Bible in 90 Days
7 And I will be like a lion to them;
I lie in wait beside the way, like a leopard.
8 I will attack them like a bear robbed of her offspring,
and I will tear open the covering of their heart;
there I will devour them like a lion,
like an animal of the field would mutilate them.
9 I will destroy you,[a] O Israel;
who will help you?[b]
10 Where now is your king that he may save you?
Where in all your cities are your judges,
of whom you said, “Give to
me a king and rulers?”
11 I gave you a king in my anger,
and I took him in my wrath.
12 The sin of Ephraim is wrapped up;
his sin is concealed.
13 The labor pains of childbirth come for him;
he is an unwise son
because at the proper time, he does not present himself
at the mouth of the womb.[c]
14 Should I redeem them from the power[d] of Sheol? [e]
Should I deliver them from death?
Where are your plagues, O Death?
Where is your destruction, O Sheol?[f]
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
15 Although he may flourish among reeds,[g]
the east wind will come, a wind of Yahweh
rising from the desert;
his fountain will dry up,
his spring will be parched.
It will plunder his treasury,[h]
every object of desire.
16 [i] Samaria will be guilty,
because she has rebelled against her God;
they will fall by the sword,
their children will be dashed to pieces,
and their pregnant women will be ripped open.
Return to Yahweh
14 Return to Yahweh your God, O Israel,
for you have stumbled because of your sin.
2 Take words with you,
and return to Yahweh.
Say to him,
“Take away all guilt;
accept good, and we will offer
the fruit[j] of our lips.
3 Assyria will not save us;
we will not ride on horses,[k]
and we will say no more, “Our God,”
to the work of our hands
because in you the fatherless child finds mercy.
4 I will heal their disloyalty;[l]
I will love them freely
because my anger has turned back
from them.[m]
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like the lily plant,
and he will strike his roots like the trees of Lebanon.
6 His new plant shoots will spread out;
his splendor will be like the olive tree,
and his scent like the trees of Lebanon.
7 They will again dwell[n] in my[o] shadow;
they will grow grain
and they will blossom like the plant vine;
his fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 O Ephraim, what have I to do[p] with idols?
I myself have answered and looked after you.[q]
I am like a luxuriant cypress;
your fruit[r] comes from me.
9 Who is wise that he can understand these things?
Who is discerning that he knows them?
The ways of Yahweh are right,
and the righteous walk in them;
but transgressors stumble in them.
1 The word of Yahweh that came to Joel son of Pethuel.
A Lament Over the Land
2 Hear this, O elders,
and give ear, all the inhabitants of the land.
Has this happened in your days?
Or the days of your ancestors?
3 Tell it to your children,
and your children to their children,
and their children to the following generation.
4 What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten.
And what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten.
5 Wake up, drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all drinkers of wine, over the new wine,
for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 Because a nation has invaded[s] my land,
strong and beyond counting.[t]
Its teeth are the teeth of a lion,
and its fangs are those of a lioness.
7 It has made my vine a desolation,
and my fig tree a completely splintered stump.
It has stripped them bare and thrown them down;
their branches have turned white.
8 Lament like a virgin girded in sackcloth
for the husband of her youth.
9 The offering and libation are withheld
from the house[u] of Yahweh.
The priests mourn,
the ministers of Yahweh.
10 The field is destroyed;
the earth mourns
because the grain is destroyed,
the new wine dries up,
the olive oil languishes.
11 Be ashamed, farmers;
Wail, vinedressers,
over the wheat and over the barley,
because the harvest of the field is ruined.
12 The vine withers
and the fig tree droops.
The pomegranate tree, and also the palm tree, the apple tree
—all the trees of the field—are dried up.
Indeed, joy is dried up
among the sons of men.
13 Gird yourselves and lament, O priests!
Wail, O ministers of the altar!
Come spend the night in sackcloth,
O ministers of my God,
because offering and libation
are withheld from the house of your God.
14 Solemnize a fast!
Call an assembly!
Gather the elders,
all of the inhabitants of the land
in the house of Yahweh your God,
and cry out to Yahweh.
