Amos
1:1The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen
of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel
in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and
in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash
king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
1:2He said:
"Yahweh will roar from Zion,
And
utter his voice from Jerusalem;
And the pastures of the shepherds
will mourn,
And
the top of Carmel will wither."
1:3Thus says Yahweh:
"For three transgressions of
Damascus, yes, for four,
I will
not turn away its punishment;
Because
they have threshed Gilead with threshing
instruments of iron;
1:4But I will send a fire into the house
of Hazael,
And
it will devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.
1:5I will break the bar of Damascus,
And
cut off the inhabitant from the valley of
Aven,
And
him who holds the scepter from the house
of Eden;
And
the people of Syria shall go into captivity
to Kir,"
says
Yahweh.
1:6Thus says Yahweh:
"For three transgressions of
Gaza, yes, for four,
I will
not turn away its punishment;
Because
they carried away captive the whole community,
To deliver
them up to Edom;
1:7But I will send a fire on the wall of
Gaza,
And
it will devour its palaces.
1:8I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod,
And
him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;
And I will turn my hand against
Ekron;
And
the remnant of the Philistines will perish,"
says
the Lord Yahweh.
1:9Thus says Yahweh:
"For three transgressions of
Tyre, yes, for four,
I will
not turn away its punishment;
Because
they delivered up the whole community to
Edom,
And
didn't remember the brotherly covenant;
1:10But I will send a fire on the wall of
Tyre,
And
it will devour its palaces."
1:11Thus says Yahweh:
"For three transgressions of
Edom, yes, for four,
I will
not turn away its punishment;
Because
he pursued his brother with the sword,
And
cast off all pity,
And
his anger raged continually,
And
he kept his wrath forever;
1:12But I will send a fire on Teman,
And
it will devour the palaces of Bozrah."
1:13Thus says Yahweh:
"For three transgressions of
the children of Ammon, yes, for four,
I will
not turn away its punishment;
Because
they have ripped open the pregnant women
of Gilead,
That
they may enlarge their border.
1:14But I will kindle a fire in the wall
of Rabbah,
And
it will devour its palaces,
With
shouting in the day of battle,
With
a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
1:15And their king will go into captivity,
He and
his princes together,"
says
Yahweh.
2:1Thus says Yahweh:
"For three transgressions of
Moab, yes, for four,
I will
not turn away its punishment;
Because
he burned the bones of the king of Edom
into lime;
2:2But I will send a fire on Moab,
And
it will devour the palaces of Kerioth;
And
Moab will die with tumult, with shouting,
and with the sound of the trumpet;
2:3And I will cut off the judge from their
midst,
And
will kill all its princes with him,"
says
Yahweh.
2:4Thus says Yahweh:
"For three transgressions of
Judah, yes, for four,
I will
not turn away its punishment;
Because
they have rejected Yahweh's law,
And
have not kept his statutes,
And
their lies have led them astray,
After
which their fathers walked;
2:5But I will send a fire on Judah,
And
it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem."
2:6Thus says Yahweh:
"For three transgressions of
Israel, yes, for four,
I will
not turn away its punishment;
Because
they have sold the righteous for silver,
And
the needy for a pair of shoes;
2:7They trample on
the dust of the earth on the head of the
poor,
And
deny justice to the oppressed;
And
a man and his father use the same maiden,
to profane my holy name;
2:8And they lay themselves
down beside every altar on clothes taken
in pledge;
And
in the house of their God they drink the
wine of those who have been fined.
2:9Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them,
Whose
height was like the height of the cedars,
And
he was strong as the oaks;
Yet
I destroyed his fruit from above,
and
his roots from beneath.
2:10Also I brought you up out of the land
of Egypt,
And
led you forty years in the wilderness,
To possess
the land of the Amorite.
2:11I raised up some of your sons for prophets,
And
some of your young men for Nazirites.
Isn't this true,
You
children of Israel?" says Yahweh.
2:12"But you gave the Nazirites wine
to drink,
And
commanded the prophets, saying, 'Don't prophesy!'
