Come to Bethel and rebel;
rebel even more at Gilgal!(A)
Bring your sacrifices every morning,(B)
your tenths every three days.
Offer leavened bread as a thanksgiving sacrifice,(C)
and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings,(D)
for that is what you Israelites love to do!(E)

This is the declaration of the Lord God.

God’s Discipline and Israel’s Apostasy

I gave you absolutely nothing to eat[a](F) in all your cities,
a shortage of food in all your communities,
yet you did not return to me.(G)
This is the Lord’s declaration.

I also withheld the rain from you(H)
while there were still three months until harvest.
I sent rain on one city
but no rain on another.(I)
One field received rain
while a field with no rain withered.(J)
Two or three cities staggered
to another city to drink water(K)
but were not satisfied,(L)
yet you did not return(M) to me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

I struck you with blight and mildew;(N)
the locust devoured(O)
your many gardens and vineyards,
your fig trees and olive trees,(P)
yet you did not return to me.(Q)
This is the Lord’s declaration.

10 I sent plagues like those of Egypt;(R)
I killed your young men with the sword,(S)
along with your captured horses.(T)
I caused the stench of your camp
to fill your nostrils,(U)
yet you did not return to me.(V)
This is the Lord’s declaration.

11 I overthrew some of you
as I[b] overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,(W)
and you were like a burning stick
snatched from a fire,(X)
yet you did not return to me(Y)
This is the Lord’s declaration.

12 Therefore, Israel, that is what I will do to you,
and since I will do that to you,
Israel, prepare to meet your God!(Z)
13 He is here:
the one who forms the mountains,(AA)
creates the wind,(AB)
and reveals his thoughts to man,(AC)
the one who makes the dawn out of darkness
and strides on the heights of the earth.(AD)
The Lord, the God of Armies, is his name.(AE)

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Footnotes

  1. 4:6 Lit you cleanness of teeth
  2. 4:11 Lit God

(A)“Come to Bethel, and transgress;
    to (B)Gilgal, and multiply transgression;
(C)bring your (D)sacrifices every morning,
    your tithes every three days;
offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of (E)that which is leavened,
    and proclaim (F)freewill offerings, publish them;
    (G)for so you love to do, O people of Israel!”
declares the Lord God.

Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord

“I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
    and (H)lack of bread in all your places,
(I)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

“I also (J)withheld the rain from you
    when there were yet three months to the harvest;
(K)I would send rain on one city,
    and send no rain on another city;
one field would have rain,
    and the field on which it did not rain would wither;
so two or three cities (L)would wander to another city
    to drink water, and would not be satisfied;
(M)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

(N)“I struck you with blight and mildew;
    your many gardens and your vineyards,
    your fig trees and your olive trees (O)the locust devoured;
(P)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

10 “I sent among you a pestilence (Q)after the manner of Egypt;
    I killed your young men with the sword,
and (R)carried away your horses,[a]
    and (S)I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
(T)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

11 “I overthrew some of you,
    (U)as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
    and you were (V)as a brand[b] plucked out of the burning;
(W)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
    because I will do this to you,
    prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

13 For behold, (X)he who forms the mountains and creates the wind,
    and (Y)declares to man what is his thought,
(Z)who makes the morning darkness,
    and (AA)treads on the heights of the earth—
    (AB)the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 4:10 Hebrew along with the captivity of your horses
  2. Amos 4:11 That is, a burning stick