Beginning
1 These are the words of Amos, one of the sheep farmers from Tekoa. He saw a vision about Israel during the reigns of Judah’s King Uzziah and Israel’s King Jeroboam, son of Joash. This happened two years before the earthquake.
2 He said:
Yahweh roars from Zion,
and his voice thunders from Jerusalem.
The pastures of the shepherds are turning brown,
and the top of Mount Carmel is dried up.
Damascus Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
3 This is what Yahweh says:
Because Damascus has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The Arameans have crushed the people of Gilead
with iron-spiked threshing[a] sledges.
4 I will send a fire on the house of Hazael
and burn down the palaces of Ben Hadad.
5 I will break the bars on the gates of Damascus.
I will cut off those living in Aven Valley
and the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden.
The people of Aram will go into captivity at Kir.
Yahweh has said this.
Gaza Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
6 This is what Yahweh says:
Because Gaza has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The Philistines have taken all the people captive
in order to hand them over to the Edomites.
7 I will send a fire on the walls of Gaza
and burn down its palaces.
8 I will cut off those living in Ashdod
and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon.
I will turn my power against Ekron.
The rest of the Philistines will die.
Adonay Yahweh has said this.
Tyre Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
9 This is what Yahweh says:
Because Tyre has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The Tyrians have handed all the people over to the Edomites.
The Tyrians didn’t remember their treaty with their relatives.
10 I will send a fire on the walls of Tyre
and burn down its palaces.
Edom Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
11 This is what Yahweh says:
Because Edom has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The Edomites pursued their relatives with swords.
They refused to show any compassion to them.
Their anger was unstoppable.
They refused to control their fury.
12 I will send a fire on Teman
and burn down the palaces of Bozrah.
Ammon Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
13 This is what Yahweh says:
Because Ammon has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The Ammonites enlarged their territory
by ripping open pregnant women in Gilead.
14 I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah
and burn down its palaces
while troops are shouting on the day of battle
and winds are howling on the day of the storm.
15 Their king will go into captivity along with his officials.
Yahweh has said this.
Moab Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
2 This is what Yahweh says:
Because Moab has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The Moabites have cremated Edom’s king.
2 I will send a fire on Moab
and burn down the palaces of Kerioth.
Moab will die during the noise of battle
while troops are shouting and rams’ horns are blowing.
3 I will take their judges away from them.
I will kill all their officials at the same time.
Yahweh has said this.
Judah Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
4 This is what Yahweh says:
Because Judah has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The people of Judah have rejected Yahweh’s Teachings
and haven’t kept his laws.
They have been led astray by false teachings,
the same ones their ancestors followed.
5 I will send a fire on Judah
and burn down the palaces of Jerusalem.
Israel Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
6 This is what Yahweh says:
Because Israel has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The people of Israel sell the righteous for money
and the needy for a pair of sandals.
7 They stomp the heads of the poor into the dust.
They push the humble out of the way.
Father and son sleep with the same woman.
They dishonor my holy name.
8 Beside every altar, they spread themselves out on clothes
taken as security.
In the temples of their gods, they drink the wine
that they bought with fines.
9 I destroyed the Amorites in front of them,
although the Amorites were as tall as cedars and as strong as oaks.
I destroyed their fruit above the ground and their roots below it.
10 I brought you out of Egypt.
I led you through the desert for 40 years
so that you could take possession of the land of the Amorites.
11 I also sent you prophets from among your children
and Nazirites from among your youths.
Isn’t that so, people of Israel?
Yahweh has declared this.
12 You made the Nazirites drink wine.
You commanded the prophets to stop prophesying.
13 I am going to crush you as an overloaded wagon crushes a person.
14 Runners will not be able to escape.
Strong men will find that their strength is useless.
Soldiers will not be able to save themselves.
15 Archers will not stand their ground.
Fast runners will not be able to escape.
Horsemen will not be able to save themselves.
16 Brave soldiers will run away naked that day.
Yahweh has declared this.
The Lord Will Punish Israel for Its Immoral Behavior
3 Listen to this message which I, Yahweh, have spoken against you Israelites, against your whole family that I brought out of Egypt.
2 Out of all the families on earth, I have known no one else but you.
That is why I am going to punish you for all your sins.
3 Do two people ever walk together without meeting first?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest if it has no prey?
Does a young lion growl in its den unless it has caught something?
5 Does a bird land in a trap on the ground if there’s no bait in it?
Does a trap spring up from the ground unless it has caught something?
6 If a ram’s horn sounds an alarm in a city, won’t the people be alarmed?
If there is a disaster in a city, hasn’t Yahweh done it?
7 Certainly, Adonay Yahweh doesn’t do anything
unless he first reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared. Who isn’t afraid?
Adonay Yahweh has spoken. Who can keep from prophesying?
9 Announce in the palaces of Ashdod and in the palaces of Egypt,
“Gather together on the mountains of Samaria.
See the widespread confusion and oppression in Samaria.”
10 Those who collect profits in their palaces
through violent and destructive acts
don’t know how to do what is right, declares Yahweh.
11 This is what Adonay Yahweh says:
An enemy will surround your land,
strip you of your defenses,
and loot your palaces.
12 This is what Yahweh says:
As a shepherd rescues two legs or a piece of an ear out of a lion’s mouth,
so the Israelites living in Samaria will be rescued,
having only a corner of a bed or a piece of a couch.[b]
13 Listen, and testify against the descendants of Jacob,
declares Adonay Yahweh Elohe Tsebaoth.
