Amos 4:4-13
Holman Christian Standard Bible
4 Come to Bethel and rebel;
rebel even more at Gilgal!(A)
Bring your sacrifices every morning,(B)
your tenths every three days.
5 Offer leavened bread as a thank offering,(C)
and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings,(D)
for that is what you Israelites love to do!(E)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
God’s Discipline and Israel’s Apostasy
6 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.
7 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)
8 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.
9 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[c] thoughts to man,(AC)
the One who makes the dawn out of darkness
and strides on the heights of the earth.(AD)
Yahweh, the God of Hosts, is His name.(AE)
Amos 4:4-13
International Standard Version
The Lord’s Rebuke to Israel
4 “Come to Bethel and sin,
to Gilgal and sin even more!
Bring along your morning sacrifices,
and pay your tithes every other day.[a]
5 While you’re at it,[b] present a thank offering with leaven,
and publicize your freewill offerings,
letting everyone hear about it,
because this is what you really love to do, you Israelis,”
declares the Lord God.
Israel’s Refusal to Return to God
6 “I also have scheduled[c] food shortages[d] for you in all of your cities,
and lack of bread in all of your settlements,
but you haven’t returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
7 “I therefore have withheld the rain from you
three months before the harvest,
causing rain to come upon one city,
but not upon another,
and upon one field
but not upon another,
so that it would wither.
8 So the people of[e] two or three cities staggered away to another[f] city
in order to obtain drinking water,
but you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
9 “I afflicted you with blight and fungus;
and the locust swarm devoured the harvest
of your gardens, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees,
but you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
10 “I sent plagues among you as I did with Egypt.
I killed your choicest young men with the sword.
I took your horses away from you.
I filled your noses with the stench of your encampments,
but you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew your cities,[g]
as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
You’ve become like a burning ember, snatched from the fire,
but you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel.
Because I am about to do this,
prepare to be summoned to your God, Israel!”
13 Look! The one who crafts mountains,
who creates the wind,
who reveals what he is thinking to mankind,
who darkens the morning light,
who tramples down the high places of the land—
the Lord, the God of the Heavenly Armies is his name.
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