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Sinful Israelites Will Die by the Sword

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

“Strike the capitals so that the (B)thresholds will quake,
And (C)break them on the heads of them all!
Then I will (D)kill the rest of them with the sword;
(E)Not one of them who can flee will flee,
And not one of them who can survive will escape.
Though they dig into (F)Sheol,
From there will My hand take them;
And though they (G)ascend to heaven,
From there will I bring them down.
And though they hide on the [a]top of Carmel,
From there I will (H)search them out and take them;
And though they (I)conceal themselves from My eyes on the floor of the sea,
From there I will command the (J)serpent, and it will bite them.
And though they go into (K)captivity before their enemies,
From there I will command the sword that it kill them,
And I will (L)set My eyes against them for evil and not for good.”

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

“Are you not as the sons of (S)Ethiopia to Me,
O sons of Israel?” declares Yahweh.
“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 Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom,
And I will (X)destroy it from the face of the earth;
Nevertheless, I will (Y)not totally destroy the house of Jacob,”
Declares Yahweh.
“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 [c]kernel will fall to the ground.
10 All the (AA)sinners of My people will die by the sword,
Those who say, ‘(AB)The calamity will not overtake or confront us.’

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 9:3 Lit head, cf. 9:1
  2. Amos 9:6 Or stairs
  3. Amos 9:9 Or pebble

The Destruction of Israel

I saw the Lord standing beside[a] the altar, and he said:

Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake
    and shatter them on the heads of all the people,[b]
and those who are left I will kill with the sword;
    not one of them shall flee away,
    not one of them shall escape.(A)

Though they dig into Sheol,
    from there shall my hand take them;
though they climb up to heaven,
    from there I will bring them down.(B)
Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
    from there I will search out and take them;
and though they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
    there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.(C)
And though they go into captivity in front of their enemies,
    there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them;
and I will fix my eyes on them
    for harm and not for good.(D)

The Lord, God of hosts,
he who touches the earth and it melts,
    and all who live in it mourn,
and all of it rises like the Nile
    and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt,(E)
who builds his upper chambers in the heavens
    and founds his vault upon the earth,
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—
the Lord is his name.(F)

Are you not like the Cushites to me,
    O people of Israel? says the Lord.
Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt
    and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?(G)
The eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,
    and I will destroy it from the face of the earth
    —except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,
            says the Lord.(H)

For I will command
    and shake the house of Israel among all the nations,
as one shakes with a sieve
    but no pebble shall fall to the ground.(I)
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
    who say, “Evil shall not overtake or meet us.”(J)

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Footnotes

  1. 9.1 Or on
  2. 9.1 Heb all of them