Amos 6:1–7:17

Warnings to Zion and Samaria

6 Woe ato you who are at bease in Zion,

And ctrust in Mount Samaria,

Notable persons in the dchief nation,

To whom the house of Israel comes!

2 eGo over to fCalneh and see;

And from there go to gHamath the great;

Then go down to Gath of the Philistines.

hAre you better than these kingdoms?

Or is their territory greater than your territory?

3 Woe to you who iput far off the day of jdoom,

kWho cause lthe seat of violence to come near;

4 Who lie on beds of ivory,

Stretch out on your couches,

Eat lambs from the flock

And calves from the midst of the stall;

5 mWho sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments,

And invent for yourselves nmusical instruments olike David;

6 Who pdrink wine from bowls,

And anoint yourselves with the best ointments,

qBut are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

7 Therefore they shall now go rcaptive as the first of the captives,

And those who recline at banquets shall be removed.

8 sThe Lord God has sworn by Himself,

The Lord God of hosts says:

“I abhor tthe pride of Jacob,

And hate his palaces;

Therefore I will deliver up the city

And all that is in it.”

9 Then it shall come to pass, that if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And when 1a relative of the dead, with one who will burn the bodies, picks up the 2bodies to take them out of the house, he will say to one inside the house, “Are there any more with you?”

Then someone will say, “None.”

And he will say, u“Hold your tongue! vFor we dare not mention the name of the Lord.”

11 For behold, wthe Lord gives a command:

xHe will break the great house into bits,

And the little house into pieces.

12 Do horses run on rocks?

Does one plow there with oxen?

Yet yyou have turned justice into gall,

And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,

13 You who rejoice over 3Lo Debar,

Who say, “Have we not taken 4Karnaim for ourselves

By our own strength?”

14 “But, behold, zI will raise up a nation against you,

O house of Israel,”

Says the Lord God of hosts;

“And they will afflict you from the aentrance of Hamath

To the Valley of the Arabah.”

Vision of the Locusts

7 Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, He formed locust swarms at the 1beginning of the late crop; indeed it was the late crop after the king’s mowings. 2 And so it was, when they had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said:

“O Lord God, forgive, I pray!

aOh, 2that Jacob may stand,

For he is small!”

3 So bthe Lord relented concerning this.

“It shall not be,” said the Lord.

Vision of the Fire

4 Thus the Lord God showed me: Behold, the Lord God called 3for conflict by fire, and it consumed the great deep and devoured the 4territory. 5 Then I said:

“O Lord God, cease, I pray!

cOh, that Jacob may stand,

For he is small!”

6 So the Lord relented concerning this.

“This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.

Vision of the Plumb Line

7 Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. 8 And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”

And I said, “A plumb line.”

Then the Lord said:

“Behold, dI am setting a plumb line

In the midst of My people Israel;

eI will not pass by them anymore.

9 fThe 5high places of Isaac shall be desolate,

And the 6sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste.

gI will rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam.”

Amaziah’s Complaint

10 Then Amaziah the hpriest of iBethel sent to jJeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to 7bear all his words. 11 For thus Amos has said:

‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,

And Israel shall surely be led away kcaptive

From their own land.’ ”

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos:

“Go, you seer!

Flee to the land of Judah.

There eat bread,

And there prophesy.

13 But lnever again prophesy at Bethel,

mFor it is the king’s 8sanctuary,

And it is the royal 9residence.”

14 Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah:

“I was no prophet,

Nor was I na son of a prophet,

But I was a osheepbreeder

And a tender of sycamore fruit.

15 Then the Lord took me 1as I followed the flock,

And the Lord said to me,

‘Go, pprophesy to My people Israel.’

16 Now therefore, hear the word of the Lord:

You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,

And qdo not 2spout against the house of Isaac.’

17 “Therefore rthus says the Lord:

s‘Your wife shall be a harlot in the city;

Your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword;

Your land shall be divided by survey line;

You shall die in a tdefiled land;

And Israel shall surely be led away captive

From his own land.’ ”