Amos 4
American Standard Version
4 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say unto their lords, Bring, and let us drink. 2 The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that they shall take you away with hooks, and your residue with fish-hooks. 3 And ye shall go out at the breaches, every one straight before her; [a]and ye shall cast yourselves into Harmon, saith Jehovah.
4 Come to Beth-el, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes every three days; 5 and [b]offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim freewill-offerings and publish them: for this pleaseth you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah.
6 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places; yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah. 7 And I also have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. 8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah. 9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: the multitude of your gardens and your vineyards and your fig-trees and your olive-trees hath the palmer-worm devoured: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah. 10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, [c]and have carried away your horses; and I have made the stench of your camp to come up even into your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah. 11 I have overthrown cities among you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a brand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel; and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. 13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought; that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth—Jehovah, the God of hosts, is his name.
Amos 4
Easy-to-Read Version
The Women Who Love Pleasure
4 Listen to me, you cows of Bashan[a] on Samaria’s mountain. You hurt the poor and crush those in need. You tell your husbands,[b] “Bring us something to drink!”
2 The Lord God made a promise. He promised by his holiness that troubles will come to you. People will use hooks and take you away as prisoners. They will use fishhooks to take away your children. 3 Your city will be destroyed. The women will rush out through cracks in the wall and throw themselves onto the pile of dead bodies.[c]
This is what the Lord says: 4 “Go to Bethel and sin. Go to Gilgal[d] and sin even more. Offer your sacrifices in the morning. Bring a tenth of your crops for the three-day festival. 5 And offer a thank offering made with yeast. Tell everyone about the freewill offerings.[e] Israel, you love to do those things. So go and do them.” This is what the Lord God said.
6 “I didn’t give you any food to eat.[f] There was no food in any of your cities, but you didn’t come back to me.” This is what the Lord said.
7 “I also stopped the rain, and it was three months before harvest time. So no crops grew. Then I let it rain on one city, but not on another city. Rain fell on one part of the country, but on the other part of the country, the land became very dry. 8 So the people from two or three cities staggered to another city to get water, but there was not enough water for everyone. Still you didn’t come to me for help.” This is what the Lord said.
9 “I made your crops die from heat and disease. I destroyed your gardens and your vineyards. Locusts ate your fig trees and olive trees. But you still didn’t come to me for help.” This is what the Lord said.
10 “I sent diseases against you, as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with swords. I took away your horses. I made your camp smell very bad from all the dead bodies, but still you didn’t come back to me for help.” This is what the Lord said.
11 “I destroyed you as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. And those cities were completely destroyed. You were like a burned stick pulled from a fire, but still you didn’t come back to me for help.” This is what the Lord says.
12 “So, Israel, this is what I will do to you. You people of Israel, prepare to meet your God.”
13 He is the one who made the mountains.
He created the wind.[g]
He lets people know his thoughts.
He changes the darkness into dawn.
He walks over the mountains of the earth.
His name is Yahweh, Lord God All-Powerful.
Footnotes
- Amos 4:1 cows of Bashan This means the wealthy women in Samaria. Bashan, an area east of the Jordan River, was famous for its big bulls and cows.
- Amos 4:1 your husbands Literally, “their masters.”
- Amos 4:3 throw … dead bodies Or “You will be thrown away. People will take you to Mount Hermon.” The Hebrew text here is hard to understand. It is not clear if the women will be “thrown away” or if the women will be “throwing something away.”
- Amos 4:4 Bethel … Gilgal Places of worship for the people of Israel. God wanted the people of Israel and the people of Judah to worship him only in the Temple at Jerusalem.
- Amos 4:5 Offer your sacrifices … freewill offerings All these things were against the Law of Moses. The leaders and false priests started these new festivals and different ways of worshiping God.
- Amos 4:6 I didn’t give you any food to eat Literally, “I gave you clean teeth.”
- Amos 4:13 the wind Or “your minds.”
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International