God’s Judgment Unavoidable

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

“Smite the capitals so that the (B)thresholds will shake,
And (C)break them on the heads of them all!
Then I will (D)slay the rest of them with the sword;
They will (E)not have a fugitive who will flee,
Or a refugee who 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.
“Though they hide on the summit of Carmel,
I will (H)search them out and take them from there;
And though they (I)conceal themselves from My sight 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 slay them,
And I will (L)set My eyes against them for evil and not for good.”

The Lord [a]God of hosts,
The One who (M)touches the land so that it melts,
And (N)all those who dwell in 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,
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,
O 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)destroy it from the face of the earth;
Nevertheless, I will (Y)not totally destroy 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 [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 9:5 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
  2. Amos 9:6 Or stairs
  3. Amos 9:9 Or pebble