Beginning

6 Woe to you, that be full of riches in Zion, and trust in the hill of Samaria, ye principal men, the heads of peoples, that go proudly to the house of Israel. (Woe to you, who be very rich in Zion, and trust in the hill of Samaria, ye principal men, yea, the leaders of the people, whom the house of Israel proudly followeth.)

² Go ye into Calneh, and see ye, and go ye from thence into Hemath the great; and go ye down into Gath of Palestines, and to all the best realms of them, if their term be broader than your term. (Go ye into Calneh, and see ye, and go ye from there into the great city of Hamath; and go ye down into Gath of the Philistines, for be those kingdoms any better than yours? or be their territories any broader, or larger, than your territories?)

³ And ye be parted into the evil day, and nigh to the seat of wickedness; (And ye declare that the evil day is far off, and yet ye do the very wicked things that shall bring it nigh;)

⁴ and ye sleep in beds of ivory, and do lechery in your beds; and ye eat a lamb of the flock, and calves of the middle of the drove (and ye eat a lamb from the flock, and calves out of the midst of the herd);

⁵ and ye sing at the voice of (the) psaltery. As David they guessed them, for to have (made) instruments of song, (and ye sing with the voice of the lute, for ye think yourselves like David, and so make instruments of song;)

⁶ and drink wine in vials; and with best ointment they were anointed; and in nothing they had compassion on the sorrow, either defouling, of Joseph. (and drink wine from basins, and anoint yourselves with the best ointment; but ye have no compassion on the sorrow, or on the defiling, of Joseph.)

⁷ Wherefore now they shall pass in the head of men passing over, and the doing, or treason, of men doing lechery, shall be done away. (And so now ye shall be the first to go into captivity, and then the treason of people doing lechery, shall be done away, or shall be ended.)

⁸ The Lord God swore in his soul, saith the Lord God of hosts, I loathe the pride of Jacob, and I hate the houses of him, and I shall betake the city with his dwellers; (The Lord God swore in his soul, saith the Lord God of hosts, yea, I loathe Jacob’s pride, or his arrogance, and I hate his houses, and I shall deliver the city and its inhabitants unto the enemy;)

⁹ that if ten men be left in one house, and they shall die. (and if only ten men be left in one house, they shall still all die.)

¹⁰ And his neighbour shall take him, and shall burn him, that he bear out (the) bones of the house. And he shall say to him, that is in the privy place of the house, Whether there is yet (any) with thee? And he shall answer, An end is. And he shall say to him, Be thou still, and think thou not on the name of the Lord. (And his friend, or his relative, shall take him up, to bury him, and he shall carry his bones out of the house. And he shall say to him who is in the private place of the house, Is there anyone left in there with thee? And he shall answer, No. And he shall say to him, Be thou silent, and do not thou even say the Lord’s name.)

¹¹ For lo! the Lord shall command, and shall smite the greater house with fallings, and the less(er) house with carvings, either (with) breakings.

¹² Whether horses may run in stones, either it may be eared with wild oxen? For ye turned doom into bitterness, and the fruit of rightwiseness into wormwood. (Can horses run on stones, or can the sea be plowed with oxen? For ye turned justice into bitterness, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood.)

¹³ And ye be glad in nought, and ye say, Whether not in our strength we took to us horns? (And ye be happy over nothing, and ye say, Did we not get our power by our own strength?)

¹⁴ Lo! I shall raise on you, the house of Israel, saith the Lord God of hosts, a folk; and it shall all-break you from the entry of Hemath unto the stream of desert. (Lo! O house of Israel, I shall raise up a nation against you, saith the Lord God of hosts; and it shall altogether break you from the entrance to Hamath unto the Stream of the Arabah, or the Brook of the Desert.)

7 The Lord God showed these things to me; and lo! a maker of locust(s) in the beginning of burgeoning things of eventide rain, and lo! eventide rain after the clipper of the king. (The Lord God showed these things to me; and lo! he made locusts at the beginning of the burgeoning things of the late growth, and lo! it was the late growth after the king’s clippings, or the first cutting.)

² And it was done, when he had ended for to eat the herb of (the) earth, I said, Lord God, I beseech, be thou merciful; who shall raise Jacob, for he is little? (And it was done, when the locusts had finished eating the herbs of the earth, I said, Lord God, I beseech thee, be thou merciful; who shall raise up Jacob, for he is so small?/for they be so weak?)

³ The Lord had mercy on this thing; It shall not be, said the Lord God.

⁴ The Lord God showed to me these things; and lo! the Lord God shall call doom to fire, and it shall devour much depth of water, and it ate (al)together a part. (The Lord God showed me these things; and lo! the Lord God called judgement into the fire, and it devoured a great depth of water, and it ate a part of it.)

⁵ And I said, Lord God, I beseech, rest thou; who shall raise Jacob, for he is little? (And I said, Lord God, I beseech thee, rest thou; for who shall raise up Jacob, for he is so small?/for they be so weak?)

⁶ The Lord had mercy on this thing; But also and this thing shall not be, said the Lord God. (The Lord had mercy on this thing; And also this shall not be, said the Lord God.)

⁷ The Lord God showed to me these things; and lo! the Lord standing on a wall pargeted, or plastered, and in the hand of him was a trowel of a mason. (The Lord God showed me these things; and lo! the Lord was standing by a plastered wall; and in his hand was a mason’s trowel/was a plumb line.)

⁸ And the Lord said to me, What seest thou, Amos? And I said, A trowel of a mason. And the Lord said, Lo! I shall put a trowel in the middle of my people Israel; I shall no more put to, for to over-lead it; (And the Lord said to me, What seest thou, Amos? And I said, A mason’s trowel/A plumb line. And the Lord said, Lo! I shall put a trowel in the midst of my people Israel/I shall put a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; no more shall I pass them by;)

⁹ and the high things of idol shall be destroyed, and the hallowings of Israel shall be desolate; and I shall rise on the house of Jeroboam by sword. (and the high places, or the hill shrines, of Isaac shall be destroyed, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be made desolate; and I shall rise against the house of Jeroboam with a sword.)

¹⁰ And Amaziah, priest of Bethel, sent to Jeroboam, king of Israel, and said, Amos rebelled against thee, in the middle of the house of Israel; the land may not sustain all his words. (And Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam, the king of Israel, and said, Amos is conspiring against thee in the midst of the house of Israel; the land cannot survive all his words.)

¹¹ For Amos saith these things, Jeroboam shall die by sword, and Israel (taken) captive shall pass from his land. (For Amos saith these things; Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and the people of Israel shall be taken away captive from their own land.)

¹² And Amaziah said to Amos, Thou that seest, go; flee thou into the land of Judah, and eat thou there thy bread; and there thou shalt prophesy. (And then Amaziah said to Amos, Go thou away, O seer/O prophet; flee thou into the land of Judah, and eat thy food there; and there thou shalt prophesy.)

¹³ And thou shalt no more put to, that thou prophesy in Bethel, for it is the hallowing of the king, and is the house of the realm. (But no more shalt thou come forth here, so that thou prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s place of worship, and the house of the realm/for it is the sanctuary of the king, and a royal palace.)

¹⁴ And Amos answered, and said to Amaziah, I am not a prophet, and I am not [the] son of a prophet; but an herder of neat I am, drawing up sycamores. (And Amos answered, and said to Amaziah, I am not a prophet, and I am not the son of a prophet; but I am a herdsman, and a gatherer of the figs of the sycamores.)

¹⁵ And the Lord took me, when I followed the flock; and the Lord said to me, Go, and prophesy thou to my people Israel.

¹⁶ And now hear thou the word of the Lord. Thou sayest, Thou shalt not prophesy on Israel, and thou shalt not drop (thy word) on the house of idol. (And so now hear the word of the Lord. Thou hast said, Thou shalt not prophesy against Israel, and thou shalt not drop thy word against the house of Isaac.)

¹⁷ For this thing the Lord saith these things, Thy wife shall do fornication in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by sword, and thy land shall be meted with a little cord; and thou shalt die in a polluted land, and Israel (taken) captive shall pass from his land. (For this thing the Lord saith these things, Thy wife shall go a whoring in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be measured with a little cord; and thou shalt die in a polluted land, and the people of Israel shall be taken away captive from their own land.)

8 The Lord God showed to me these things; and lo! an hook of apples. (The Lord God showed me these things; and lo! a basket of summer fruit.)

² And the Lord said, What seest thou, Amos? And I said, An hook of apples. And the Lord said to me, The end is come on my people Israel; I shall no more put to, that I pass by him. (And the Lord said, What seest thou, Amos? And I said, A basket of summer fruit^[a]. And the Lord said to me, The end is come for my people Israel; no more shall I pass them by.)

³ And the hinges, either twists, of the temple shall greatly sound in that day, saith the Lord God. Many men shall die, silence shall be cast forth in each place. (And on that day, wailings shall be heard in the palace, saith the Lord God. Many shall die everywhere; they shall be thrown out in silence./Many shall die; they shall be thrown out everywhere! Silence!)

⁴ Hear ye this thing, which all-break a poor man, and make needy men of the land for to fail; (Hear ye this, which shall altogether break the poor, and shall make the needy of the land to fail;)

⁵ and ye say, When shall harvest pass, and we shall sell merchandises? and the sabbath, and we shall open (our) wheat (again)? that we make less the measure, and increase the shekel, and that we set privily guileful balances; (and ye say, When shall the new moon pass, and then we can sell our corn again? and the sabbath end, and we can sell our wheat again? and we can make the measure less, and increase the shekel, and we can secretly, or privately, set deceptive balances, or scales, again;)

⁶ that we wield for silver needy men, and poor men for shoes, and we sell outcastings of wheat? (and we can buy the needy for some silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes, and we can sell the refuse of our wheat again?)

⁷ The Lord swore against the pride of Jacob, (yea,) I shall not forget till to the end all the works of them. (The Lord swore by the pride of Jacob, Yea, I shall never forget any of their works, or their deeds.)

⁸ Whether on this thing, the earth shall not be moved together, and each dweller thereof shall mourn? And it shall go up as all the flood, and shall be cast out, and shall float away, as the strand of Egypt. (For on this matter, shall not the earth be altogether moved, and each of its inhabitants shall mourn? It all shall go up like a river, and shall be thrown out, and shall flow away, like the River of Egypt, that is, the Nile.)

⁹ And it shall be, saith the Lord, in that day the sun shall go down in midday, and I shall make the earth to be dark in the day of light. (And it shall be, saith the Lord, on that day the sun shall go down at midday, and I shall make the earth to be dark in the light of day.)

¹⁰ And I shall convert your feast days into mourning, and all your songs into wailing; and I shall bring in on each back of you a sackcloth, and on each head of you baldness; and I shall put it as the mourning of [an] one begotten son, and the last things thereof as a bitter day. (And I shall turn your feast days into mourning, and all your songs into wailing; and I shall put a sackcloth on every back, and baldness on every head; and I shall make it like the mourning for an only son, and the last things, or the end, of it shall be like a bitter day.)

¹¹ Lo! the days come, saith the Lord [God], and I shall send out hunger into (the) earth; not hunger of bread, neither thirst of water, but of hearing the word of God (Lo! the days shall come, saith the Lord God, and I shall send out hunger, or famine, into the earth; not a hunger for food, or a thirst for water, but a hunger for hearing the word of God.)

¹² And they shall be moved (al)together from the sea till to the sea, and from the north till to the east they shall compass (about), seeking the word of the Lord, and they shall not find. (And they shall wander about from the Dead Sea unto the Mediterranean Sea, and they shall go all around, from the north unto the east, seeking the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.)

¹³ In that day fair maidens shall fail, and young men in thirst, (On that day beautiful young women, and strong young men, shall fail for thirst,)

¹⁴ which swear in the trespass of Samaria, and say, Dan, thy god liveth, and the way of Beersheba liveth; and they shall fall, and they shall no more rise again. (yea, they who swear by the trespass of Samaria, and say, O Dan, as thy god liveth, or By the god of Dan, and By the sacred way of Beersheba; they all shall fall, and they shall never rise again.)

9 I saw the Lord standing on the altar, and he said, Smite thou the hinge(s), and the over-thresholds, either lintels, be moved (al)together; for avarice is in the head of all, and I shall slay by sword the last of them; there shall no flight be to them, and he that shall flee of them, shall not be saved. (I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said, Strike thou the hinges, and the lintels be shaken; for greed is in all their hearts, and I shall kill all of them with the sword; there shall be no escape for them, and even he who shall flee, shall not be saved.)

² If they shall go down till to hell, from thence mine hand shall lead out them; and if they shall ascend till to heaven, from thence I shall draw them down. (Yea, if they shall go down to Sheol, or the land of the dead, my hand shall bring them out of there; and if they shall go up to heaven, I shall pull them down from there.)

³ And if they shall be hid in the top of Carmel, from thence I seeking shall do them away (And if they shall be hidden on top of Mount Carmel, I shall seek them out there, and I shall do them away); and if they shall hide themselves from mine eyes in the deepness of the sea, there I shall command a serpent, and it shall bite them, (and devour them).

⁴ And if they shall go away into captivity before their enemies, there I shall command to sword, and it shall slay them. And I shall put mine eyes on them into evil, and not into good. (And if they be taken away into captivity by their enemies, I shall command to the sword there, and it shall kill them. I shall look upon them for evil, and not for good/I shall look at them to do evil, and not to do good.)

⁵ And the Lord God of hosts shall do these things, (he) that toucheth earth, and it shall fail, and all men dwelling therein shall mourn; and it shall go up as each strand, and it shall float away as the flood of Egypt. (And the Lord God of hosts shall do these things, yea, he who toucheth the earth, and it faileth, and all the people living there shall mourn; and it shall go up like a stream, and it shall flow away like the River of Egypt.)

⁶ He that buildeth his going up in heaven, shall do these things, and founded his burden on earth; which calleth waters of the sea, and poureth out them on the face of (the) earth; the Lord is (the) name of him. (He who buildeth his stairway in the heavens, and putteth his dome over the earth, shall do these things; who calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; the Lord is his name.)

⁷ Whether not as the sons of Ethiopians ye be to me, the sons of Israel? saith the Lord God. Whether I made not Israel for to go up from the land of Egypt, and Palestines from Cappadocia, and Syrians from Kir? (Be ye not like the Ethiopians to me, ye Israelites? saith the Lord God. Did I not make Israel to go up from the land of Egypt, like the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians, or the Aramaeans, from Kir?)

⁸ Lo! the eyes of the Lord God be on the realm sinning (Lo! the eyes of the Lord God be upon the sinning realm, or upon this sinful kingdom), and I shall all-break it from (off) the face of [the] earth; nevertheless I all-breaking shall not all-break the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.

⁹ For lo! I shall command, and shall shake together the house of Israel in all folks, as wheat is shaken together in a riddle, and a little stone shall not fall on the earth. (For lo! I shall command, and shall altogether shake the house of Israel among all the nations, like corn, or grain, is altogether shaken in a sieve, and yet a little stone of it shall not fall upon the earth.)

¹⁰ All sinners of my people shall die by sword, which say, Evil shall not nigh, and shall not come on us. (All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, yea, they who say, Evil shall not come near us, and it shall not come upon us.)

¹¹ In that day I shall raise the tabernacle of David, that fell down, and I shall again-build openings of the walls thereof, and I shall restore the things that fell down; and I shall again-build it, as in old days, (On that day I shall raise up David’s house, that fell down, and I shall rebuild, or repair, the openings in its walls, and I shall restore the things that fell down; and I shall rebuild it, like in the old days,)

¹² that they wield the remnants of Idumea, and all nations; for that my name is called to help on them, saith the Lord doing these things. (so that they possess the remnants of Edom, and of all the nations that were once called mine, saith the Lord, and he shall do this.)

¹³ Lo! days come, saith the Lord, and the earer shall (over)take the reaper (Lo! days shall come, and the plowman shall overtake the harvester), and the treader, or (the) stamper, of grape(s) shall (over)take the man sowing seed; and mountains shall drop sweetness, and all small hills shall be tilled.

¹⁴ And I shall convert the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build (up the) forsaken cities, and shall dwell; and shall plant vineyards, and they shall drink wine of them; and shall make gardens, and shall eat fruits of them. (And I shall restore the prosperity of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the deserted cities, and they shall live in them; and they shall plant vineyards, and shall drink their wine; and they shall make gardens, and shall eat their fruit.)

¹⁵ And I shall plant them on their land, and I shall no more draw out them of their land, which I gave to them, saith the Lord thy God. (And I shall plant them on their land, and no more shall I pull them out of their land, which I gave them, saith the Lord thy God.)