14 On the day I punish Israel for its disobedience,
I will also destroy the altars at Bethel.
The horns of the altar will be cut off and will fall to the ground.
15 I will tear down winter houses as well as summer houses.
Houses decorated with ivory will be destroyed.
Mansions will be demolished, declares Yahweh.
The Lord Will Punish the Women of Samaria
4 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan who live on Mount Samaria.
You women oppress the poor and abuse the needy.
You say to your husbands, “Get some wine! Let’s drink!”
2 Adonay Yahweh has taken an oath on his holiness:
Surely, the time is going to come
when you will be taken away on hooks,
and the rest of you on fishhooks.
3 Each of you will leave the city
through breaks in the wall, one woman ahead of another.
You will be thrown into a garbage dump.
Yahweh declares this.
4 Go to Bethel and sin.
Go to Gilgal and sin even more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning.
Bring a tenth of your income every three days.
5 Burn bread as a thank offering.
Brag and boast about your freewill offerings.
This is what you people of Israel love to do.
Adonay Yahweh declares this.
6 I left you with nothing to eat in any of your cities.
I left you with no food in your entire land.
And you still didn’t return to me, declares Yahweh.
7 I stopped the rain from falling
three months before the harvest.
I sent rain on one city and not on another.
One field had rain.
Another field had none and dried up.
8 So people from two or three cities staggered
as they walked to another city in order to get a drink of water.
But they couldn’t get enough.
And you still didn’t return to me, declares Yahweh.
9 I struck your crops with blight and mildew.
Locusts repeatedly devoured your gardens, vineyards,
fig trees, and olive trees.
And you still didn’t return to me, declares Yahweh.
10 I sent plagues on you as I did to Egypt.
With swords I killed your best young men along with your captured horses.
I made the stench from your camps fill your noses.
And you still didn’t return to me, declares Yahweh.
11 I destroyed some of you as Elohim destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning log snatched from a fire.
And you still didn’t return to me, declares Yahweh.
12 This is what I will do to you, Israel.
Prepare to meet your Elohim.
This is what I will do to you, Israel!
13 Elohim forms the mountains and creates the wind.
He reveals his thoughts to humans.
He makes dawn and dusk appear.
He walks on the high places of the earth.
His name is Yahweh Elohe Tsebaoth.
A Funeral Song about Israel
5 Listen to this message, this funeral song that I sing about you, nation of Israel:
2 The people of Israel have fallen,
never to rise again.
They lie abandoned in their own land.
There is no one to help them.
3 This is what Adonay Yahweh says:
The city that sends 1,000 troops off to war
will have only 100 left.
The one that sends 100 troops off to war
will have only 10 left for the nation of Israel.
A Threefold Call to Turn Away from Sin
4 This is what Yahweh says to the nation of Israel:
Search for me and live!
5 But don’t search for me at Bethel.
Don’t go to Gilgal.
Don’t travel to Beersheba.
Gilgal will certainly go into exile.
Bethel will come to nothing.
6 Search for Yahweh and live!
If you don’t, he will spread like a fire through the house of Joseph
and burn it down.
Bethel will have no one to put it out.
7 You, Israel, turn justice into poison
and throw righteousness on the ground.
8 Elohim made the constellations Pleiades and Orion.
He turns deep darkness into dawn.
He turns day into night.
He calls for water from the sea
to pour it over the face of the earth.
His name is Yahweh.
9 He destroys strongholds and ruins fortresses.
10 Israel, you hate anyone who speaks out against injustice.
You are disgusted by anyone who speaks the truth.
11 You trample on the poor
and take their wheat from them for taxes.
That is why you build houses from hand-cut stones,
but you will not live in them.
You plant beautiful vineyards,
but you will not drink their wine.
12 I know that your crimes are numerous and your sins are many.
You oppress the righteous by taking bribes.
You deny the needy access to the courts.
13 That is why a wise person remains silent at such times,
because those times are so evil.
14 Search for good instead of evil so that you may live.
Then Yahweh Elohe Tsebaoth will be with you, as you have said.
15 Hate evil and love good.
Then you will be able to have justice in your courts.
Maybe Yahweh Elohe Tsebaoth
will have pity on the faithful few of Joseph.
16 This is what Adonay Yahweh Elohe Tsebaoth, says:
There will be loud crying in every city square,
and people will say in every street, “Oh, no!”
They will call on farmers to mourn
and on professional mourners to cry loudly.
17 There will be loud crying in every vineyard,
because I will pass through your land with death.
Yahweh has said this.
The Terrifying Day of the Lord
18 How horrible it will be for those who long for the day of Yahweh!
Why do you long for that day?
The day of Yahweh is one of darkness and not light.
19 It is like a person who flees from a lion
only to be attacked by a bear.
It is like a person who goes home and puts his hand on the wall
only to be bitten by a snake.
20 The day of Yahweh brings darkness and not light.
It is pitch black, with no light.
The Lord Rejects Israel’s Worship
21 I hate your festivals; I despise them.
I’m not pleased with your religious assemblies.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I won’t accept them.
I won’t even look at the fellowship offerings of your choicest animals.
23 Spare me the sound of your songs.
I won’t listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice flow like a river
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings
in the desert for 40 years, nation of Israel?
26 You carried along the statues of the god Sikkuth as your king
and the star Kiyyun,
the gods you made for yourselves.
27 I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,
says Yahweh, whose name is Elohe Tsebaoth.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.