Amos 9

Israel to Be Destroyed

I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:

“Strike the tops of the pillars

so that the thresholds shake.

Bring them down on the heads^a of all the people;

those who are left I will kill with the sword.

Not one will get away,

none will escape.^b

Though they dig down to the depths below,^c

from there my hand will take them.

Though they climb up to the heavens above,^d

from there I will bring them down.^e

Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,^f

there I will hunt them down and seize them.^g

Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea,^h

there I will command the serpentⁱ to bite them.^jk

Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,

there I will command the sword^l to slay them.

“I will fix my eyes on them

for evil^m and not for good.ⁿ”^o

The Lord, the Lord Almighty—

he touches the earth and it melts,^p

and all who live in it mourn;

the whole land rises like the Nile,

then sinks like the river of Egypt;^q

he builds his lofty palace^r in the heavens

and sets its foundation on the earth;

he calls for the waters of the sea

and pours them out over the face of the land—

the Lord is his name.^s

“Are not you Israelites

the same to me as the Cushites?”^t

declares the Lord.

“Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt,

the Philistines^u from Caphtor^v

and the Arameans from Kir?^w

“Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord

are on the sinful kingdom.

I will destroy^x it

from the face of the earth.

Yet I will not totally destroy

the house of Jacob,”

declares the Lord.^y

“For I will give the command,

and I will shake the house of Israel

among all the nations

as grain^z is shaken in a sieve,^a

and not a pebble will reach the ground.^b

All the sinners among my people

will die by the sword,^c

all those who say,

‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’^d

Israel’s Restoration

“In that day

I will restore David’s^a fallen shelter^b—

I will repair its broken walls

and restore its ruins^c—

and will rebuild it as it used to be,^d

so that they may possess the remnant of Edom^e

and all the nations that bear my name,^f”

declares the Lord, who will do these things.^g

“The days are coming,”^h declares the Lord,

“when the reaperⁱ will be overtaken by the one who plows^j

and the planter by the one treading^k grapes.

New wine^l will drip from the mountains

and flow from all the hills,^m

and I will bringⁿ my people Israel back from exile.^o

“They will rebuild the ruined cities^p and live in them.

They will plant vineyards^q and drink their wine;

they will make gardens and eat their fruit.^r

I will plant^s Israel in their own land,^t

never again to be uprooted^u

from the land I have given them,”^v

says the Lord your God.^w