Amos 4

Israel Has Not Returned to God

4Hear this word, you cows of Bashan^r on Mount Samaria,^s

you women who oppress the poor^t and crush the needy^u

and say to your husbands,^v “Bring us some drinks!^w”

²The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness:

“The time^x will surely come

when you will be taken away^y with hooks,^z

the last of you with fishhooks.^a

³You will each go straight out

through breaches in the wall,^a

and you will be cast out toward Harmon,^b”

declares the Lord.

⁴“Go to Bethel^b and sin;

go to Gilgal^c and sin yet more.

Bring your sacrifices every morning,^d

your tithes^e every three years.^cf

⁵Burn leavened bread^g as a thank offering

and brag about your freewill offerings^h—

boast about them, you Israelites,

for this is what you love to do,”

declares the Sovereign Lord.

⁶“I gave you empty stomachs in every city

and lack of bread in every town,

yet you have not returned to me,”

declares the Lord.ⁱ

⁷“I also withheld^j rain from you

when the harvest was still three months away.

I sent rain on one town,

but withheld it from another.^k

One field had rain;

another had none and dried up.

⁸People staggered from town to town for water^l

but did not get enough^m to drink,

yet you have not returnedⁿ to me,”

declares the Lord.^o

⁹“Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,

destroying them with blight and mildew.^p

Locusts^q devoured your fig and olive trees,^r

yet you have not returned^s to me,”

declares the Lord.

¹⁰“I sent plagues^t among you

as I did to Egypt.^u

I killed your young men^v with the sword,

along with your captured horses.

I filled your nostrils with the stench^w of your camps,

yet you have not returned to me,”^x

declares the Lord.^y

¹¹“I overthrew some of you

as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.^z

You were like a burning stick^a snatched from the fire,

yet you have not returned to me,”

declares the Lord.^b

¹²“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,

and because I will do this to you, Israel,

prepare to meet your God.”

¹³He who forms the mountains,^c

who creates the wind,^d

and who reveals his thoughts^e to mankind,

who turns dawn to darkness,

and treads on the heights of the earth^f—

the Lord God Almighty is his name.^g