Amos 2:4–5:27

4  Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke its sentence; because they have despised the law of Jehovah, and have not kept his statutes; and their lies have caused them to err, after which their fathers walked. 5  And I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. 6  Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke its sentence; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; 7  panting after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turning aside the way of the meek; and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name. 8  And they lay themselves down by every altar upon clothes taken in pledge, and they drink in the house of their God the wine of the condemned.

9  But I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was as the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; but I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. 10  And I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. 11  And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, ye children of Israel? saith Jehovah. 12  And ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not. 13  Behold, I will press upon you, as a cart presseth that is full of sheaves. 14  And flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver his soul. 15  Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and the swift of foot shall not escape, and he that rideth the horse shall not deliver his soul; 16  and he that is stout-hearted among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith Jehovah.

Chapter 3

1  Hear this word that Jehovah hath spoken against you, children of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, 2  You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore will I visit upon you all your iniquities. 3  Shall two walk together except they be agreed? 4  Will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den if he have taken nothing? 5  Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth when no gin is laid for him? Will the snare spring up from the earth when nothing at all hath been taken? 6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and Jehovah not have done it? 7  But the Lord Jehovah will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. 8  The lion hath roared, —who will not fear? The Lord Jehovah hath spoken, —who can but prophesy?

9  Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great uproar in the midst thereof, and the oppressions that are within her: 10  and they know not to do right, saith Jehovah, who store up violence and plunder in their palaces. 11  Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: An adversary! —even round about the land! And he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be pillaged. 12  Thus saith Jehovah: Like as the shepherd rescueth out of the jaw of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be rescued that sit in Samaria in the corner of a couch, and upon the damask of a bed. 13  Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord Jehovah, the God of hosts, 14  that in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also punish the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. 15  And I will smite the winter-house with the summer-house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and many houses shall have an end, saith Jehovah.

Chapter 4

1  Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say to their lords, Bring, and let us drink: 2  the Lord Jehovah hath sworn by his holiness, that behold, days shall come upon you, when he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fish-hooks; 3  and ye shall go out by the breaches, every one straight before her, and ye shall be cast out to Harmon, saith Jehovah. 4  Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices in the morning, your tithes every three days, 5  and burn a thank-offering with leaven, and proclaim, publish, voluntary offerings: for this pleaseth you, children of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah.

6  And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places; yet ye have not returned unto me, saith Jehovah. 7  And I also have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece of land was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. 8  And two, three, cities wandered unto one city, to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah. 9  I have smitten you with blasting and mildew; the palmer-worm hath devoured the multitude of your gardens, and your vineyards, and your fig-trees and your olive-trees: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah. 10  I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, taking away captive your horses; and I made the stench of your camps to come up, even into your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah. 11  I have overthrown among you, like God’s overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah. 12  Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. 13  For behold, he who formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, who maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, —Jehovah, the God of hosts, is his name.

Chapter 5

1  Hear this word, a lamentation, which I take up against you, O house of Israel. 2  The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more arise: she is cast down upon her land; there is none to raise her up. 3  For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred shall have ten left, for the house of Israel.

4  For thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel: Seek ye me, and ye shall live. 5  And seek not Bethel, neither go to Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought. 6  Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel. 7  Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth, 8  seek him that made the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: Jehovah is his name. 9  He causeth destruction to break forth suddenly upon the strong, and bringeth destruction upon the fortress. 10  They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. 11  Forasmuch, therefore, as ye trample upon the poor, and take from him presents of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, and ye shall not drink the wine of them. 12  For I know how manifold are your transgressions and your sins mighty: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the right of the needy in the gate. 13  Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in this time; for it is an evil time. 14  Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so Jehovah, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye say. 15  Hate evil, and love good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

16  Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all broadways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! alas! And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. 17  And in all vineyards shall be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah. 18  Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! To what end is the day of Jehovah for you? It shall be darkness and not light: 19  as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20  Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

21  I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will not smell a sweet odour in your solemn assemblies. 22  For if ye offer up unto me burnt-offerings and your oblations, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fatted beasts. 23  Take away from me the noise of thy songs, and I will not hear the melody of thy lutes; 24  but let judgment roll down as waters, and righteousness as an ever-flowing stream. 25  Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and oblations in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 26  Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of your Moloch, and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye had made to yourselves; 27  and I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts.