Fifth Vision: The Lord beside the Altar

I saw the Lord standing beside the altar,(A) and he said:

Strike the capitals of the pillars(B)
so that the thresholds shake;
knock them down on the heads of all the people.
Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword.(C)
None of those who flee will get away;(D)
none of the fugitives will escape.
If they dig down to Sheol,(E)
from there my hand will take them;
if they climb up to heaven,(F)
from there I will bring them down.
If they hide
on the top of Carmel,
from there I will track them down(G)
and seize them;
if they conceal themselves
from my sight on the sea floor,(H)
from there I will command
the sea serpent to bite them.(I)
And if they are driven
by their enemies into captivity,(J)
from there I will command
the sword to kill them.(K)
I will keep my eye on them
for harm and not for good.(L)

The Lord, the God of Armies—
he touches the earth;(M)
it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn;
all of it rises like the Nile
and subsides like the Nile of Egypt.(N)
He builds his upper chambers
in the heavens(O)
and lays the foundation of his vault
on the earth.(P)
He summons the water of the sea
and pours it out over the surface of the earth.(Q)
The Lord is his name.(R)

Announcement of Judgment

Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to me?(S)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Didn’t I bring Israel from the land of Egypt,
the Philistines from Caphtor,[a](T)
and the Arameans from Kir?(U)
Look, the eyes of the Lord God
are on the sinful kingdom,(V)
and I will obliterate it
from the face of the earth.(W)
However, I will not totally destroy
the house of Jacob(X)
this is the Lord’s declaration—
for I am about to give the command,
and I will shake the house of Israel(Y)
among all the nations,
as one shakes a sieve,
but not a pebble will fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners among my people(Z)
who say, “Disaster will never overtake[b]
or confront us,”(AA)
will die by the sword.

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Footnotes

  1. 9:7 Probably Crete
  2. 9:10 Or “You will not let disaster come near

The Destruction of Israel

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

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

Though they dig into Sheol,
    from there shall my hand take them;
though they climb up to heaven,
    from there I will bring them down.(B)
Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
    from there I will search out and take them;
and though they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
    there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.(C)
And though they go into captivity in front of their enemies,
    there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them;
and I will fix my eyes on them
    for harm and not for good.(D)

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

Are you not like the Cushites to me,
    O people of Israel? says the Lord.
Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt
    and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?(G)
The eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,
    and I will destroy it from the face of the earth
    —except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,
            says the Lord.(H)

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

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Footnotes

  1. 9.1 Or on
  2. 9.1 Heb all of them

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(A) of all the people;
    those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
    none will escape.(B)
Though they dig down to the depths below,(C)
    from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens above,(D)
    from there I will bring them down.(E)
Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,(F)
    there I will hunt them down and seize them.(G)
Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea,(H)
    there I will command the serpent(I) to bite them.(J)
Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
    there I will command the sword(K) to slay them.

“I will keep my eye on them
    for harm(L) and not for good.(M)(N)

The Lord, the Lord Almighty—
he touches the earth and it melts,(O)
    and all who live in it mourn;
the whole land rises like the Nile,
    then sinks like the river of Egypt;(P)
he builds his lofty palace[a](Q) in the heavens
    and sets its foundation[b] 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.(R)

“Are not you Israelites
    the same to me as the Cushites[c]?”(S)
declares the Lord.
“Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt,
    the Philistines(T) from Caphtor[d](U)
    and the Arameans from Kir?(V)

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

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 9:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  2. Amos 9:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  3. Amos 9:7 That is, people from the upper Nile region
  4. Amos 9:7 That is, Crete