Amos 9
Christian Standard Bible
Fifth Vision: The Lord beside the Altar
9 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.
2 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.
3 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)
4 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)
5 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)
6 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
7 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)
8 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—
9 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.
Announcement of Restoration
11 In that day
I will restore the fallen shelter(AB) of David:(AC)
I will repair its gaps,
restore its ruins,(AD)
and rebuild it as in the days of old,(AE)
12 so that they may possess
the remnant of Edom(AF)
and all the nations
that bear my name[c](AG)—
this is the declaration of the Lord; he will do this.
13 Look, the days are coming—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
when the plowman will overtake the reaper(AH)
and the one who treads grapes,
the sower of seed.
The mountains will drip with sweet wine,
and all the hills will flow with it.(AI)
14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel.[d](AJ)
They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities,(AK)
plant vineyards and drink their wine,
make gardens and eat their produce.(AL)
15 I will plant them on their land,
and they will never again be uprooted
from the land I have given them.(AM)
The Lord your God has spoken.
Amos 9
Common English Bible
Description of Israel’s fate
9 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and the Lord said:
Strike the pillars until the foundations shake,
shatter them on the heads of all the people.
With the sword, I will kill the last of them;
not one of them will flee,
not one of them will escape.
2 If they dig through into the underworld,[a]
from there my hand will take them.
If they climb up to the heavens,
from there I will bring them down.
3 If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
I will search for them there and remove them.
If they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
I will give an order to the sea serpent, and it will bite them.
4 If they are forced from their homes before their enemies,
there I will give an order to the sword, and it will kill them.
I will fix my eyes on them
for harm and not for good.
A divine confession
5 The Lord, God of heavenly forces,
touches the earth and it melts,
and all who live in it are sick to death.
All of it[b] rises up like the Nile
and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt.
6 It is the Lord who builds his upper rooms in the heavens
and establishes his residence upon the earth;
who summons the waters of the sea,
and pours them out upon the face of the earth—
the Lord is his name.
Divine address to the Israelites
7 Aren’t you like the Cushites to me,
people of Israel?
says the Lord.
Haven’t I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt,
and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?
8 Look, the Lord God is eyeing the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.
However, I won’t destroy fully the house of Jacob,
says the Lord.
Warning to the house of Israel
9 Look, I am giving orders,
and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one sifts dirt with a screen,
but no pebble will fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners of my people will die by the sword,
those who say,
“Evil won’t overtake or meet us.”
Divine promise of restoration
11 On that day I will raise up
the meeting tent of David that has fallen,
and repair its broken places.
I will raise up its ruins,
and I will rebuild it like a long time ago;
12 so that they may possess what is left of Edom,
as well as all the nations who are called by my name,
says the Lord who will do this.
13 The days are surely coming, says the Lord,
when the one who plows
will overtake the one who gathers,
when the one who crushes grapes
will overtake the one who sows the seed.
The mountains will drip wine,
and all the hills will flow with it.
14 I will improve the circumstances of my people Israel;
they will rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them.
They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;
and they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will plant them upon their land,
and they will never again be plucked up
out of the land that I have given them,
says the Lord your God.
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Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible