Amos 1; Amos 2; Amos 3; Amos 4; Amos 5

1 These are the words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa. He perceived these things concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, in the days of Judah's King Uzziah and in the days of Israel's King Jeroboam, Joash's son.

2 He said: The LORD roars from Zion. He shouts from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds wither, and the top of Carmel dries up.

3 The LORD proclaims: For three crimes of Damascus, and for four, I won't hold back the punishment, because they have harvested Gilead with sharp iron tools.

4 I will send down fire on the house of Hazael; it will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.

5 I will break the fortified gates of Damascus, and eliminate the people from the Aven Valley, including the one who rules from Beth-eden; the people of Aram will be forced to live in Kir,

6 says the LORD. The LORD proclaims: For three crimes of Gaza, and for four, I won't hold back the punishment, because they rounded up entire communities, to hand them over to Edom.

7 I will send down a fire on the wall of Gaza; it will devour Gaza's palaces.

8 I will eliminate the people from Ashdod, the one who rules from Ashkelon. I will turn my hand against Ekron, and the Philistines who remain will perish,

9 says the LORD God. The LORD proclaims: For three crimes of Tyre, and for four, I won't hold back the punishment, because they have delivered up entire communities over to Edom, and neglected their covenantal obligations.

10 So I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre; it will devour their palaces.

11 The LORD proclaims: For three crimes of Edom, and for four, I won't hold back the punishment, because he chased after his brother with the sword, denied all compassion, kept his anger alive, and fueled his wrath forever.

12 So I will send a fire on Teman; it will devour the fortresses of Bozrah.

13 The LORD proclaims: For three crimes of the Ammonites, and for four, I won't hold back the punishment, because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead in order to possess more land.

14 So I will start a fire at the wall of Rabbah; the fire will devour its palaces, with a war cry on the day of battle, with strong wind on the day of the storm.

15 Then their king will be taken away, he and his officials together,

1 says the LORD. The LORD proclaims: For three crimes of Moab, and for four, I won't hold back the punishment, because he burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom.

2 So I will send down a fire on Moab; it will devour the palaces of Kerioth. Moab will die in a great uproar, with a war cry, with the sound of the ram's horn.

3 I will remove their judge from them and slay all their officials with him,

4 says the LORD. The LORD proclaims: For three crimes of Judah, and for four, I won't hold back the punishment, because they have rejected the Instruction of the LORD, and haven't kept his laws. They have been led off the right path by the same lies after which their ancestors walked.

5 So I will send a fire on Judah, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem.

6 The LORD proclaims: For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I won't hold back the punishment, because they have sold the innocent for silver, and those in need for a pair of sandals.

7 They crush the head of the poor into the dust of the earth, and push the afflicted out of the way. Father and son have intercourse with the same young woman, degrading my holy name.

8 They stretch out beside every altar on garments taken in loan; in the house of their god they drink wine bought with fines they imposed.

9 Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was as tall as cedar trees, and whose strength was as strong as oak trees. I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below.

10 Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness, to lay claim to the land of the Amorite.

11 I raised up some of your children to be prophets and some of your youth to be nazirites. Isn't this so, people of Israel?

12 says the LORD. But you made the nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, "You won't prophesy."

13 So now I will oppress you, just like a cart is weighed down when it is full of harvested grain.

14 Fast runners will find no refuge; the strong will lose their strength; the mighty will be unable to save their lives.

15 Those who shoot the bow won't survive. Fast runners won't escape; those who ride horses won't save themselves.

16 The bravest warrior will flee away naked in that day,

1 says the LORD. Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought out of the land of Egypt:

2 You only have I loved so deeply of all the families of the earth. Therefore, I will punish you for all your wrongdoing.

3 Will two people walk together unless they have agreed to do so?

4 Does a lion roar in the forest when it has no prey? Does a young lion cry out from its den if it has caught nothing?

5 Will a bird fall into a trap on the ground when there is no bait for it? Will a trap spring up from the ground when it has taken nothing?

6 If a ram's horn is blown in a city, won't people tremble? If disaster falls on a city, is it the LORD who has done it?

7 Surely the LORD God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.

8 A lion has roared; who will not fear? The LORD God has spoken; who can but prophesy?

9 Proclaim it to the palaces of Ashdod and to the palaces in the land of Egypt. Say, "Gather yourselves on Mount Samaria, and see the great turmoil in the city, and what violent deeds are inside it."

10 They don't know how to do right, says the LORD— those who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.

11 Therefore, the LORD my God proclaims: An enemy will surround the land; he will bring you down from your protected places, and your palaces will be robbed.