2:13Behold, I will crush you in your place,
As a
cart crushes that is full of grain.
2:14Flight will perish from the swift;
And
the strong won't strengthen his force;
Neither
shall the mighty deliver himself;
2:15Neither shall he
stand who handles the bow;
And
he who is swift of foot won't escape;
Neither
shall he who rides the horse deliver himself;
2:16And he who is courageous among the mighty
will flee away naked in that day,"
says
Yahweh.
3:1Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken
against you, children of Israel, against
the whole family which I brought up out
of the land of Egypt, saying:
3:2"You only have I chosen of all the
families of the earth.
Therefore
I will punish you for all of your sins."
3:3Do two walk together,
Unless
they have agreed?
3:4Will a lion roar in the thicket,
When
he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out of his
den,
If he
has caught nothing?
3:5Can a bird fall in a trap on the earth,
Where
no snare is set for him?
Does a snare spring up from the
ground,
When
there is nothing to catch?
3:6Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city,
Without
the people being afraid?
Does evil happen to a city,
And
Yahweh hasn't done it?
3:7Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing,
Unless
he reveals his secret to his servants the
prophets.
3:8The lion has roared.
Who
will not fear?
The Lord Yahweh has spoken.
Who
can but prophesy?
3:9Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod,
And
in the palaces in the land of Egypt,
And say, "Assemble yourselves
on the mountains of Samaria,
And
see what unrest is in her,
And
what oppression is among them."
3:10"Indeed they don't know to do right,"
says Yahweh,
"Who
hoard plunder and loot in their palaces."
3:11Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh:
"An adversary will overrun
the land;
And
he will pull down your strongholds,
And
your fortresses will be plundered."
3:12Thus says Yahweh:
"As the shepherd rescues out
of the mouth of the lion two legs,
Or a
piece of an ear,
So shall
the children of Israel be rescued who sit
in Samaria on the corner of a couch,
And
on the silken cushions of a bed."
3:13"Listen, and testify against the
house of Jacob," says the Lord Yahweh,
the God of hosts.
3:14"For in the day that I visit the
transgressions of Israel on him,
I will
also visit the altars of Bethel;
And
the horns of the altar will be cut off,
And
fall to the ground.
3:15I will strike the winter house with the
summer house;
And
the houses of ivory will perish,
And
the great houses will have an end,"
says
Yahweh.
4:1Listen to this word, you cows of Bashan,
who are on the mountain of Samaria, who
oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who
tell their lords, "Bring, and let us
drink."
4:2The Lord Yahweh has sworn by his holiness
that behold,
"The
days shall come on you that they will take
you away with hooks,
And
the last of you with fish hooks.
4:3You will go out at the breaks in the wall,
Everyone
straight before her;
And
you will cast yourselves into Harmon,"
says Yahweh.
4:4"Go to Bethel, and sin;
To Gilgal,
and sin more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,
Your
tithes every three days,
4:5Offer a sacrifice
of thanksgiving of that which is leavened,
And
proclaim free will offerings and brag about
them:
For
this pleases you, you children of Israel,"
says the Lord Yahweh.
4:6"I also have given you cleanness
of teeth in all your cities,
And
lack of bread in every town;
Yet
you haven't returned to me," says Yahweh.
4:7"I also have withheld the rain from
you,
When
there were yet three months to the harvest;
And
I caused it to rain on one city,
And
caused it not to rain on another city.
One place was rained on,
And
the piece where it didn't rain withered.
4:8So two or three cities staggered to one
city to drink water,
And
were not satisfied:
Yet
you haven't returned to me," says Yahweh.
4:9I struck you with blight and mildew many
times in your gardens and your vineyards;
And
your fig trees and your olive trees have
the swarming locust devoured:
Yet
you haven't returned to me," says Yahweh.
4:10I sent plagues among you like I did Egypt.
I have
slain your young men with the sword,
And
have carried away your horses;
And
I filled your nostrils with the stench of
your camp
Yet
you haven't returned to me," says Yahweh.
4:11"I have overthrown some of you,
As when
God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
And
you were like a burning stick plucked out
of the fire;
Yet
you haven't returned to me," says Yahweh.
