Amos 9
Contemporary English Version
Judgment on Israel
9 I saw a vision of the Lord
standing by the temple altar,[a]
and he said,
“Shake the columns
until the tops fall loose,
and the doorposts crumble.
Then make the pieces fall
on the people below.
I will take a sword and kill
anyone who escapes.
2 “If they dig deep into the earth
or climb to the sky,
I'll reach out and get them.
3 If they escape to the peaks
of Mount Carmel,
I'll search and find them.
And if they hide from me
at the bottom of the ocean,
I'll command a sea monster
to bite them.
4 I'll send a sword to kill them,
wherever their enemies
drag them off as captives.
I'm determined to hurt them,
not to help them.”
His Name Is the Lord
5 When the Lord God All-Powerful
touches the earth, it melts,
and its people mourn.
God makes the earth rise
and then fall,
just like the Nile River.
6 He built his palace in the heavens
and let its foundations
rest on the earth.[b]
He scoops up the ocean
and empties it on the earth.
His name is the Lord.
The Lord Is God
7 Israel, I am the Lord God,
and the Ethiopians[c]
are no less important to me
than you are.
I brought you out of Egypt,
but I also brought
the Philistines from Crete[d]
and the Arameans from Kir.[e]
8 My eyes have seen
what a sinful nation you are,
and I'll wipe you out.
But I will leave a few
of Jacob's descendants.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
9 At my command, all of you
will be sifted like grain.
Israelites who remain faithful
will be scattered
among the nations.
And the others will be trapped
like trash in a sifter.
10 Some of you are evil,
and you deny
that you will ever get caught.
But you will be killed.
The Lord's Promise to Israel
11 (A) In the future, I will rebuild
David's fallen kingdom.
I will build it from its ruins
and set it up again,
just as it used to be.
12 Then you will capture Edom
and the other nations
that are mine.
I, the Lord, have spoken,
and my words will come true.
13 You will have such a harvest
that you won't be able
to bring in all of your wheat
before plowing time.
You will have grapes left over
from season to season;
your fruitful vineyards
will cover the mountains.
14 I'll make Israel prosper again.
You will rebuild your towns
and live in them.
You will drink wine
from your own vineyards
and eat the fruit you grow.
15 I'll plant your roots deep
in the land I have given you,
and you won't ever
be uprooted again.
I, the Lord God, have spoken!
Footnotes
- 9.1 the temple altar: The one at Bethel.
- 9.6 He built … earth: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 9.7 Ethiopians: The Hebrew text has “people of Cush,” which was a region south of Egypt that included parts of the present countries of Ethiopia and Sudan.
- 9.7 Crete: Hebrew “Caphtor.”
- 9.7 Philistines … Arameans from Kir: The Philistines were Israel's enemies to the west, and the Arameans were enemies to the northeast. For Kir, see the note at 1.5.
Amos 9
English Standard Version
The Destruction of Israel
9 I saw the Lord standing beside[a] the altar, and he said:
(A)“Strike the capitals until (B)the thresholds (C)shake,
(D)and shatter them on the heads of all the people;[b]
and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword;
(E)not one of them shall flee away;
not one of them shall escape.
2 (F)“If they dig into Sheol,
from there shall my hand take them;
(G)if they climb up to heaven,
from there I will bring them down.
3 If they hide themselves on (H)the top of Carmel,
from there I will search them out and take them;
(I)and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.
4 (J)And if they go into captivity before their enemies,
there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them;
(K)and I will fix my eyes upon them
for evil and not for good.”
5 The Lord God of hosts,
he who touches the earth and (L)it melts,
and all who dwell in it mourn,
(M)and all of it rises like the Nile,
(N)and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;
6 (O)who builds his upper chambers in the heavens
and founds his vault upon the earth;
(P)who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—
(Q)the Lord is his name.
7 “Are you not like (R)the Cushites to me,
O people of Israel?” declares the Lord.
(S)“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
and (T)the Philistines from (U)Caphtor and the Syrians from (V)Kir?
8 Behold, (W)the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,
(X)except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.
9 “For behold, I will command,
(Y)and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who say, (Z)‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’
The Restoration of Israel
11 “In that day (AA)I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
and raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
12 (AB)that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and (AC)all the nations who are called by my name,”[c]
declares the Lord who does this.
13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
(AD)“when the plowman shall overtake the reaper
and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
(AE)the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and all the hills shall flow with it.
14 (AF)I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and (AG)they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
(AH)they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 (AI)I will plant them on their land,
(AJ)and they shall never again be uprooted
out of the land (AK)that I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.
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