selling even the sweepings with the wheat.^(CQ)

⁷The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob:^(CR) “I will never forget^(CS) anything they have done.^(CT)

⁸“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)

⁹“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,

“I will make the sun go down at noon
    and darken the earth in broad daylight.^(CW)
¹⁰I 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)
¹²People 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)
¹⁴Those 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)”

Footnotes

Amos 6:10 Or to make a funeral fire in honor of the dead
Amos 6:12 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text plow there
Amos 6:13 Lo Debar means nothing.
Amos 6:13 Karnaim means horns; horn here symbolizes strength.
Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
Amos 7:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain; also in verse 8.
Amos 7:17 Hebrew an unclean
Amos 8:3 Or “the temple singers will wail
Amos 8:14 Hebrew the way