4:12"Therefore thus will I do to you,
Israel;
Because
I will do this to you,
Prepare
to meet your God, Israel.
4:13For, behold, he who forms the mountains,
And
creates the wind,
And
declares to man what is his thought;
Who
makes the morning darkness,
And
treads on the high places of the Earth:
Yahweh,
the God of hosts, is his name."
5:1Listen to this word which I take up for
a lamentation over you, O house of Israel.
5:2"The virgin of Israel has fallen;
She
shall rise no more.
She is cast down on her land;
There
is no one to raise her up."
5:3For thus says the Lord Yahweh:
"The city that went forth a
thousand shall have a hundred left,
And
that which went forth one hundred shall
have ten left to the house of Israel."
5:4For thus says Yahweh to the house of Israel:
"Seek me, and you will live;
5:5But don't seek Bethel,
Nor
enter into Gilgal,
And
don't pass to Beersheba:
For Gilgal shall surely go into
captivity,
And
Bethel shall come to nothing.
5:6Seek Yahweh, and you will live;
Lest
he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
And
it devour, and there be no one to quench
it in Bethel.
5:7You who turn justice to wormwood,
And
cast down righteousness to the earth:
5:8Seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion,
And
turns the shadow of death into the morning,
And
makes the day dark with night;
Who
calls for the waters of the sea,
And
pours them out on the surface of the earth,
Yahweh is his name,
5:9Who brings sudden destruction on the strong,
So that
destruction comes on the fortress.
5:10They hate him who reproves in the gate,
And
they abhor him who speaks blamelessly.
5:11Forasmuch therefore as you trample on
the poor,
And
take taxes from him of wheat:
You
have built houses of hewn stone,
But
you will not dwell in them.
You have planted pleasant vineyards,
But
you shall not drink their wine.
5:12For I know how many your offenses,
And
how great are your sins--
You
who afflict the just,
Who
take a bribe,
And
who turn aside the needy in the courts.
5:13Therefore he who is prudent shall keep
silence in such a time;
For
it is an evil time.
5:14Seek good, and not evil,
That
you may live;
And
so Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be with
you,
As you
say.
5:15Hate evil, love good,
And
establish justice in the courts.
It may
be that Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be
gracious to the remnant of Joseph."
5:16Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of
hosts, the Lord:
"Wailing will be in all the
broad ways;
And
they will say in all the streets, 'Alas!
Alas!'
And
they will call the farmer to mourning,
And
those who are skillful in lamentation to
wailing.
5:17In all vineyards there will be wailing;
For
I will pass through the midst of you,"
says Yahweh.
5:18"Woe to you who desire the day of
Yahweh!
Why
do you long for the day of Yahweh?
It is darkness,
And
not light.
5:19As if a man fled from a lion,
And
a bear met him;
Or he went into the house and leaned
his hand on the wall,
And
a snake bit him.
5:20Will the day of Yahweh not be darkness,
and not light?
Even
very dark, and no brightness in it?
5:21I hate, I despise your feasts,
And
I can't stand your solemn assemblies.
5:22Yes, though you offer me your burnt offerings
and meal-offerings,
I will
not accept them;
Neither
will I regard the peace offerings of your
fat animals.
5:23Take away from me the noise of your songs!
I will
not listen to the music of your harps.
5:24But let justice roll on like rivers,
And
righteousness like a mighty stream.
5:25"Did you bring to me sacrifices
and offerings in the wilderness forty years,
house of Israel? 5:26Yes, you have borne the tent of your
king and the shrine of your images, the
star of your god, which you made for yourselves.
5:27Therefore will I cause you to go into
captivity beyond Damascus," says Yahweh,
whose name is the God of hosts.
6:1Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,
And
to those who are secure on the mountain
of Samaria,
The
notable men of the chief of the nations,
To whom
the house of Israel come!
6:2Go to Calneh, and see;
And
from there go to Hamath the great;
Then
go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are they better than these kingdoms?
Or is
their border greater than your border?