15 Ah! For the day!
For the day of Yahweh is near.
It will come like destruction from Shaddai.[v]
16 Is not food cut off
before our eyes,
from the house of our God,
joy and gladness?
17 The seeds shrivel under their clods;
the storehouses are desolate.
The grain storage places are destroyed
because grain has dried out.
18 How the beasts[w] groan;
the herds of cattle wander around
because there is no pasture for them;
the flocks of sheep are in distress.
19 To you, O Yahweh, I cry out,
because fire has devoured
the pastures of the desert,
and flames[x] burned
all the trees of the field.
20 Also, the beasts of the field
long for you,
because the courses of water
are dried up,
and fire has devoured
the pastures of the desert.
The Day of Yahweh is Near
2 Blow the trumpet[y] in Zion,
and sound the alarm on my holy mountain![z]
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of Yahweh is coming
—it is indeed near.
2 A day of darkness and gloom,
a day of cloud and thick darkness,
like the dawn spreads on the mountains,
a great and strong army!
There has been nothing like it from old,
and after it nothing will be again for generations to come.[aa]
3 Before them[ab] a fire devours,
and behind them a flame burns.
Like the garden of Eden is the land before them,[ac]
and after them it is like a desolate desert,
and nothing can escape them.
4 Like the appearance of horses is their appearance,
and like horsemen they run;
5 like the sound of chariots on the tops of the mountains, they leap about;
like the sound of a flame of fire
devouring stubble;
like a strong army arranged
in rows for battle.
6 From before them[ad] nations writhe,
all faces turn pale.[ae]
7 They run like mighty warriors,[af]
they scale the wall like men of war;
each goes on its own way,
and they do not swerve from their paths.
8 They do not jostle one another;[ag]
each goes on its own trail;
and through the falling weapons,[ah]
they are not halted.
9 In the city they rush forth;
on the walls[ai] they run.
Into the houses they climb up;
through the windows
they enter like a thief.
10 Before them[aj] the earth quakes;
the heavens tremble;
the sun and the moon grow dark,
and the stars have withheld[ak] their splendor
11 And Yahweh utters[al] his voice before his army,
because his encampment is very large;
strong is the one who carries out his decree,
for great is the day of Yahweh
and exceedingly fearful.
Who can endure it?
A Call to Repentance
12 “And even now,” declares[am] Yahweh,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and wailing.”
13 Rend your hearts[an] and not your garments,
and return to Yahweh your God,
because he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger[ao] and great in loyal love,
and relenting from harm.
14 Who knows whether he will turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
an offering and a libation,
for Yahweh your God?
15 Blow the trumpet[ap] in Zion,
sanctify a fast, call an assembly;
16 gather the people, consecrate the assembly;
assemble the elders, gather the children,
even those who are breast-feeding;
let the bridegroom come out from his private room,
and the bride from her canopy.
17 Between the colonnade and the altar,
let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep.
And let them say, “Take pity, Yahweh, on your people.
Do not make your inheritance a reproach,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the nations,
‘Where is their God?’”
The Response and Promise of Yahweh
18 Then Yahweh became jealous for his land
and took pity on his people.
19 And Yahweh answered and said to his people,
“Look at me, I am sending to you
grain, new wine, and olive oil,
and you will be satisfied by it.
I will not give you over any more
as a disgrace among the nations.
20 The northerners[aq]
I will remove from you;
I will drive them to a desert
and desolate land,
its[ar] front to the eastern sea,
and its rear into the western sea;
its stench and odor will rise up
because he[as] has done great things.
21 Do not fear, O land,
rejoice and be glad,
because Yahweh has done great things.
22 Do not fear, wild animals of the field,
because the pastures of the desert have put forth new green shoots,
because the tree has produced its fruit,
the fig tree and the vine
have yielded their produce.
23 Be glad, O children of Zion,
be glad and rejoice in Yahweh your God,
because he has given for you
the autumn rains for your righteousness,[at]
and he has poured down[au] for you rainwater,
the autumn and spring rains, as before.
24 The threshing floors will be full with grain,
and the vats will overflow
with new wine and olive oil.
25 I will repay you the years
that the locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
my mighty troops that I sent against you.
26 And you will eat abundantly and be satisfied,
and praise the name of Yahweh your God,
who has dealt with you wondrously.[av]
My people will never be ashamed.[aw]
27 And you will know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and I am Yahweh,
your God, and there is no other.
My people will never be ashamed again.[ax]
Yahweh’s Spirit Poured Out
28 [ay] And it will happen afterward thus:
I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
and your elders will dream dreams;
your young men shall see visions.
29 And also on the male slaves and on the female slaves,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
30 And I will set[az] wonders in the heavens, and on earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun will be changed to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh. 32 And it will happen—everyone who calls on the name of Yahweh will be rescued, because on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape,[ba] as Yahweh said, and among the survivors whom Yahweh is calling.
Yahweh’s Judgment on the Nations
3 [bb] For look! In those days, and in that time, when I will return[bc] the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will gather all the nations, and I will bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will argue a case against them[bd] there concerning my people and my inheritance Israel whom they have scattered among the nations, and my land that they have divided. 3 For my people they cast lots,[be] and they traded[bf] the male child for the prostitute, and the female child they sold for wine and they drank it.
4 What are you to me, O Tyre and O Sidon, and all of the regions of Philistia? Are you repaying to me what is deserved? If you are recompensing me, I will return swiftly and quickly what you deserve on your head! 5 For you have taken my silver and my gold, and my beautiful treasures you have carried into your temples. 6 And the sons of Judah and Jerusalem you sold to the sons of the Greeks, in order to remove them from their border. 7 Look! I am rousing them from the place where you have sold them, and I will return what you deserve on your head! 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans and to a nation far away, for Yahweh has spoken.
Yahweh’s Judgment in the Valley of Jehoshaphat
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for war![bg]
Stir up the mighty warriors;
let them approach and come up;
let all the men of war approach.
10 Beat your cutting tools of iron into swords
and your pruning hooks into spears;
let the weakling say, ‘I am a mighty warrior!’
11 Hurry and come,
all the nations, from all around,
and gather yourselves there.
Bring down your mighty warriors, O Yahweh!
12 Let the nations be roused and let them come up
to the valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit to judge
all the nations from all around.
13 Send forth the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe!
Go tread,
for the winepress is full!
The vats overflow,
because their evil is great!
14 Commotion, commotion
in the valley of decision!
For the day of Yahweh is near
in the valley of decision!
15 The sun and the moon grow dark,
and the stars have withheld[bh] their splendor.
16 And Yahweh roars from Zion;
from Jerusalem he utters his voice,
and the heavens and the earth shake.
But Yahweh is a refuge for his people,
and a protection for the children of Israel.
17 And you will know that I, Yahweh your God,
am dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain.
And Jerusalem will be a place of holiness,
and strangers will pass through it no longer.
18 And it will happen on that day;
the mountains will drip new wine,
and the hills will flow with milk,
and all the channels of Judah will flow with water.
A spring from the house of Yahweh will come forth,
and it will water the valley of Acacia Trees.[bi]
19 Egypt will become a desolation,
and Edom will become a desolate desert,[bj]
because of the violence they did against the children of Judah,
in whose land they have shed innocent blood.
20 But Judah will be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem for all generations.[bk]
21 I will cleanse their bloodguilt[bl] that I did not cleanse,[bm]
for Yahweh is dwelling in Zion.
Introduction
1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds from Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah the king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Jehoash, two years before[bn] the earthquake.
Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors
2 And he said, “Yahweh roars from Zion and he utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds wither and the top of Carmel dries up.” 3 Thus says Yahweh, “For three transgressions of Damascus and for four I will not revoke the punishment,[bo] because they threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron! 4 So I will send fire against Hazael’s house and it will consume the citadel fortresses of Ben-Hadad. 5 I will break the gate bars of Damascus and I will cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven and the one who takes hold of the scepter of Beth Eden, and the people of Aram will go into exile to Kir,” says Yahweh.
