Amos 4
Good News Translation
4 Listen to this, you women of Samaria, who grow fat like the well-fed cows of Bashan, who mistreat the weak, oppress the poor, and demand that your husbands keep you supplied with liquor! 2 As the Sovereign Lord is holy, he has promised, “The days will come when they will drag you away with hooks; every one of you will be like a fish on a hook. 3 You will be dragged to the nearest break in the wall and thrown out.”[a]
Israel's Failure to Learn
4 The Sovereign Lord says, “People of Israel, go to the holy place in Bethel and sin, if you must! Go to Gilgal and sin with all your might! Go ahead and bring animals to be sacrificed morning after morning, and bring your tithes every third day. 5 Go on and offer your bread in thanksgiving to God, and brag about the extra offerings you bring! This is the kind of thing you love to do.
6 (A)“I was the one who brought famine to all your cities, yet you did not come back to me. 7 I kept it from raining when your crops needed it most. I sent rain on one city, but not on another. Rain fell on one field, but another field dried up. 8 Weak with thirst, the people of several cities went to a city where they hoped to find water, but there was not enough to drink. Still you did not come back to me.
9 “I sent a scorching wind to dry up your crops. The locusts ate up all your gardens and vineyards, your fig trees and olive trees. Still you did not come back to me.
10 “I sent a plague on you like the one I sent on Egypt. I killed your young men in battle and took your horses away. I filled your nostrils with the stink of dead bodies in your camps. Still you did not come back to me.
11 (B)“I destroyed some of you as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Those of you who survived were like a burning stick saved from a fire. Still you did not come back to me,” says the Lord. 12 “So then, people of Israel, I am going to punish you. And because I am going to do this, get ready to face my judgment!”
13 God is the one who made the mountains
and created the winds.
He makes his thoughts known to people;
he changes day into night.
He walks on the heights of the earth.
This is his name: the Lord God Almighty!
Footnotes
- Amos 4:3 Hebrew has an additional word, the meaning of which is unclear.
Amos 4
Complete Jewish Bible
4 “Listen, you [lovely] cows of Bashan,
who live on Mount Shomron,
who oppress the poor and grind down the needy,
who say to their husbands, ‘Bring something to drink’:
2 Adonai Elohim has sworn by his holiness
that your time is surely coming.
“You will be dragged away with hooks,
the last of you with fishhooks.
3 You will leave through breaks in the wall,
each woman right behind the next,
and be sent off to Harmonah,” says Adonai.
4 “Come to Beit-El, and commit crimes;
to Gilgal, and commit more crimes!
Bring your sacrifices in the morning
and your tithes after three days;
5 burn leavened bread as a thank offering;
brag in public about your voluntary offerings;
because that’s what you love to do, Isra’el!”
says Adonai Elohim.
6 “I made your teeth clean of food in all your cities,
left you nothing to eat in all your villages;
still you haven’t returned to me,” says Adonai.
7 “I withheld the rain from you
three months before the harvest.
I made it rain on one city
and not on another —
one field had rain,
while another with no rain dried up;
8 from two or three cities they would stagger to one city
for water to drink, but there wasn’t enough;
still you haven’t returned to me,” says Adonai.
9 “I struck your crops with hot winds and blight,
your many gardens and vineyards;
the cutter-worms devoured
your fig and olive trees;
still you haven’t returned to me,” says Adonai.
10 “I sent a plague on you like that of Egypt,
put your young men to death with the sword;
let your horses be captured;
and filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps;
still you haven’t returned to me,” says Adonai.
11 “I overthrew some of you,
as when God overthrew S’dom and ‘Amora;
you were like a burning stick snatched from the fire;
still you haven’t returned to me,” says Adonai.
12 “This is why I will deal with you in this way, Isra’el;
and because I will deal with you in this way,
prepare to meet your God, Isra’el —
13 him who forms mountains and creates wind,
who declares to humankind his thoughts,
who turns the morning to darkness
and strides on the heights of the earth —
Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot is his name.”
Amos 4
The Message
You Never Got Hungry for God
4 “Listen to this, you cows of Bashan
grazing on the slopes of Samaria.
You women! Mean to the poor,
cruel to the down-and-out!
Indolent and pampered, you demand of your husbands,
‘Bring us a tall, cool drink!’
2-3 “This is serious—I, God, have sworn by my holiness!
Be well warned: Judgment Day is coming!
They’re going to rope you up and haul you off,
keep the stragglers in line with cattle prods.
They’ll drag you through the ruined city walls,
forcing you out single file,
And kick you to kingdom come.”
God’s Decree.
4-5 “Come along to Bethel and sin!
And then to Gilgal and sin some more!
Bring your sacrifices for morning worship.
Every third day bring your tithe.
Burn pure sacrifices—thank offerings.
Speak up—announce freewill offerings!
That’s the sort of religious show
you Israelites just love.”
God’s Decree.
6 “You know, don’t you, that I’m the One
who emptied your pantries and cleaned out your cupboards,
Who left you hungry and standing in bread lines?
But you never got hungry for me. You continued to ignore me.”
God’s Decree.
7-8 “Yes, and I’m the One who stopped the rains
three months short of harvest.
I’d make it rain on one village
but not on another.
I’d make it rain on one field
but not on another—and that one would dry up.
People would stagger from village to village
crazed for water and never quenching their thirst.
But you never got thirsty for me.
You ignored me.”
God’s Decree.
9 “I hit your crops with disease
and withered your orchards and gardens.
Locusts devoured your olive and fig trees,
but you continued to ignore me.”
God’s Decree.
10 “I revisited you with the old Egyptian plagues,
killed your choice young men and prize horses.
The stink of rot in your camps was so strong
that you held your noses—
But you didn’t notice me.
You continued to ignore me.”
God’s Decree.
11 “I hit you with earthquake and fire,
left you devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning stick
snatched from the flames.
But you never looked my way.
You continued to ignore me.”
God’s Decree.
12 “All this I have done to you, Israel,
and this is why I have done it.
Time’s up, O Israel!
Prepare to meet your God!”
13 Look who’s here: Mountain-Shaper! Wind-Maker!
He laid out the whole plot before Adam.
He brings everything out of nothing,
like dawn out of darkness.
He strides across the alpine ridges.
His name is God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson