Beginning
Amos is Called to Prophesy
1 The words of Amos,[a] who was among the sheep breeders of Tekoa, which he spoke[b] concerning Israel during the reign of[c] Uzziah, king of Judah and during the reign of[d] Joash’s son Jeroboam, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2 He said, “From Zion the Lord roars,
and from Jerusalem he shouts aloud.
The shepherds’ pastures will languish,
and Carmel’s summit will wither.”
A Warning to Damascus
3 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Damascus
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they have trampled down[e] Gilead
with ironclad threshing sleds.
4 So I will send down fire upon the house of Hazael,
and it will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
5 I will shatter the gate bars of Damascus,
and I will cut off the residents of the Aven Valley,
along with the one who holds the scepter from Beth-eden;
and the people of Aram will be exiled to Kir,”
says the Lord.
A Warning to Gaza
6 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Gaza
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they exiled the entire population,
delivering them to Edom.
7 So I will send down fire upon the wall of Gaza,
and it will devour their fortified citadels;
8 and I will cut off the inhabitants of Ashdod,
along with Ashkelon’s ruler.[f]
I will turn to attack[g] Ekron,
and the rest of the Philistines will die,”
says the Lord God.
A Warning to Tyre
9 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Tyre
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they delivered the entire population to Edom,
and did not remember their covenant with their relatives.[h]
10 So I will send down fire upon the wall of Tyre,
and it will devour their fortified citadels.”
A Warning to Edom
11 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Edom
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because he[i] pursued his brother with a sword,
refusing to be compassionate.[j]
His anger was raging[k] continuously;
he kept up his unending wrath.
12 So I will send down fire upon Teman,
and it will devour the fortified citadels of Bozrah.”
A Warning to Ammon
13 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of the Ammonites
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead
in order to enlarge their national borders.[l]
14 So I will send down fire upon the wall of Rabbah,
and it will devour their fortified citadels
with an alarm sounding in the time of battle,
and with a whirlwind in the time of storm.
15 Their king will go into captivity—
he and his princes together,”
says the Lord.
A Warning to Moab
2 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Moab
because they[m] cremated the bones of the king of Edom,
burning them[n] to lime.
2 So I will send down fire upon Moab,
and it will devour the fortified citadels of Kerioth.
Moab will die in the uproar of battle,[o]
with a war cry
and with the trumpeting of the ram’s horn.
3 I will execute their rulers among them,
killing all of their officials as well,”
says the Lord.
A Warning to Judah
4 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Judah
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they[p] rejected the Law of the Lord
and did not keep his statutes.
Their own lies made them wander off,
following along the same path their ancestors walked.
5 So I will send down fire upon Judah,
and it will devour the fortified citadels of Jerusalem.”
A Warning to Israel
6 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Israel
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they sold the righteous for money,
and the poor for sandals,
7 moving quickly[q] to rub the face[r] of the needy in the dirt.
Corrupting[s] the ways of the humble,
a man and his father go to the same woman,
deliberately defiling my holy name.
8 They lay down beside every altar,
on garments pledged as collateral,[t]
drinking wine paid for through fines
imposed by the temple of their gods.
9 Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorites in front of them,
though their height seemed like a cedar,[u]
though their strength seemed like an oak,
but whose fruit I destroyed from above
and the roots from beneath.
10 Furthermore, I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
leading you in the wilderness for 40 years,
to take possession of the land of the Amorites.
11 I also raised up your sons to be prophets,
and from your young men I raised up Nazirites.[v]
Is this not true, people of Israel?”
declares the Lord.
12 “But you forced the Nazirites to drink wine,
and commanded the prophets,
‘You are not to prophesy!’
13 “Oh, how I am burdened down with you,
as a wagon is overloaded with harvested grain!
14 So the swift runner will not escape,[w]
the valiant will not fortify his strength,
and the mighty warrior will not save his life.
15 The skilled archer will not be able to stand,
the swift runner will not survive,
and the mounted rider will not preserve his own life.
16 Even the bravest of elite troops will run away naked at that time,”
declares the Lord.
A Higher Standard of Accountability
3 “Listen to this message that the Lord has spoken about you, people of Israel. It concerns the entire family that I brought from the land of Egypt:
2 ‘You alone have I known from among all of the families of mankind;
therefore I will hold you accountable for all your iniquities.’”
Seven Questions to Ponder
3 “Will a couple walk in unity
without having met?
4 Will a lion roar in the forest
without having found its prey?
Will a young lion cry from its den
without having caught anything?
5 Does a bird fall into a snare on the ground
without any bait in the trap?
Will a trap snap shut
when there is nothing to catch?
6 And when an alarm[x] sounds in the city,
the people will tremble, won’t they?
If there is trouble in a city,
the Lord has brought it about, has he not?”
The Lord’s Purposes
7 “Truly the Lord God will do nothing he has mentioned
without revealing his purposes to his servants the prophets.
8 A lion has roared!
Who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken!
Who will not prophesy?
9 Announce this[y] in the fortified citadels of Ashdod,
and in the fortified citadels of the land of Egypt.
Tell them, ‘Gather together on the mountains of Samaria;
look at the great misery among the citadels,[z]
along with the oppression within Egypt.’[aa]
10 Because they do not know how to act right,”
declares the Lord,
“they are filling their strongholds with treasures
that they took from others by violence into their fortified citadels.”
11 Therefore this is what the Lord God says:
“An enemy will surround the land.
He[ab] will pull down your defenses,
and plunder your fortified citadels.”
12 This is what the Lord says:
“Just as a shepherd might save from the lion’s mouth
only two leg bones or a scrap of an ear,
the Israelis will be saved in a similar manner—
those in Samaria who sit on the remains of their broken beds,[ac]
and those in Damascus who lie on the edge of their couches.”
13 “Listen and testify against the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord God, the God of the Heavenly Armies,
14 “because on that day I will lay out the charges against Israel.
I will also bring judgment upon the altars of Bethel;
the horns of the altar will be cut off
and will fall to the ground.
15 I will wreck both the winter house and the summer house,
and the ivory houses will fall.[ad]
These palaces will surely fall,”
declares the Lord.
Judgment on the Women of Israel
4 “Listen to this message, you fat cows from Bashan,
who live on the Samaritan mountains,
who oppress the poor,
who rob the needy,
and who constantly ask your husbands for one more drink!”
2 The Lord God has taken a sacred oath:[ae]
“The day is coming when they[af] will take you away on fishhooks,
every last one of you on fishhooks.
3 Each of you will go out through the breaches of the walls[ag]
straight to Mt. Hermon,”[ah]
declares the Lord.
The Lord’s Rebuke to Israel
4 “Come to Bethel and sin,
to Gilgal and sin even more!
Bring along your morning sacrifices,
and pay your tithes every other day.[ai]
5 While you’re at it,[aj] present a thank offering with leaven,
and publicize your freewill offerings,
letting everyone hear about it,
because this is what you really love to do, you Israelis,”
declares the Lord God.
Israel’s Refusal to Return to God
6 “I also have scheduled[ak] food shortages[al] for you in all of your cities,
and lack of bread in all of your settlements,
but you haven’t returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
7 “I therefore have withheld the rain from you
three months before the harvest,
causing rain to come upon one city,
but not upon another,
and upon one field
but not upon another,
so that it would wither.
8 So the people of[am] two or three cities staggered away to another[an] city
in order to obtain drinking water,
but you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
9 “I afflicted you with blight and fungus;
and the locust swarm devoured the harvest
of your gardens, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees,
but you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
10 “I sent plagues among you as I did with Egypt.
I killed your choicest young men with the sword.
I took your horses away from you.
I filled your noses with the stench of your encampments,
but you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew your cities,[ao]
as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
You’ve become like a burning ember, snatched from the fire,
but you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel.
Because I am about to do this,
prepare to be summoned to your God, Israel!”
13 Look! The one who crafts mountains,
who creates the wind,
who reveals what he is thinking to mankind,
who darkens the morning light,
who tramples down the high places of the land—
the Lord, the God of the Heavenly Armies is his name.
A Lament for Israel
5 “Hear this accusation[ap] that I am bringing against you:
‘A dirge, house of Israel:
2 Fallen is Israel the virgin—never to rise again!
She is abandoned on her own land,
with no one to raise her up.’
3 “For this is what the Lord God says:
‘The city that is sending out a thousand
will have a hundred left;
The city[aq] that is sending out a hundred
will have ten left of the house of Israel.’”
Seek God, and Live
4 “For this is what the Lord says to the house of Israel:
‘Seek me and live,
5 but don’t seek Bethel.
Don’t go to Gilgal,
and don’t pass over to Beer-sheba.
Because Gilgal will surely go into captivity,[ar]
and Bethel will come to nothing.
6 ‘Seek the Lord and live!
Otherwise, he may break out like a fire in the house of Joseph
and devour Bethel,[as]
and there will be no one to extinguish it.
7 Those of you who are making justice taste bitter,[at]
and who have thrown righteousness to the ground:
8 Seek[au] the one who fashions the Pleiades and Orion,
who turns the deep darkness[av] into morning,
who darkens day into night,
who calls out to the waters of the sea,
pouring them out onto the surface of the earth—
the Lord is his name.
9 It is he who is raining sudden destruction
upon the strong like lightning,[aw]
so that ruin comes upon the fortress.
10 They have hated those who are presenting their cases in court,[ax]
detesting the one who speaks truthfully.
11 ‘Therefore, since you trample the poor continuously,
taxing his grain,
building houses of stone in which you won’t live
and planting fine vineyards from which you won’t drink—
12 and because I know that your transgressions are many,
and your sins are numerous
as you oppose the righteous,
taking bribes as a ransom,
and turning away the poor in court[ay]—
13 therefore the prudent person remains silent at such a time,
for the time is evil.
14 ‘Pursue good and not evil,
so that you may live,
and this is what will happen:[az]
The Lord God of the Heavenly Armies will be with you,
as you have been claiming.
15 Hate evil and love good,
and establish justice in court—[ba]
perhaps the Lord, the God of the Heavenly Armies,
will be gracious to the survivors of Joseph.’”
16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of the Heavenly Armies, the Lord, says:
‘There will be dirges in all of the streets;
and in all of the highways they will cry out in anguish.[bb]
They will call the farmer to mourning
and those who lament[bc] to grieve.
17 And in all of the vineyards there will be mourning
when I pass through your midst,’
says the Lord.”
The Fearful Day of the Lord
18 “Woe to those who are craving the Day of the Lord!
How is it to your benefit, this Day of the Lord?
It’s a day of[bd] darkness to you, and not light.
19 It will be like a man who runs from a lion,
only to encounter a bear;
or who comes home, leans his hand against a wall,
and a serpent bites him!
20 Will not the Day of the Lord be darkness, and not light—
pitch black at that, without a ray of sunshine?”
Let Justice Roll On
21 “I hate—I despise—your festival days,
and your solemn convocations stink.[be]
22 And[bf] if you send up burnt offerings to me
as well as your grain offerings,
I will not accept them,
nor will I consider your peace offerings of fattened cattle.
23 Spare me your noisy singing—
I will not listen to your musical instruments.[bg]
24 “But let justice roll on like many[bh] waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing river.
25 “Was it to me that you brought offerings and gifts
in the desert for 40 years, house of Israel?
26 And you carried the tent of your king[bi]—
and Saturn,[bj] your star god idols[bk] that you crafted for yourselves.
27 So I will cause you to be taken captive beyond Damascus,”
says the Lord,
whose name is God of the Heavenly Armies.
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