Amos 1:1–9:15

The words of Amos, who was one of the sheep breeders^Aa from Tekoa^b—what he saw regarding Israel in the days of King Uzziah^c of Judah and Jeroboam^d son of Jehoash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.^e

²He said:

The Lord roars^f from Zion

and makes his voice heard from Jerusalem;

the pastures of the shepherds mourn,^Bg

and the summit of Carmel^h withers.

JUDGMENT ON ISRAEL’S NEIGHBORS

³The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Damascusⁱ

for three crimes, even four,^j

because they threshed Gilead with iron sledges.

⁴Therefore, I will send fire against Hazael’s palace,

and it will consume Ben-hadad’s^k citadels.

⁵I will break down the gates^Cl of Damascus.

I will cut off the ruler from the Valley of Aven,

and the one who wields the scepter from Beth-eden.

The people of Aram will be exiled to Kir.^m

The Lord has spoken.

⁶The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Gazaⁿ

for three crimes, even four,

because they exiled a whole community,

handing them over to Edom.

⁷Therefore, I will send fire against the walls of Gaza,

and it will consume its citadels.

⁸I will cut off the ruler from Ashdod,^o

and the one who wields the scepter from Ashkelon.^p

I will also turn my hand against Ekron,

and the remainder of the Philistines^q will perish.

The Lord God has spoken.

⁹The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Tyre^r

for three crimes, even four,

because they handed over

a whole community of exiles to Edom

and broke^D a treaty of brotherhood.^s

¹⁰Therefore, I will send fire^t against the walls of Tyre,

and it will consume its citadels.

¹¹The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Edom^u

for three crimes, even four,

because he pursued his brother with the sword.^v

He stifled his compassion,

his anger tore at him^w continually,

and he harbored his rage incessantly.

¹²Therefore, I will send fire against Teman,^x

and it will consume the citadels of Bozrah.

¹³The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing the Ammonites^y

for three crimes, even four,

because they ripped open

the pregnant women of Gilead^z

in order to enlarge their territory.^aa

¹⁴Therefore, I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah,^ab

and it will consume its citadels.

There will be shouting on the day of battle^ac

and a violent wind on the day of the storm.^ad

¹⁵Their king and his princes

will go into exile together.^ae

The Lord has spoken.

2The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Moab^a

for three crimes, even four,

because he burned the bones

of the king of Edom to lime.^b

²Therefore, I will send fire against Moab,

and it will consume the citadels of Kerioth.^c

Moab will die with a tumult,^d

with shouting and the sound of the trumpet.

³I will cut off the judge^e from the land

and kill all its officials^f with him.

The Lord has spoken.

JUDGMENT ON JUDAH

⁴The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Judah^g

for three crimes, even four,

because they have rejected the instruction of the Lord^h

and have not kept his statutes.ⁱ

The lies^j that their ancestors followed^k

have led them astray.

⁵Therefore, I will send fire^l against Judah,

and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem.

JUDGMENT ON ISRAEL

⁶The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Israel^m

for three crimes, even four,

because they sell a righteous person for silver

and a needy person for a pair of sandals.ⁿ

⁷They trample the heads of the poor^o

on the dust of the ground

and obstruct the path of the needy.^p

A man and his father have sexual relations

with the same girl,^q

profaning my holy name.^r

⁸They stretch out beside every altar^s

on garments taken as collateral,^t

and in the house of their God

they drink wine obtained through fines.^u

⁹Yet I destroyed the Amorite^v as Israel advanced;

his height^w was like the cedars,

and he was as sturdy as the oaks;

I destroyed his fruit^x above and his roots beneath.

¹⁰And I brought you from the land of Egypt^y

and led you forty years in the wilderness^z

in order to possess the land of the Amorite.^aa

¹¹I raised up some of your sons as prophets^ab

and some of your young men as Nazirites.^ac

Is this not the case, Israelites?

This is the Lord’s declaration.

¹²But you made the Nazirites drink wine

and commanded the prophets,

“Do not prophesy.”^ad

¹³Look, I am about to crush^A you in your place^ae

as a wagon crushes when full of grain.

¹⁴Escape will fail the swift,^af

the strong one will not maintain his strength,^ag

and the warrior will not save his life.

¹⁵The archer will not stand his ground,^ah

the one who is swift of foot

will not save himself,

and the one riding a horse will not save his life.^ai

¹⁶Even the most courageous of the warriors

will flee naked on that day^aj—

this is the Lord’s declaration.

GOD’S REASONS FOR PUNISHING ISRAEL

3Listen to this message that the Lord has spoken against you, Israelites, against the entire clan that I brought from the land of Egypt:^ak

²I have known only you^al

out of all the clans of the earth;

therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities.^am

³Can two walk together^an

without agreeing to meet?

⁴Does a lion roar^ao in the forest

when it has no prey?

Does a young lion growl from its lair

unless it has captured something?

