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A Vision of God at the Altar

Then I saw a vision of the Lord standing beside the altar. He said,

“Strike the tops of the Temple columns,
    so that the foundation will shake.
Bring down the roof
    on the heads of the people below.
I will kill with the sword those who survive.
    No one will escape!

“Even if they dig down to the place of the dead,[a]
    I will reach down and pull them up.
Even if they climb up into the heavens,
    I will bring them down.
Even if they hide at the very top of Mount Carmel,
    I will search them out and capture them.
Even if they hide at the bottom of the ocean,
    I will send the sea serpent after them to bite them.
Even if their enemies drive them into exile,
    I will command the sword to kill them there.
I am determined to bring disaster upon them
    and not to help them.”

The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
    touches the land and it melts,
    and all its people mourn.
The ground rises like the Nile River at floodtime,
    and then it sinks again.
The Lord’s home reaches up to the heavens,
    while its foundation is on the earth.
He draws up water from the oceans
    and pours it down as rain on the land.
    The Lord is his name!

“Are you Israelites more important to me
    than the Ethiopians?[b]” asks the Lord.
“I brought Israel out of Egypt,
    but I also brought the Philistines from Crete[c]
    and led the Arameans out of Kir.

“I, the Sovereign Lord,
    am watching this sinful nation of Israel.
I will destroy it
    from the face of the earth.
But I will never completely destroy the family of Israel,[d]
    says the Lord.
“For I will give the command
    and will shake Israel along with the other nations
as grain is shaken in a sieve,
    yet not one true kernel will be lost.
10 But all the sinners will die by the sword—
    all those who say, ‘Nothing bad will happen to us.’

A Promise of Restoration

11 “In that day I will restore the fallen house[e] of David.
    I will repair its damaged walls.
From the ruins I will rebuild it
    and restore its former glory.
12 And Israel will possess what is left of Edom
    and all the nations I have called to be mine.[f]
The Lord has spoken,
    and he will do these things.

13 “The time will come,” says the Lord,
“when the grain and grapes will grow faster
    than they can be harvested.
Then the terraced vineyards on the hills of Israel
    will drip with sweet wine!
14 I will bring my exiled people of Israel
    back from distant lands,
and they will rebuild their ruined cities
    and live in them again.
They will plant vineyards and gardens;
    they will eat their crops and drink their wine.
15 I will firmly plant them there
    in their own land.
They will never again be uprooted
    from the land I have given them,”
    says the Lord your God.

Footnotes

  1. 9:2 Hebrew to Sheol.
  2. 9:7a Hebrew the Cushites?
  3. 9:7b Hebrew Caphtor.
  4. 9:8 Hebrew the house of Jacob. See note on 3:13.
  5. 9:11a Or kingdom; Hebrew reads tent.
  6. 9:11b-12 Greek version reads and restore its former glory, / so that the rest of humanity, including the Gentiles— / all those I have called to be mine—might seek me. Compare Acts 15:16-17.

Sinful Israelites Will Die by the Sword

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

“Strike the capitals so that the (B)thresholds will quake,
And (C)break them on the heads of them all!
Then I will (D)kill the rest of them with the sword;
(E)Not one of them who can flee will flee,
And not one of them who can survive will escape.
Though they dig into (F)Sheol,
From there will My hand take them;
And though they (G)ascend to heaven,
From there will I bring them down.
And though they hide on the [a]top of Carmel,
From there I will (H)search them out and take them;
And though they (I)conceal themselves from My eyes on the floor of the sea,
From there I will command the (J)serpent, and it will bite them.
And though they go into (K)captivity before their enemies,
From there I will command the sword that it kill them,
And I will (L)set My eyes against them for evil and not for good.”

Now Lord Yahweh of hosts,
The One who (M)touches the land so that it melts,
And (N)all those who inhabit it mourn,
And all of it rises up like the Nile
And subsides like the Nile of Egypt;
The One who builds His [b](O)upper chambers in the heavens
And has founded His vaulted dome over the earth;
The One who (P)calls for the waters of the sea
And (Q)pours them out on the face of the earth;
(R)Yahweh is His name.

“Are you not as the sons of (S)Ethiopia to Me,
O sons of Israel?” declares Yahweh.
“Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt,
And the (T)Philistines from Caphtor and the (U)Arameans from (V)Kir?
Behold, the (W)eyes of Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom,
And I will (X)destroy it from the face of the earth;
Nevertheless, I will (Y)not totally destroy the house of Jacob,”
Declares Yahweh.
“For behold, I am commanding,
And I will (Z)shake the house of Israel among all nations
As grain is shaken in a sieve,
But not a [c]kernel will fall to the ground.
10 All the (AA)sinners of My people will die by the sword,
Those who say, ‘(AB)The calamity will not overtake or confront us.’

Yahweh Will Rebuild Israel

11 “In that day I will (AC)raise up the fallen [d](AD)booth of David
And wall up its (AE)breaches;
I will also raise up its ruins
And rebuild it as in the (AF)ancient days,
12 (AG)That they may possess the remnant of (AH)Edom
And all the [e]nations who are (AI)called by My name,”
Declares Yahweh who does this.

13 “Behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh,
“When the (AJ)plowman will overtake the reaper
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
When the (AK)mountains will drip [f]sweet (AL)wine
And all the hills will melt.
14 Also I will (AM)restore the [g]captivity of My people Israel,
And they will (AN)rebuild the desolated cities and live in them;
They will also (AO)plant vineyards and drink their wine
And make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will also plant them on their land,
And (AP)they will not again be uprooted from their land
Which I have given them,”
Says Yahweh your God.

Footnotes

  1. Amos 9:3 Lit head, cf. 9:1
  2. Amos 9:6 Or stairs
  3. Amos 9:9 Or pebble
  4. Amos 9:11 Or shelter, tabernacle
  5. Amos 9:12 Or Gentiles
  6. Amos 9:13 Lit freshly pressed out grape juice
  7. Amos 9:14 Or fortunes