Amos 9:1-10

Fifth Vision: The Lord beside the Altar

1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: Strike the capitals of the pillars so that the thresholds shake; knock them down on the heads of all the people. Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of their fugitives will escape.

2 If they dig down to Sheol, from there My hand will take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down.

3 If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will track them down and seize them; if they conceal themselves from My sight on the sea floor,^[a] from there I will command the [sea] serpent to bite them.

4 And if they are driven by their enemies into captivity, from there I will command the sword to kill them.^[b] I will fix My eyes on them for harm and not for good.^[c]

5 The Lord, the God of Hosts- He touches the earth; it melts, and all who dwell on it mourn; all of it rises like the Nile and subsides like the Nile of Egypt.^[d]

6 He builds His upper chambers in the heavens and lays the foundation of His vault on the earth.^[e] He summons the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth. Yahweh is His name.

Announcement of Judgment

7 Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to Me? [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. Didn't I bring Israel from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor,^[f] and the Arameans from Kir?

8 Look, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom,^[g] and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. However, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob- the Lord's declaration-

9 for I am about to give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations, as one shakes a sieve, but not a pebble will fall to the ground.

10 All the sinners among My people, who say: Disaster will never overtake^[h] or confront us,^[i] will die by the sword.

Amos 9:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 9

This chapter contains the fifth and last vision the prophet saw; which represents the certain desolation of the land, city, and temple, and the slaughter of all sorts of persons, high and low, none should escape it, Am 9:1; be they where they would, they should be found out, whether in hell or heaven, on the tops of the highest mountains, or in the bottom of the sea, or in a foreign land, since the eyes of the Lord were upon them for evil, Am 9:2-4; nor could they hope to escape, when they considered his greatness and his power, and what he could do, and had done; and how they had behaved towards him, even though they were the people he had brought out of Egypt, Am 9:5-7; but though the sinful kingdom should be destroyed, yet not utterly, a remnant should be saved, Am 9:8-10; and the chapter is concluded with gracious promises of raising up the tabernacle of David fallen down, and of the return of the people of Israel to their own land; and of their settlement and continuance in it, never more to depart from it, Am 9:11-15.

Footnotes

• [a] Jnh 2:2-6
• [b] Jb 34:21-22; Ps 139:7-12; Jr 23:24
• [c] Jr 21:10; 44:27
• [d] Am 8:8
• [e] Ps 102:25; Isa 48:13; 51:13
• [f] Crete; Dt 2:23; Jr 47:4
• [g] Am 9:4
• [h] Or You will not let disaster come near
• [i] Am 6:3; Jr 5:12; 23:17