Amos 9

Fifth Vision: The Lord beside the Altar

9I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, ^tand He said:

Strike the capitals of the pillars ^u

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. ^v

None of those who flee will get away; ^w

none of the fugitives will escape.

²If they dig down to Sheol, ^x

from there My hand will take them;

if they climb up to heaven, ^y

from there I will bring them down.

³If they hide themselves

on the top of Carmel,

from there I will track them down ^z

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 fix My eyes on them

for harm and not for good. ^e

⁵The Lord, the God of Hosts—

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 waters of the sea

and pours them out on the face of the earth. ^j

Yahweh 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, ^mn

and the Arameans from Kir? ^o

⁸Look, the eyes of the Lord God

are on the sinful kingdom, ^p

and I will destroy it

from the face of the earth. ^q

However, I will not totally destroy

the house of Jacob ^r—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

⁹for I am about to give the command,

and I will shake the house of Israel ^s

among all the nations,

as one shakes a sieve,

but not a pebble will fall to the ground.

¹⁰All the sinners among My people ^t

who say: “Disaster will never overtake ^u

or confront us,” ^v

will die by the sword.

Announcement of Restoration

¹¹In that day

I will restore the fallen booth ^wof David: ^x

I will repair its gaps,

restore its ruins, ^y

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

¹²so that they may possess

the remnant of Edom ^a

and all the nations

that are called by My name ^bc—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

He will do this.

¹³Hear this! The days are coming—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

when the plowman will overtake the reaper ^d

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. ^e

¹⁴I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel. ^fg

They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities, ^h

plant vineyards and drink their wine,

make gardens and eat their produce. ⁱ

¹⁵I will plant them on their land,

and they will never again be uprooted

from the land I have given them. ^j

Yahweh your God has spoken.