Amos 4
Lexham English Bible
Social and Spiritual Corruption
4 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who live on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the powerless, who crush the poor, who say to their husbands, “Bring something so that we may drink!” 2 My Lord Yahweh has sworn by his holiness that, “Behold, the days are coming upon you when they[a] will take you away with hooks, even the last of you with fishing hooks. 3 And you shall leave through breaches in the wall, each one in front of her. You will be dragged off toward Harmon,”[b] declares[c] Yahweh. 4 “Come to Bethel and transgress; to Gilgal and multiply transgression![d] Bring your sacrifices in the morning and your tithes on the third day.[e] 5 And bring a thank offering of unleavened bread, and proclaim freewill offerings, pronounce them, for so you love to do, O people[f] of Israel,” is the declaration of my Lord Yahweh. 6 “And I[g] in turn gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities and lack of bread in all your places. Yet you did not return to me,” is the declaration of Yahweh. 7 “And I also withheld the rain from you when there were still three months to the harvest. And I would send rain on one city and send no rain on another city. One tract of land will be rained on, and the tract of land on which it does not rain[h] will dry up. 8 So two or three cities wandered to one city to drink water and they were not satisfied, yet you did not return to me,” is the declaration of Yahweh. 9 “I struck you with blight and with mildew. Frequently the cutting locust devoured your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees, yet you did not return to me,” is the declaration of Yahweh. 10 “I sent among you a plague in the manner of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with the captivity of your horses. And I made the stench of your camps go up into your nostrils, yet you did not return to me,” is the declaration of Yahweh. 11 “I overthrew some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a stick snatched from the fire, and yet you did not return to me,” is the declaration of Yahweh. 12 “Therefore, thus I will do to you, O Israel. Because I will do this to you, O Israel, prepare to meet your God! 13 Yes, here is the one who forms the mountains, and the one who creates the wind, and the one who reveals to humans what his thoughts are, and the one who treads on the heights of the earth; Yahweh, the God of hosts, is his name!”
Footnotes
- Amos 4:2 Literally “and he”
- Amos 4:3 The meaning of this Hebrew word is uncertain
- Amos 4:3 Literally “a declaration of”
- Amos 4:4 Literally “increase to transgress”
- Amos 4:4 Literally “for three of days”
- Amos 4:5 Literally “children”
- Amos 4:6 Emphatic use of personal pronoun
- Amos 4:7 Literally “which does not rain down on it”
Amos 4
International Standard Version
Judgment on the Women of Israel
4 “Listen to this message, you fat cows from Bashan,
who live on the Samaritan mountains,
who oppress the poor,
who rob the needy,
and who constantly ask your husbands for one more drink!”
2 The Lord God has taken a sacred oath:[a]
“The day is coming when they[b] will take you away on fishhooks,
every last one of you on fishhooks.
3 Each of you will go out through the breaches of the walls[c]
straight to Mt. Hermon,”[d]
declares the Lord.
The Lord’s Rebuke to Israel
4 “Come to Bethel and sin,
to Gilgal and sin even more!
Bring along your morning sacrifices,
and pay your tithes every other day.[e]
5 While you’re at it,[f] present a thank offering with leaven,
and publicize your freewill offerings,
letting everyone hear about it,
because this is what you really love to do, you Israelis,”
declares the Lord God.
Israel’s Refusal to Return to God
6 “I also have scheduled[g] food shortages[h] for you in all of your cities,
and lack of bread in all of your settlements,
but you haven’t returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
7 “I therefore have withheld the rain from you
three months before the harvest,
causing rain to come upon one city,
but not upon another,
and upon one field
but not upon another,
so that it would wither.
8 So the people of[i] two or three cities staggered away to another[j] city
in order to obtain drinking water,
but you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
9 “I afflicted you with blight and fungus;
and the locust swarm devoured the harvest
of your gardens, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees,
but you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
10 “I sent plagues among you as I did with Egypt.
I killed your choicest young men with the sword.
I took your horses away from you.
I filled your noses with the stench of your encampments,
but you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew your cities,[k]
as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
You’ve become like a burning ember, snatched from the fire,
but you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel.
Because I am about to do this,
prepare to be summoned to your God, Israel!”
13 Look! The one who crafts mountains,
who creates the wind,
who reveals what he is thinking to mankind,
who darkens the morning light,
who tramples down the high places of the land—
the Lord, the God of the Heavenly Armies is his name.
Footnotes
- Amos 4:2 Lit. oath on his holiness
- Amos 4:2 Lit. coming upon you, and he; i.e. the invading forces personified as an individual
- Amos 4:3 The Heb. lacks of the walls
- Amos 4:3 Heb. Harmonah
- Amos 4:4 Lit. tithes for the three days
- Amos 4:5 Lit. And
- Amos 4:6 Lit. appointed
- Amos 4:6 Lit. appointed clean teeth
- Amos 4:8 The Heb. lacks the people of
- Amos 4:8 Lit. to a single
- Amos 4:11 The Heb. lacks cities
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