Add parallel Print Page Options

Hear this word, ye fat kine that are in the mountains of Samaria: you that oppress the needy, and crush the poor: that say to your masters: Bring, and we will drink.

The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness, that lo, the days shall come upon you, when they shall lift you up on pikes, and what shall remain of you in boiling pots.

And you shall go out at the breaches one over against the other, and you shall be cast forth into Armon, saith the Lord.

Come ye to Bethel, and do wickedly: to Galgal, and multiply transgressions: and bring in the morning your victims, your tithes in three days.

And offer a sacrifice of praise with leaven: and call free offerings, and proclaim it: for so you would do, O children of Israel, saith the Lord God.

Whereupon I also have given you dulness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet you have not returned to me, saith the Lord.

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 I rained not, withered.

And two and three cities went to one city to drink water, and were not filled: yet you returned not to me, saith the Lord.

I struck you with a burning wind, and with mildew, the palmerworm hath eaten up your many gardens, and your vineyards: your olive groves, and fig groves: yet you returned not to me, saith the Lord.

10 I sent death upon you in the way of Egypt, I slew your young men with the sword, even to the captivity of your horses: and I made the stench of your camp to come up into your nostrils: yet you returned not to me, saith the Lord.

11 I destroyed some of you, as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, and you were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet you returned not to me, saith the Lord.

12 Therefore I will do these things to thee, O Israel: and after I shall have done these things to thee, be prepared to meet thy God, O Israel.

13 For behold he that formeth the mountains and createth the wind, and declareth his word to man, he that maketh the morning mist, and walketh upon the high places of the earth: the Lord the God of hosts is his name.

Israel Has Not Returned to God

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan(A) on Mount Samaria,(B)
    you women who oppress the poor(C) and crush the needy(D)
    and say to your husbands,(E) “Bring us some drinks!(F)
The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness:
    “The time(G) will surely come
when you will be taken away(H) with hooks,(I)
    the last of you with fishhooks.[a]
You will each go straight out
    through breaches in the wall,(J)
    and you will be cast out toward Harmon,[b]
declares the Lord.
“Go to Bethel(K) and sin;
    go to Gilgal(L) and sin yet more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,(M)
    your tithes(N) every three years.[c](O)
Burn leavened bread(P) as a thank offering
    and brag about your freewill offerings(Q)
boast about them, you Israelites,
    for this is what you love to do,”
declares the Sovereign Lord.

“I gave you empty stomachs in every city
    and lack of bread in every town,
    yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.(R)

“I also withheld(S) rain from you
    when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
    but withheld it from another.(T)
One field had rain;
    another had none and dried up.
People staggered from town to town for water(U)
    but did not get enough(V) to drink,
    yet you have not returned(W) to me,”
declares the Lord.(X)

“Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
    destroying them with blight and mildew.(Y)
Locusts(Z) devoured your fig and olive trees,(AA)
    yet you have not returned(AB) to me,”
declares the Lord.

10 “I sent plagues(AC) among you
    as I did to Egypt.(AD)
I killed your young men(AE) with the sword,
    along with your captured horses.
I filled your nostrils with the stench(AF) of your camps,
    yet you have not returned to me,”(AG)
declares the Lord.(AH)

11 “I overthrew some of you
    as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.(AI)
You were like a burning stick(AJ) snatched from the fire,
    yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.(AK)

12 “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,
    and because I will do this to you, Israel,
    prepare to meet your God.”

13 He who forms the mountains,(AL)
    who creates the wind,(AM)
    and who reveals his thoughts(AN) to mankind,
who turns dawn to darkness,
    and treads on the heights of the earth(AO)
    the Lord God Almighty is his name.(AP)

Footnotes

  1. Amos 4:2 Or away in baskets, / the last of you in fish baskets
  2. Amos 4:3 Masoretic Text; with a different word division of the Hebrew (see Septuagint) out, you mountain of oppression
  3. Amos 4:4 Or days