6 Thus says Yahweh: “For three transgressions of Gaza and for four I will not revoke the punishment,[bp] because they exiled a whole community, handing them over to Edom! 7 So I will send a fire against the wall of Gaza and it will devour its citadel fortresses. 8 And I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod and the one who takes hold of the scepter of Ashkelon. I will also turn my hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,” says the Lord Yahweh.
9 Thus says Yahweh: “For three transgressions of Tyre and for four I will not revoke the punishment,[bq] because they delivered up a whole community to Edom and they did not remember the covenant of brotherhood! 10 So I will send a fire against the wall of Tyre and it will devour its citadel fortresses.”
11 Thus says Yahweh: “For three transgressions of Edom and for four I will not revoke the punishment,[br] because he pursued his brother with the sword! He stifled his compassion and his anger tore them apart continually,[bs] and he kept his rage forever. 12 So I will send a fire against Teman and it will devour the citadel fortresses of Bozrah.”
13 Thus says Yahweh: “For three transgressions of Ammon and for four I will not revoke the punishment,[bt] because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their territory! 14 So I will kindle a fire against the wall of Rabbah and it will devour its citadel fortresses with a war cry on the day of battle, with a storm on the day of the violent tempest. 15 And their king will go into exile, he and his commanders together,” says Yahweh.
2 Thus says Yahweh: “For three transgressions of Moab and for four I will not revoke the punishment,[bu] because he burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom. 2 So I will send a fire against Moab and it will devour the citadel fortresses of Kerioth, and Moab will die amid uproar, amid war cries and amid the sound of a horn. 3 And I will cut off the ruler from its midst and I will kill all of its officials with him,” says Yahweh.
Judgment on Judah
4 Thus says Yahweh: “For three transgressions of Judah and for four I will not revoke the punishment,[bv] because they have rejected the law of Yahweh and have not kept his rules, and their lies have led them astray, after which their ancestors walked![bw] 5 So I will send a fire against Judah and it will devour the citadel fortresses of Jerusalem.
Judgment on Israel
6 Thus says Yahweh: “For three transgressions of Israel and for four I will not revoke the punishment,[bx] because they sell the righteous for money and the poor for a pair of sandals! 7 Those who trample the heads of the powerless into the dust of the ground and turn aside the way of the destitute, a man and his father have sexual relations with[by] the same girl, so that they profane my holy name. 8 They stretch themselves out beside every altar on clothing taken in pledge and they drink wine, bought with fines imposed,[bz] in the house of their God. 9 Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them,[ca] who was as tall as[cb] cedars and was as strong as the oaks. I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath. 10 And I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and I led you in the wilderness forty years to take possession of the land of the Amorite. 11 And I raised up some of your sons to be prophets and some of your young men to be Nazirites. Is it not so, O people[cc] of Israel? This is the declaration of Yahweh! 12 But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’ 13 Look! I am going to press you down in your place just as a utility cart full of mature stalks of grain is pressed down. 14 Flight will perish from the swift and the strong person will not muster his strength and the warrior will not save his life. 15 And the one who takes hold of the bow will not stand and the one who is swift on his feet will not save himself, nor will the one who rides the horse save his life. 16 Even those who are strong of heart among the mighty will flee away naked from the city on that day. This is the declaration of Yahweh!”