12 The LORD proclaims: Just as the shepherd rescues two legs or the piece of an ear from the mouth of the lion, so will the people of Israel be rescued. Those who live in Samaria will escape with the corner of a bed, and those in Damascus with a piece of a couch.

13 Hear this and speak against the house of Jacob, says the LORD God, the God of heavenly forces:

14 On the day I punish the crimes of Israel, I will also visit the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and will fall to the ground.

15 I will tear down the winter house as well as the summer house; the houses of ivory will perish; the great houses will be swept away,

1 says the LORD. Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on Mount Samaria, who cheat the weak, who crush the needy, who say to their husbands, "Bring drinks, so we can get drunk!"

2 The LORD God has solemnly promised by his holiness: The days are surely coming upon you, when they will take you away with hooks, even the last one of you with fishhooks.

3 You will go out through the broken wall, each one after another; and you will be flung out into Harmon,

4 says the LORD. Come to Bethel—and commit a crime; multiply crimes at Gilgal. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tenth-part gifts every three days.

5 Offer a thanksgiving sacrifice of leavened bread, and publicize your gifts to the LORD; for so you love to do, people of Israel!

6 says the LORD God. I have sent a famine in all your cities, and not provided enough bread in all your places, yet you didn't return to me,

7 says the LORD. I also withheld rain from you when there were still three months to the harvest. I allowed no rain to fall on one city, no rain to fall on another city. One field was rained on, and the field dried up where it didn't rain.

8 So two or three thirsty towns went to one city to drink water, and weren't satisfied; yet you didn't return to me,

9 says the LORD. I struck you with disease and mildew. I destroyed your gardens and your vineyards. The locust devoured your fig trees and your olive trees; yet you didn't return to me,

10 says the LORD. I sent a plague against you like the one in Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword. I carried away your horses. I made the stink of your camp go up into your nostrils; yet you didn't return to me,

11 says the LORD. I destroyed some of you, as when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning coal plucked out of the fire; yet you didn't return to me,

12 says the LORD. Truly, Israel, I will act in this way toward you; therefore, I will do this to you. Prepare to meet your God, Israel!

13 The one who forms the mountains, creates the wind, makes known his thoughts to humankind, makes the morning darkness, and moves over the heights of the earth— the LORD, the God of heavenly forces is his name!

1 Hear this word—a funeral song—that I am lifting up against you, house of Israel:

2 Fallen, no more to rise, is virgin Israel, deserted on her land, with no one to raise her up.

3 The LORD God proclaims: The city that marched out one thousand people will have one hundred left, and the city that marched out one hundred will have ten left in the house of Israel.

4 The LORD proclaims to the house of Israel: Seek me and live.

5 But don't seek Bethel, don't enter into Gilgal, or cross over to Beer-sheba; for Gilgal will go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.

6 Seek the LORD and live, or else God might rush like a fire against the house of Joseph. The fire will burn up Bethel, with no one to put it out.

7 Doom to you who turn justice into poison, and throw righteousness to the ground!

8 The one who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning, and darkens the day into night; who summons the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth— this one's name is the LORD—

9 who causes destruction to flash out against the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

10 They hate the one who judges at the city gate, and they reject the one who speaks the truth.

11 Truly, because you crush the weak, and because you tax their grain, you have built houses of carved stone, but you won't live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you won't drink their wine.

12 I know how many are your crimes, and how numerous are your sins— afflicting the righteous, taking money on the side, turning away the poor who seek help.

13 Therefore, the one who is wise will keep silent in that time; it is an evil time.

14 Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of heavenly forces, will be with you just as you have said.

15 Hate evil, love good, and establish justice at the city gate. Perhaps the LORD God of heavenly forces will be gracious to what is left of Joseph.

16 Truly, the LORD proclaims, the God of heavenly forces, the Lord: Crying will be heard in all the squares. In all the streets they will say, "Oh no! Oh no!" They will call upon the farmers to wail, and those skilled in mourning to lament.

17 In all the vineyards there will be bitter crying because I will pass through your midst,

18 says the LORD. Doom to those who desire the day of the LORD! Why do you want the day of the LORD? It is darkness, not light;

19 as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or sought refuge in a house, rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake.

20 Isn't the day of the LORD darkness, not light; all dark with no brightness in it?

21 I hate, I reject your festivals; I don't enjoy your joyous assemblies.

22 If you bring me your entirely burned offerings and gifts of food— I won't be pleased; I won't even look at your offerings of well-fed animals.

23 Take away the noise of your songs; I won't listen to the melody of your harps.

24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, house of Israel?

26 You will take up Sakkuth your king, and Kaiwan your star-god, your images, which you made for yourselves.

27 Therefore, I will take you away beyond Damascus, says the LORD, whose name is the God of heavenly forces.