Amos 3

New American Standard Bible

All the Tribes Are Guilty

3 Hear this word which the Lord has spoken against you, sons of Israel, against the entire ^[a]^(A)family which ^[b]He brought up from the land of Egypt:

²“^(B)You only have I ^[c]known among all the families of the earth;
Therefore I will ^[d]^(C)punish you for all your wrongdoing.”
³Do two people walk together unless they have agreed to meet?
⁴Does a ^(D)lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?
Does a young lion ^[e]growl from his den unless he has captured something?
⁵Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground when there is no ^[f]device in it?
Does a trap spring up from the earth when it captures nothing at all?
⁶If a ^(E)trumpet is blown in a city, will the people not tremble?
If a ^(F)disaster occurs in a city, has the Lord not brought it about?
⁷^[g]Certainly the Lord ^[h]God does nothing
Unless He ^(G)reveals His secret plan
To His servants the prophets.
⁸A ^(H)lion has roared! Who will not fear?
The ^(I)Lord God has spoken! ^(J)Who can do anything but prophesy?

⁹Proclaim on the citadels in ^(K)Ashdod and on the citadels in the land of Egypt and say, “Assemble yourselves on the ^(L)mountains of Samaria and see the great panic within her and the ^(M)oppressions in her midst. ¹⁰But they ^(N)do not know how to do what is right,” declares the Lord, “these who ^(O)store up ^[i]violence and devastation in their citadels.”

¹¹Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:

“An ^(P)enemy, one surrounding the land,
Will take down your fortifications from you,
And your ^(Q)citadels will be looted.”

¹²This is what the Lord says:

“Just as the shepherd ^[j]^(R)snatches from the lion’s mouth a couple of legs or a piece of an ear,
So will the sons of Israel living in Samaria be ^[k]snatched away—
With the ^(S)corner of a bed and the ^[l]^(T)cover of a couch!
¹³Hear and ^(U)testify against the house of Jacob,”
Declares the Lord God, the God of armies.
¹⁴“For on the day that I punish Israel’s offenses,
I will also punish the altars of ^(V)Bethel;
The horns of the altar will be cut off,
And will fall to the ground.
¹⁵I will also strike the ^(W)winter house together with the ^(X)summer house;
The houses of ^[m]^(Y)ivory will also perish,
And the ^(Z)great houses will come to an end,”
Declares the Lord.

Footnotes

Amos 3:1 I.e., nation
Amos 3:1 Lit I
Amos 3:2 Or chosen
Amos 3:2 Lit visit
Amos 3:4 Lit give his voice
Amos 3:5 Lit snare
Amos 3:7 Or For
Amos 3:7 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
Amos 3:10 I.e., the plunder from violence
Amos 3:12 Or rescues
Amos 3:12 Or rescued
Amos 3:12 Or headrest; lit damask
Amos 3:15 I.e., ivory inlay

Amos 4

New American Standard Bible

“Yet You Have Not Returned to Me”

4 Hear this word, you ^[a]cows of ^(A)Bashan who are on the ^(B)mountain of Samaria,
Who ^(C)exploit the poor, who oppress the needy,
^[b]And say to their ^[c]husbands, “Bring now, that we may ^(D)drink!”
²The Lord ^[d]God has ^(E)sworn by His ^(F)holiness,
“For behold, the days are coming upon you
When ^[e]they will take you away with ^(G)meat hooks,
And the last of you with ^(H)fish hooks.
³You will ^(I)go out through holes in the walls,
One in front of the other,
And you ^[f]will be hurled to Harmon,” declares the Lord.

⁴“Enter Bethel and do wrong;
In Gilgal multiply wrongdoing!
^(J)Bring your sacrifices every morning,
Your tithes every three days.
⁵^[g]Offer a ^(K)thanksgiving offering also from that which is leavened,
And proclaim ^(L)^[h]voluntary offerings, make them known.
For so you ^(M)love to do, you sons of Israel,”
Declares the Lord God.

⁶“But I gave you also ^(N)cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
And lack of bread in all your places;
Yet you have ^(O)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
⁷“Furthermore, I ^(P)withheld the rain from you
While there were still three months until harvest.
Then I would send rain on one city,
But on ^(Q)another city I would not send rain;
One part would be rained on,
While the part not rained on would dry up.
⁸So the people of two or three cities would stagger to another city to drink ^(R)water,
But would ^(S)not be satisfied;
Yet you have ^(T)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
⁹“I ^(U)struck you with scorching wind and mildew;
The ^(V)caterpillar was devouring
Your many gardens and vineyards, fig trees and olive trees;
Yet you have ^(W)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
¹⁰“I sent a ^(X)plague among you ^[i]as in Egypt;
I ^(Y)killed your young men with the sword, along with your ^(Z)captured horses,
And I made the ^(AA)stench of your camp rise up in your nostrils;
Yet you have ^(AB)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
¹¹“I overthrew you, as ^(AC)God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
And you were like a ^(AD)log snatched from a fire;
Yet you have ^(AE)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
¹²“Therefore so I will do to you, Israel;
Because I will do this to you,
Prepare to ^(AF)meet your God, Israel.”
¹³For behold, He who ^(AG)forms mountains and ^(AH)creates the wind,
And ^(AI)declares to a person what are His thoughts,
He who ^(AJ)makes dawn into darkness
And ^(AK)treads on the high places of the earth,
^(AL)The Lord God of armies is His name.