Israel’s Guilt and Punishment
3 Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole clan that I brought up from the land of Egypt:[cd] 2 “You only have I chosen[ce] of all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. 3 Do two walk together unless they have met? 4 Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?[cf] Does a fierce, young lion cry out from his den unless he has caught something? 5 Does a bird fall into a trapping net on the earth when there is no snare for it? Does a trapping net spring up from the ground unless it has certainly caught something? 6 Or is a horn blown in a city and people are not afraid? Or does a disaster occur in the city and Yahweh has not done it? 7 Surely my Lord does not do anything unless he has revealed his secret to his servants the prophets. 8 A lion has roared! Who is not afraid? My Lord Yahweh has spoken, who will not prophesy? 9 Proclaim to the citadel fortresses in Ashdod and the citadel fortresses in the land of Egypt and say: “Gather on the mountains of Samaria and see the great panic in her midst and the oppression in her midst!” 10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares Yahweh,[cg] “those who store up violence and destruction in their citadel fortresses.” 11 Therefore, thus says my Lord Yahweh, “A foe shall surround the land and bring down your strongholds, and your citadel fortresses shall be plundered.” 12 Thus says Yahweh, “Just as the shepherd rescues two legs or a piece of an ear from the mouth of the lion, so shall the people[ch] of Israel who dwell in Samaria, with the corner of a couch and the damask of a bed.” 13 “Listen and testify against the house of Jacob,” declares[ci] my Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts. 14 “For on the day I punish Israel for its transgression,[cj] I will also punish the altars of Bethel and the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground. 15 I will ruin the winter house as well as the summer house, and the houses of ivory will perish and the great houses shall come to an end,” declares[ck] Yahweh.
Social and Spiritual Corruption
4 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who live on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the powerless, who crush the poor, who say to their husbands, “Bring something so that we may drink!” 2 My Lord Yahweh has sworn by his holiness that, “Behold, the days are coming upon you when they[cl] will take you away with hooks, even the last of you with fishing hooks. 3 And you shall leave through breaches in the wall, each one in front of her. You will be dragged off toward Harmon,”[cm] declares[cn] Yahweh. 4 “Come to Bethel and transgress; to Gilgal and multiply transgression![co] Bring your sacrifices in the morning and your tithes on the third day.[cp] 5 And bring a thank offering of unleavened bread, and proclaim freewill offerings, pronounce them, for so you love to do, O people[cq] of Israel,” is the declaration of my Lord Yahweh. 6 “And I[cr] in turn gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities and lack of bread in all your places. Yet you did not return to me,” is the declaration of Yahweh. 7 “And I also withheld the rain from you when there were still three months to the harvest. And I would send rain on one city and send no rain on another city. One tract of land will be rained on, and the tract of land on which it does not rain[cs] will dry up. 8 So two or three cities wandered to one city to drink water and they were not satisfied, yet you did not return to me,” is the declaration of Yahweh. 9 “I struck you with blight and with mildew. Frequently the cutting locust devoured your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees, yet you did not return to me,” is the declaration of Yahweh. 10 “I sent among you a plague in the manner of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with the captivity of your horses. And I made the stench of your camps go up into your nostrils, yet you did not return to me,” is the declaration of Yahweh. 11 “I overthrew some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a stick snatched from the fire, and yet you did not return to me,” is the declaration of Yahweh. 12 “Therefore, thus I will do to you, O Israel. Because I will do this to you, O Israel, prepare to meet your God! 13 Yes, here is the one who forms the mountains, and the one who creates the wind, and the one who reveals to humans what his thoughts are, and the one who treads on the heights of the earth; Yahweh, the God of hosts, is his name!”
A Lament and Call to Repentance
5 Hear this word that I am going to intone over you as a lament, O house of Israel! 2 Virgin Israel has fallen and will not rise again. She is deserted on her land; there is no one to raise her up. 3 For thus says my Lord Yahweh, “The city that marches out with a thousand will only have a hundred left. And the one that marches out with a hundred will only have ten left for the house of Israel.” 4 For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel, “Seek me so that you may live.” 5 But do not seek Bethel or go to Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba, for Gilgal will certainly go into exile and Bethel will come to disaster.” 6 Seek Yahweh so that you may live, so that he will not break out like a fire against the house of Joseph! And it will devour, with none to quench[ct] it for Bethel. 7 Ah, you who turn justice into wormwood and hurl righteousness to the ground! 8 The one who made the Pleiades and Orion and who turns deep darkness into the morning and darkens day into night, the one who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh is his name! 9 The one who makes destruction flash upon the fierce, so that[cu] destruction comes upon the fortification. 10 They hate the one who reproves in the gate and they abhor the one who speaks honestly. 11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor and you take a grain tax from them, you built houses of dressed stone, but you will not live in them. You built vineyards of delightfulness, but you will not drink their wine. 12 For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous, you foes of the righteous, those who take a bribe, and those who[cv] push aside the poor ones in the gate! 13 Therefore, whoever has insight will keep silent in that time, for it is a time of evil. 14 Seek good and not bad in order that you may live, and so Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. 15 Hate evil and love good and establish justice in the gate; perhaps Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. 16 Therefore, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, my Lord, “In all of the public squares there will be wailing, and in all of the streets they will say, ‘Alas, alas, alas!’ They shall call the farmers to mourning and to wailing, to those who are skilled in lamentation. 17 And in all of the vineyards there will be wailing, because I will pass in your midst,” says Yahweh.