⁵Does a bird land in a trap on the ground

if there is no bait for it?

Does a trap spring from the ground

when it has caught nothing?

⁶If a trumpet^a is blown in a city,

aren’t people afraid?^b

If a disaster^c occurs in a city,

hasn’t the Lord done it?^d

⁷Indeed, the Lord God does nothing

without revealing his counsel

to his servants the prophets.^e

⁸A lion has roared;^f

who will not fear?

The Lord God has spoken;^g

who will not prophesy?^h

⁹Proclaim on the citadels in Ashdodⁱ

and on the citadels in the land of Egypt:

Assemble on the mountains of Samaria,^j

and see the great turmoil in the city

and the acts of oppression within it.^k

¹⁰The people are incapable of doing right^l—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

those who store up violence and destruction^m

in their citadels.

¹¹Therefore, the Lord God says:

An enemyⁿ will surround the land;

he will destroy^o your strongholds

and plunder your citadels.^p

¹²The Lord says:

As the shepherd snatches two legs

or a piece of an ear

from the lion’s mouth,^q

so the Israelites who live in Samaria

will be rescued

with only the corner of a bed^r

or the^A cushion^B of a couch.^Cs

¹³Listen and testify^t against the house of Jacob—

this is the declaration of the Lord God,

the God of Armies.

¹⁴I will punish the altars of Bethel^u

on the day I punish Israel for its crimes;

the horns of the altar^v will be cut off

and fall to the ground.^w

¹⁵I will demolish the winter house^x

and the summer house;^y

the houses inlaid with ivory^z will be destroyed,

and the great houses^aa will come to an end.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

SOCIAL AND SPIRITUAL CORRUPTION

4Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan^ab

who are on the hill of Samaria,

women who oppress the poor

and crush the needy,^ac

who say to their husbands,

“Bring us something to drink.”^ad

²The Lord God has sworn^ae by his holiness:^af

Look, the days are coming^D

when you will be taken away with hooks,^ag

every last one of you with fishhooks.^ah

³You will go through breaches in the wall,^ai

each woman straight ahead,

and you will be driven along toward Harmon.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

⁴Come to Bethel and rebel;

rebel even more at Gilgal!^aj

Bring your sacrifices every morning,^ak

your tenths every three days.

⁵Offer leavened bread as a thanksgiving sacrifice,^al

and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings,^am

for that is what you Israelites love to do!^an

This is the declaration of the Lord God.

GOD’S DISCIPLINE AND ISRAEL’S APOSTASY

⁶I gave you absolutely nothing to eat^Aao

in all your cities,

a shortage of food in all your communities,

yet you did not return to me.^ap

This is the Lord’s declaration.

⁷I also withheld the rain from you^aq

while there were still three months until harvest.

I sent rain on one city

but no rain on another.^ar

One field received rain

while a field with no rain withered.^a

⁸Two or three cities staggered

to another city to drink water^b

but were not satisfied,^c

yet you did not return^d to me.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

⁹I struck you with blight and mildew;^e

the locust devoured^f

your many gardens and vineyards,

your fig trees and olive trees,^g

yet you did not return to me.^h

This is the Lord’s declaration.

¹⁰I sent plagues like those of Egypt;ⁱ

I killed your young men with the sword,^j

along with your captured horses.^k

I caused the stench of your camp

to fill your nostrils,^l

yet you did not return to me.^m

This is the Lord’s declaration.

¹¹I overthrew some of you

as I^B overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,ⁿ

and you were like a burning stick

snatched from a fire,^o

yet you did not return to me^p—

This is the Lord’s declaration.

¹²Therefore, Israel, that is what I will do to you,

and since I will do that to you,

Israel, prepare to meet your God!^q

¹³He is here:

the one who forms the mountains,^r

creates the wind,^s

and reveals his thoughts to man,^t

the one who makes the dawn out of darkness

and strides on the heights of the earth.^u

The Lord, the God of Armies, is his name.^v

LAMENTATION FOR ISRAEL

5Listen to this message that I am singing for you, a lament,^w house of Israel:

²She has fallen;

Virgin Israel^x will never rise again.^y

She lies abandoned on her land

with no one to raise her up.^z

³For the Lord God says:

The city that marches out a thousand strong

will have only a hundred left,^aa

and the one that marches out a hundred strong

will have only ten left^ab in the house of Israel.

SEEK GOD AND LIVE

⁴For the Lord says to the house of Israel:

Seek me and live!^ac

⁵Do not seek Bethel^ad

or go to Gilgal^ae

or journey to Beer-sheba,^af

for Gilgal will certainly go into exile,

and Bethel will come to nothing.

⁶Seek the Lord^ag and live,

or he will spread like fire^ah

throughout the house of Joseph;

it will consume everything

with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.^ai

⁷Those who turn justice into wormwood^aj

also throw righteousness to the ground.

⁸The one who made the Pleiades and Orion,^ak

who turns darkness^A into dawn^al…