6:3Those who put far away the evil day,
And
cause the seat of violence to come near;
6:4Who lie on beds
of ivory,
And
stretch themselves on their couches,
And
eat the lambs out of the flock,
And
the calves out of the midst of the stall;
6:5Who strum on the
strings of a harp;
Who
invent for themselves instruments of music,
like David;
6:6Who drink wine in
bowls,
And
anoint themselves with the best oils;
But
they are not grieved for the affliction
of Joseph.
6:7Therefore they will now go captive with
the first who go captive;
And
the feasting and lounging will end.
6:8"The Lord Yahweh has sworn by himself,"
says Yahweh, the God of hosts:
"I
abhor the pride of Jacob,
And
detest his fortresses.
Therefore
I will deliver up the city with all that
is in it.
6:9It will happen, if there remain ten men
in one house,
That
they shall die.
6:10"When a man's relative carries him,
even he who burns him, to bring bodies out
of the house, and asks him who is in the
innermost parts of the house, 'Is there
yet any with you?' And he says, 'No;' then
he will say, 'Hush! Indeed we must not mention
the name of Yahweh.'
6:11"For, behold, Yahweh commands, and
the great house will be smashed to pieces,
And
the little house into bits.
6:12Do horses run on the rocky crags?
Does
one plow there with oxen?
But you have turned justice into
poison,
And
the fruit of righteousness into bitterness;
6:13You who rejoice in a thing of nothing,
who say,
'Haven't
we taken for ourselves horns by our own
strength?'
6:14For, behold, I will raise up against
you a nation, house of Israel,"
Says
Yahweh, the God of hosts;
"And
they will afflict you from the entrance
of Hamath to the brook of the Arabah."
7:1Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: and, behold,
he formed locusts in the beginning of the
shooting up of the latter growth; and, behold,
it was the latter growth after the king's
harvest. 7:2It happened that, when they made an end
of eating the grass of the land, then I
said, "Lord Yahweh, forgive, I beg
you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small."
7:3Yahweh relented concerning this. "It
shall not be," says Yahweh.
7:4Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me and, behold,
the Lord Yahweh called for judgment by fire;
and it dried up the great deep, and would
have devoured the land. 7:5Then I said, "Lord
Yahweh, stop, I beg you! How could Jacob
stand? For he is small."
7:6Yahweh relented concerning this. "This
also shall not be," says the Lord Yahweh.
7:7Thus he showed me and, behold, the Lord
stood beside a wall made by a plumb line,
with a plumb line in his hand. 7:8Yahweh said to me, "Amos, what do
you see?"
I said, "A plumb line."
Then the Lord said, "Behold, I will
set a plumb line in the midst of my people
Israel. I will not again pass by them any
more. 7:9The high places of Isaac will be desolate,
the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste;
and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam
with the sword."
7:10Then Amaziah the priest of Beth El sent
to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos
has conspired against you in the midst of
the house of Israel. The land is not able
to bear all his words. 7:11For Amos says, 'Jeroboam will die by
the sword, and Israel shall surely be led
away captive out of his land.'"
7:12Amaziah also said to Amos, "You
seer, go, flee away into the land of Judah,
and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
7:13but don't prophesy again any more at
Bethel; for it is the king's sanctuary,
and it is a royal house!"
7:14Then Amos answered Amaziah, "I was
no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son;
but I was a herdsman, and a farmer of sycamore
trees; 7:15and Yahweh took
me from following the flock, and Yahweh
said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'
7:16Now therefore listen to the word of Yahweh:
'You say, Don't prophesy against Israel,
and don't preach against the house of Isaac.'
7:17Therefore thus says Yahweh: 'Your wife
shall be a prostitute in the city, and your
sons and your daughters shall fall by the
sword, and your land shall be divided by
line; and you yourself shall die in a land
that is unclean, and Israel shall surely
be led away captive out of his land.'"
8:1Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: behold,
a basket of summer fruit.
8:2He said, "Amos, what do you see?"
I said, "A basket of summer fruit."
Then Yahweh said to me,
"The end has come on my people
Israel.
I will
not again pass by them any more.
