Amos 3–4

Authority of the Prophet’s Message

3Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:

²“You ^aonly have I known of all the families of the earth;

^bTherefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

³Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?

⁴Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?

Will a young lion ¹cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?

⁵Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no ²trap for it?

Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?

⁶If a ³trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?

^cIf there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?

⁷Surely the Lord God does nothing,

Unless ^dHe reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

⁸A lion has roared!

Who will not fear?

The Lord God has spoken!

^eWho can but prophesy?

Punishment of Israel’s Sins

⁹“Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod,⁴

And in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say:

‘Assemble on the mountains of Samaria;

See great tumults in her midst,

And the ⁵oppressed within her.

¹⁰For they ^fdo not know to do right,’

Says the Lord,

‘Who store up violence and ⁶robbery in their palaces.’ ”

¹¹Therefore thus says the Lord God:

“An adversary shall be all around the land;

He shall sap your strength from you,

And your palaces shall be plundered.”

¹²Thus says the Lord:

“As a shepherd ⁷takes from the mouth of a lion

Two legs or a piece of an ear,

So shall the children of Israel be taken out

Who dwell in Samaria—

In the corner of a bed and ⁸on the edge of a couch!

¹³Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,”

Says the Lord God, the God of hosts,

¹⁴“That in the day I punish Israel for their transgressions,

I will also visit destruction on the altars of ^gBethel;

And the horns of the altar shall be cut off

And fall to the ground.

¹⁵I will ⁹destroy ^hthe winter house along with ⁱthe summer house;

The ^jhouses of ivory shall perish,

And the great houses shall have an end,”

Says the Lord.

4Hear this word, you ^acows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria,

Who oppress the ^bpoor,

Who crush the needy,

Who say to ¹your husbands, “Bring wine, let us ^cdrink!”

^2dThe Lord God has sworn by His holiness:

“Behold, the days shall come upon you

When He will take you away ^ewith fishhooks,

And your posterity with fishhooks.

^3fYou will go out through broken walls,

Each one straight ahead of her,

And you will ²be cast into Harmon,”

Says the Lord.

⁴“Come ^gto Bethel and transgress,

At ^hGilgal multiply transgression;

ⁱBring your sacrifices every morning,

^jYour tithes every three ³days.

^5kOffer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven,

Proclaim and announce ^lthe freewill offerings;

For this you love,

You children of Israel!”

Says the Lord God.

Israel Did Not Accept Correction

⁶“Also I gave you ⁴cleanness of teeth in all your cities.

And lack of bread in all your places;

^mYet you have not returned to Me,”

Says the Lord.

⁷“I also withheld rain from you,

When there were still three months to the harvest.

I made it rain on one city,

I withheld rain from another city.

One part was rained upon,

And where it did not rain the part withered.

⁸So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water,

But they were not satisfied;

Yet you have not returned to Me,”

Says the Lord.

⁹“I ⁿblasted you with blight and mildew.

When your gardens increased,

Your vineyards,

Your fig trees,

And your olive trees,

^oThe locust devoured them;

Yet you have not returned to Me,”

Says the Lord.

¹⁰“I sent among you a plague ^pafter the manner of Egypt;

Your young men I killed with a sword,

Along with your captive horses;

I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils;

Yet you have not returned to Me,”

Says the Lord.

¹¹“I overthrew some of you,

As God overthrew ^qSodom and Gomorrah,

And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning;

Yet you have not returned to Me,”

Says the Lord.

¹²“Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel;

Because I will do this to you,

^rPrepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

¹³For behold,

He who forms mountains,

And creates the ⁵wind,

^sWho declares to man what ⁶his thought is,

And makes the morning darkness,

^tWho treads the high places of the earth—

^uThe Lord God of hosts is His name.