Footnotes

Amos 4:1 I.e., haughty, prominent women
Amos 4:1 Lit Who
Amos 4:1 Lit lords
Amos 4:2 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
Amos 4:2 Lit he
Amos 4:3 As in LXX; MT will hurl
Amos 4:5 Lit Offer up in smoke
Amos 4:5 Or freewill offerings
Amos 4:10 Lit in the way of Egypt

Amos 5

New American Standard Bible

“Seek Me So That You May Live”

5 Hear this word which I am taking up for you as a ^(A)song of mourning, house of Israel:
²She has fallen, she will ^(B)not rise again—
The ^(C)virgin Israel.
She lies unnoticed on her land;
There is ^(D)no one to raise her up.

³For this is what the Lord ^[a]God says:

“The city which goes forth a thousand strong
Will have a ^(E)hundred left,
And the one which goes forth a hundred strong
Will have ^(F)ten left to the house of Israel.”

⁴For this is what the Lord says to the house of Israel:

“^(G)Seek Me ^(H)so that you may live.
⁵But do not ^[b]resort to ^(I)Bethel
And do not come to ^(J)Gilgal,
Nor cross over to ^(K)Beersheba;
For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity
And Bethel will ^[c]come to nothing.
⁶^(L)Seek the Lord so that you may live,
Or He will break through like a ^(M)fire, ^[d]house of Joseph,
And it will consume with no one to extinguish it for Bethel,
⁷For those who turn ^(N)justice into wormwood,
And ^[e]throw righteousness to the earth.”

⁸He who made the ^(O)Pleiades and Orion,
And ^(P)changes deep darkness into morning,
^[f]Who also ^(Q)darkens day into night,
Who ^(R)calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
The ^(S)Lord is His name.
⁹It is He who ^(T)makes destruction flash upon the strong,
So that ^(U)destruction comes upon the fortress.

¹⁰They hate him who ^(V)rebukes in the ^[g]gate,
And they ^(W)despise him who speaks with integrity.
¹¹Therefore because you impose heavy ^[h]rent on the poor
And take a tribute of grain from them,
Though you have built ^(X)houses of cut stone,
Yet you will not live in them;
You have planted beautiful vineyards, yet you will ^(Y)not drink their wine.
¹²For I know your offenses are many and your sins are great,
You who are ^(Z)hostile to the righteous and accept bribes,
And ^[i]turn away the poor from justice at the ^[j]gate.
¹³Therefore at ^[k]such a time the prudent person ^(AA)keeps quiet, because it is an evil time.

¹⁴Seek good and not evil, so that you may live;
And so may the Lord God of armies be with you,
^(AB)Just as you have said!
¹⁵^(AC)Hate evil, love good,
And establish justice in the ^[l]gate!
Perhaps the Lord God of armies
^(AD)Will be gracious to the ^(AE)remnant of Joseph.

¹⁶Therefore this is what the Lord God of armies, the Lord says:

“There is ^(AF)mourning in all the public squares,
And in all the streets they say, ‘Oh no! Oh no!’
They also call the ^(AG)farmer to mourning
And ^[m]^(AH)professional mourners to mourning rites.
¹⁷And in all the ^(AI)vineyards there is mourning,
Because I will pass through the midst of you,” says the Lord.

¹⁸Woe to you who are longing for the ^(AJ)day of the Lord,
For what ^[n]purpose will the day of the Lord be to you?
It will be ^(AK)darkness and not light;
¹⁹As when a man ^(AL)flees from a lion
And a bear confronts him,
^[o]Or he goes home, leans with his hand against the wall,
And a snake bites him.
²⁰Will the day of the Lord not be ^(AM)darkness instead of light,
Even gloom with no brightness in it?

²¹“I hate, I ^(AN)reject your festivals,
Nor do I ^[p]^(AO)delight in your festive assemblies.
²²Even though you ^(AP)offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the ^(AQ)peace offerings of your fattened oxen.
²³Take away from Me the noise of your songs;
I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.
²⁴But let ^(AR)justice roll out like waters,
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

²⁵“^[q]^(AS)Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, house of Israel? ²⁶^(AT)You also carried along ^[r]Sikkuth your king and ^[s]Kiyyun, your images, ^[t]the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. ²⁷Therefore I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of armies.