8:3The songs of the temple will be wailings
in that day," says the Lord Yahweh.
"The
dead bodies will be many. In every place
they will throw them out with silence.
8:4Hear this, you who desire to swallow up
the needy,
And
cause the poor of the land to fail,
8:5Saying, 'When will
the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain?
And
the Sabbath, that we may market wheat,
Making
the ephah small, and the shekel large,
And
dealing falsely with balances of deceit;
8:6That we may buy the poor for silver,
And
the needy for a pair of shoes,
And
sell the sweepings with the wheat?'"
8:7Yahweh has sworn by the pride of Jacob,
"Surely
I will never forget any of their works.
8:8Won't the land tremble for this,
And
everyone mourn who dwells in it?
Yes, it will rise up wholly like
the River;
And
it will be stirred up and sink again, like
the River of Egypt.
8:9"It will happen in that day,"
says the Lord Yahweh,
"That
I will cause the sun to go down at noon,
And
I will darken the earth in the clear day.
8:10I will turn your feasts into mourning,
And
all your songs into lamentation;
And I will make you wear sackcloth
on all your bodies,
And
baldness on every head.
I will make it like the mourning
for an only son,
And
the end of it like a bitter day.
8:11Behold, the days come," says the
Lord Yahweh,
"That
I will send a famine in the land,
Not
a famine of bread,
Nor
a thirst for water,
But
of hearing the words of Yahweh.
8:12They will wander from sea to sea,
And
from the north even to the east;
They
will run back and forth to seek the word
of Yahweh,
And
will not find it.
8:13In that day the beautiful virgins
And
the young men will faint for thirst.
8:14Those who swear by the sin of Samaria,
And
say, 'As your god, Dan, lives;'
And,
'As the way of Beersheba lives;'
They
will fall, and never rise up again."
9:1I saw the Lord standing beside the altar,
and he said, "Strike the tops of the
pillars, that the thresholds may shake;
and break them in pieces on the head of
all of them; and I will kill the last of
them with the sword: there shall not one
of them flee away, and there shall not one
of them escape. 9:2Though they dig into Sheol, there my hand
will take them; and though they climb up
to heaven, there I will bring them down.
9:3Though they hide themselves in the top
of Carmel, I will search and take them out
there; and though they be hid from my sight
in the bottom of the sea, there I will command
the serpent, and it will bite them. 9:4Though they go into captivity before their
enemies, there I will command the sword,
and it will kill them. I will set my eyes
on them for evil, and not for good. 9:5For the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts, is he who
touches the land and it melts, and all who
dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise
up wholly like the River, and will sink
again, like the River of Egypt. 9:6It is he who builds his chambers in the
heavens, and has founded his vault on the
earth; he who calls for the waters of the
sea, and pours them out on the surface of
the earth; Yahweh is his name. 9:7Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians
to me, children of Israel?" says Yahweh.
"Haven't I brought up Israel out of
the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from
Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? 9:8Behold, the eyes
of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from off the surface
of the earth; except that I will not utterly
destroy the house of Jacob," says Yahweh.
9:9"For, behold,
I will command, and I will sift the house
of Israel among all the nations, as grain
is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least
kernel will fall on the earth. 9:10All the sinners of my people will die
by the sword, who say, 'Evil won't overtake
nor meet us.' 9:11In that day I will raise up the tent
of David who is fallen, and close up its
breaches, and I will raise up its ruins,
and I will build it as in the days of old;
9:12that they may possess the remnant of
Edom, and all the nations who are called
by my name," says Yahweh who does this.
9:13"Behold, the days come," says
Yahweh,
"That
the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
And
the one treading grapes him who sows seed;
And
sweet wine will drip from the mountains,
And
flow from the hills.
9:14I will bring back the captivity of my
people Israel,
And
they will rebuild the ruined cities, and
inhabit them;
and
they will plant vineyards, and drink wine
from them.
They shall also make gardens,
And
eat the fruit of them.
9:15I will plant them on their land,
And
they will no more be plucked up out of their
land which I have given them,"
says
Yahweh your God.
[Index]
