Amos 9

FIFTH VISION: THE LORD BESIDE THE ALTAR

9I saw the Lord standing beside the altar,^ao and he said:

Strike the capitals of the pillars^ap

so that the thresholds shake;

knock them down on the heads of all the people.

Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword.^aq

None of those who flee will get away;^ar

none of the fugitives will escape.

²If they dig down to Sheol,^as

from there my hand will take them;

if they climb up to heaven,^at

from there I will bring them down.

³If they hide

on the top of Carmel,

from there I will track them down^au

and seize them;

if they conceal themselves

from my sight on the sea floor,^a

from there I will command

the sea serpent to bite them.^b

⁴And if they are driven

by their enemies into captivity,^c

from there I will command

the sword to kill them.^d

I will keep my eye on them

for harm and not for good.^e

⁵The Lord, the God of Armies—

he touches the earth;^f

it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn;

all of it rises like the Nile

and subsides like the Nile of Egypt.^g

⁶He builds his upper chambers

in the heavens^h

and lays the foundation of his vault

on the earth.ⁱ

He summons the water of the sea

and pours it out over the surface of the earth.^j

The Lord is his name.^k

ANNOUNCEMENT OF JUDGMENT

⁷Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to me?^l

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Didn’t I bring Israel from the land of Egypt,

the Philistines from Caphtor,^Am

and the Arameans from Kir?ⁿ

⁸Look, the eyes of the Lord God

are on the sinful kingdom,^o

and I will obliterate it

from the face of the earth.^p

However, I will not totally destroy

the house of Jacob^q—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

⁹for I am about to give the command,

and I will shake the house of Israel^r

among all the nations,

as one shakes a sieve,

but not a pebble will fall to the ground.

¹⁰All the sinners among my people^s

who say, “Disaster will never overtake^B

or confront us,”^t

will die by the sword.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESTORATION

¹¹In that day

I will restore the fallen shelter^u of David:^v

I will repair its gaps,

restore its ruins,^w

and rebuild it as in the days of old,^x

¹²so that they may possess

the remnant of Edom^y

and all the nations

that bear my name—^z

this is the declaration of the Lord;

he will do this.

¹³Look, the days are coming—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

when the plowman will overtake the reaper^aa

and the one who treads grapes,

the sower of seed.

The mountains will drip with sweet wine,

and all the hills will flow with it.^ab

¹⁴I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel.^Aac

They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities,^ad

plant vineyards and drink their wine,

make gardens and eat their produce.^ae

¹⁵I will plant them on their land,

and they will never again be uprooted

from the land I have given them.^af

The Lord your God has spoken.