The Day of Yahweh
18 Alas, those who desire the day of Yahweh, why is this for you the day of Yahweh? It will be darkness and not light! 19 It will be as if a man fled from a lion and a bear met him; or he went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall and a snake bit him. 20 Is not the day of Yahweh darkness and not light, and pitch dark with no brightness in it? 21 “I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your assemblies. 22 Yes, even if you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them, and I will not look at the fellowship offerings of your fattened animals. 23 Remove from me the noise of your songs, and I do not want to hear the melody of your harps! 24 But let justice roll on like the water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. 25 Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings those forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? 26 And you will take up Sikkuth, your king, and Kaiwan, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. 27 And I will deport you beyond Damascus,” says Yahweh—the God of hosts is his name.
Woe to the Complacent
6 Alas for those being at ease in Zion, and those who feel secure on Mount Samaria, the notables of the best of the nations! The house of Israel resorts to them. 2 Cross over to Calneh and see, and go from there to Hamath Rabbah and go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms, or is their territory greater than your territory? 3 You that put off the day of disaster and bring near a reign of violence! 4 Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory and lounge on their couches, and those eating young rams from the sheep and goats, and bull-calves from the middle of the animal stall. 5 Alas for those who sing to the tune of the harp; like David they improvise on instruments of music. 6 Alas for those who drink from sprinkling bowls of wine and anoint themselves with the best of olive oils and are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph. 7 Therefore, they shall now go into exile at the head of the exiles and the feast of lounging shall pass away.
Yahweh Abhors Israel’s Pride
8 My Lord Yahweh has sworn by himself, declares[cw] Yahweh, the God of hosts: “I abhor the pride of Jacob and I hate his citadel fortresses and I will deliver the city and its fullness!” 9 And then if ten people remain in one house, they too will die. 10 And if one’s relative, who burns the body, lifts it up and brings the body out of the house and he will say to someone in the innermost part of the house, “Are there any more with you?” and he will say, “None,” then he will say, “Silence,” because we must not invoke the name of Yahweh. 11 Look, Yahweh is going to command and the great house will be destroyed to bits and the little house to pieces. 12 Do horses run on rocks, or does one plow the sea with oxen?[cx] But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood! 13 You who rejoice over Lo-Debar, who say, “Have we not taken Karnaim for ourselves by our strength?” 14 Indeed, I am going to raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, declares[cy] Yahweh, the God of hosts. And they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath up to the wadi of the Arabah.
