The Destruction of Israel

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.

(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.
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.
(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.”

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;
(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.

“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?
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.

“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.’

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 9:1 Or on
  2. Amos 9:1 Hebrew all of them

God’s Judgment Unavoidable

I saw the Lord standing beside the (A)altar, and He said,

“Strike the pillar capitals so that the (B)thresholds will shake,
And (C)break them on the heads of them all!
Then I will (D)put to death the rest of them with the sword;
They will (E)not have a fugitive who will flee,
Nor a survivor who will escape.
Though they dig into (F)Sheol,
From there My hand will take them;
And though they (G)ascend to heaven,
From there I will bring them down.
And though they hide on the summit of Carmel,
I will (H)track them down and take them from there;
And though they (I)hide themselves from My sight on the bottom of the sea,
I will command the (J)serpent from there, and it will bite them.
And though they go into (K)captivity before their enemies,
From there I will command the sword and it will kill them,
And I will (L)set My eyes against them for harm and not for good.”

The Lord [a]God of armies,
The One who (M)touches the land so that it quakes,
And (N)all those who live in it mourn,
And all of it rises up like the Nile
And subsides like the Nile of Egypt;
The One who builds His (O)upper chambers in the heavens
And has founded His vaulted dome over the earth,
He who (P)calls for the waters of the sea
And (Q)pours them out on the face of the earth,
(R)The Lord is His name.

“Are you not as the sons of (S)Ethiopia to Me,
You sons of Israel?” declares the Lord.
“Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt,
And the (T)Philistines from Caphtor and the (U)Arameans from (V)Kir?
Behold, the (W)eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom,
And I will (X)eliminate it from the face of the earth;
Nevertheless, I will (Y)not totally eliminate the house of Jacob,”
Declares the Lord.
“For behold, I am commanding,
And I will (Z)shake the house of Israel among all nations
As grain is shaken in a sieve,
But not a pebble will fall to the ground.
10 All the (AA)sinners of My people will die by the sword,
Those who say, ‘(AB)The catastrophe will not overtake or confront us.’

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 9:5 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch