I will break down the gate of Damascus; I will destroy the king who is in the Valley of Aven and the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden. The people of Aram will go into exile to Kir,” says the Lord.

“I also raised up prophets from among your children and Nazirites from among your youths. Is this not true, people of Israel?” declares the Lord.

Witnesses Summoned Against Israel

Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against you—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:

When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?

Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod and to the fortresses of Egypt: “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria; see the great unrest within her and the oppression among her people.”

People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord.

“Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?

Woe to the Complacent

Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!

If ten people are left in one house, they too will die.

And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” “A plumb line,” I replied. Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.

But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

“What do you see, Amos?” he asked. “A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered. Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.

People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.

Israel to Be Destroyed

I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Bring them down on the heads of all the people; those who are left I will kill with the sword. Not one will get away, none will escape.

“For I will give the command, and I will shake the people of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will reach the ground.

All the sinners among my people will die by the sword, all those who say, ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’

and I will bring my people Israel back from exile. “They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.