Warning Visions
7 This is what my Lord Yahweh showed me, and look, he is going to form locusts at the beginning of the sprouting of the second crop, and look, after the mowings of the king. 2 And then when they[cz] finished eating the vegetation of the land, I said, “O Lord Yahweh, please forgive! How can Jacob stand, because he is small?” 3 Yahweh relented concerning this. “It will not be,” said Yahweh. 4 This is what my Lord Yahweh showed me, and look, my Lord Yahweh was going to call for a legal case with fire, and it devoured the great deep and it ate up the plots of ground. 5 Then I said, “O Lord Yahweh, please stop! How can Jacob stand, because he is small?” 6 Yahweh also relented concerning this. “This also will not be,” said my Lord Yahweh. 7 This is what he showed me: Behold, my Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plummet, and a plummet was in his hand. 8 And Yahweh said to me, “What do you see?” And I said, “A plummet.” And my Lord said, “Look, I am going to set a plummet in the midst of my people, Israel. I will not pass them by again. 9 The high places of Isaac shall become desolate and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste. And I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
Amaziah’s Opposition
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam the king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to endure all of his words. 11 For this Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go into exile away from his land.’” 12 And Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee to the land of Judah and earn food there and prophesy there!” 13 But do not prophesy again at Bethel, because this is a sanctuary of a king and this is a temple of a kingdom.” 14 And Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet and I am not a son of a prophet, but I am a herdsman and I am one taking care of sycamore trees. 15 And Yahweh took me from following behind the sheep and goats and Yahweh said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel! 16 And so then, hear the word of Yahweh! You are saying, ‘You must not prophesy against Israel and you must not preach against the house of Isaac!’ 17 Therefore, thus says Yahweh, ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city and your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword and your land will be divided with a line, and you[da] will die in an unclean land and Israel will surely go into exile from this land.’”
A Basket of Ripe Fruit
8 My Lord Yahweh showed me this, and there was a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” And Yahweh said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel. I will not pass by them again!” 3 “And the songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” declares[db] my Lord Yahweh. “The corpses are numerous; he throws them in every place. Be quiet!” 4 Hear this, those who trample on the poor and who annihilate the afflicted of the land, 5 saying, “When will the new moon be over, so that we can sell grain? And the Sabbath, so that we can open the grain bins, that we can make the ephah small and make the shekel large, and can practice deceit with a set of scales of deceit? 6 That we can[dc] buy the powerless with silver and the poor for the sake of a pair of sandals, and we can sell the waste of the grain?” 7 Yahweh has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds! 8 On account of this, will not the land tremble and will not every living thing in it mourn? And all of it will rise like the Nile and it will be tossed about and subside like the Nile of Egypt. 9 And then in that day,” declares[dd] my Lord Yahweh, “I[de] will make the sun go down at noon and I will darken the land on a day of light. 10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning and all of your songs into lament, and I will put sackcloth on all loins and baldness on every head. And I will make it like the mourning for an only child, and its end like a bitter day. 11 Look, the days are coming,” declares[df] my Lord Yahweh, “when I will send a famine in the land, not a famine for bread and not a thirst for water, but of hearing[dg] the words of Yahweh! 12 And they will wander from sea to sea and from the north and to the east. They will roam about to seek the word of Yahweh, but they will not find it! 13 In that day the beautiful young women and the young men will faint because of thirst. 14 These are those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, ‘By the life of your gods, O Dan,’ and ‘By the life of the way of Beersheba,’ they will fall and they will not rise again.”
Destruction of Israel
9 I saw my Lord standing by the altar and he said, “Strike the capitals so that the thresholds will shake, and shatter them on the head of all of them, and I will kill the rest of them with the sword. A fugitive belonging to them will not run away, and a survivor belonging to them will not escape. 2 If they dig into Sheol, from there my hand will take them, and even if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down. 3 And even if they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search and will take them, and even if they hide from before my eyes at the bottom of the sea, from there I will command the sea serpent and it will bite them. 4 And even if they go into captivity before their enemies, from there I will command the sword and it will kill them, and I will fix my eyes on them for harm and not for good.” 5 And thus will do the Lord Yahweh of hosts, who touches the earth and it melts, and all of those living in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile and it sinks down like the Nile of Egypt, 6 who builds his upper chambers in the heavens and lays the foundation of his vault on the earth, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them on the surface of the earth—Yahweh is his name. 7 “Are you not like the Cushites to me, O people of Israel?” declares[dh] Yahweh. “Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans[di] from Kir? 8 Look, the eyes of my Lord Yahweh are on the kingdom of sin, and I will destroy it from the surface of the earth. However, I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” declares[dj] Yahweh. 9 “Yes, look, I am going to command and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations like one who shakes with a sieve, but not a pebble will fall to the ground. 10 All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, ‘Evil will not overtake or confront us.’
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