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

Amos 1

1 These are the words of Amos, one of the shepherds from the town of Tekoa. He saw this vision about Israel two years before the earthquake. It was at the time Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.

2 Amos said, "The Lord will roar from Jerusalem; he will send his voice from Jerusalem. The pastures of the shepherds will become dry, and even the top of Mount Carmel will dry up."

3 This is what the Lord says: "For the many crimes of Damascus, I will punish them. with threshing boards that had iron teeth.

4 So I will send fire upon the house of Hazael that will destroy the strong towers of Ben-Hadad.

5 I will break down the bar of the gate to Damascus and destroy the king who is in the Valley of Aven, as well as the leader of Beth Eden. The people of Aram will be taken captive to the country of Kir," says the Lord.

6 This is what the Lord says: "For the many crimes of Gaza, I will punish them. They sold all the people of one area as slaves to Edom.

7 So I will send a fire on the walls of Gaza that will destroy the city's strong buildings.

8 I will destroy the king of the city of Ashdod, as well as the leader of Ashkelon. Then I will turn against the people of the city of Ekron, and the last of the Philistines will die," says the Lord God.

9 This is what the Lord says: "For the many crimes of Tyre, I will punish them. They sold all the people of one area as slaves to Edom, and they forgot the agreement among relatives they had made with Israel.

10 So I will send fire on the walls of Tyre that will destroy the city's strong buildings."

11 This is what the Lord says: "For the many crimes of Edom, I will punish them. They hunted down their relatives, the Israelites, with the sword, showing them no mercy. They were angry all the time and kept on being very angry.

12 So I will send fire on the city of Teman that will even destroy the strong buildings of Bozrah."

13 This is what the Lord says: "For the many crimes of Ammon, I will punish them. so they could take over that land and make their own country larger.

14 So I will send fire on the city wall of Rabbah that will destroy its strong buildings. It will come during a day of battle, during a stormy day with strong winds.

15 Then their king and leaders will be taken captive; they will all be taken away together," says the Lord.

Amos 2

1 This is what the Lord says: "For the many crimes of Moab, I will punish them. They burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime.

2 So I will send fire on Moab that will destroy the strong buildings of the city of Kerioth. The people of Moab will die in a great noise, in the middle of the sounds of war and trumpets.

3 So I will bring an end to the king of Moab, and I will kill all its leaders with him," says the Lord.

4 This is what the Lord says: "For the many crimes of Judah, I will punish them. and did not keep his commands; they followed the same gods as their ancestors had followed.

5 So I will send fire on Judah, and it will destroy the strong buildings of Jerusalem."

6 This is what the Lord says: "For the many crimes of Israel, I will punish them. For silver, they sell people who have done nothing wrong; they sell the poor to buy a pair of sandals.

7 They walk on poor people as if they were dirt, and they refuse to be fair to those who are suffering. Fathers and sons have sexual relations with the same woman, and so they ruin my holy name.

8 As they worship at their altars, they lie down on clothes taken from the poor. They fine people, and with that money they buy wine to drink in the house of their god.

9 "But it was I who destroyed the Amorites before them, who were tall like cedar trees and as strong as oaks -- I destroyed them completely.

10 It was I who brought you from the land of Egypt and led you for forty years through the desert so I could give you the land of the Amorites.

11 I made some of your children to be prophets and some of your young people to be Nazirites. People of Israel, isn't this true?" says the Lord.

12 "But you made the Nazirites drink wine and told the prophets not to prophesy.

13 Now I will make you get stuck, as a wagon loaded with grain gets stuck.

14 No one will escape, not even the fastest runner. Strong people will not be strong enough; warriors will not be able to save themselves.

15 Soldiers with bows and arrows will not stand and fight, and even fast runners will not get away; soldiers on horses will not escape alive.

16 At that time even the bravest warriors will run away without their armor," says the Lord.

Amos 3

1 Listen to this word that the Lord has spoken against you, people of Israel, against the whole family he brought out of Egypt.

2 "I have chosen only you out of all the families of the earth, so I will punish you for all your sins."

3 Two people will not walk together unless they have agreed to do so.

4 A lion in the forest does not roar unless it has caught an animal; it does not growl in its den when it has caught nothing.

5 A bird will not fall into a trap where there is no bait; the trap will not spring shut if there is nothing to catch.

6 When a trumpet blows a warning in a city, the people tremble. When trouble comes to a city, the Lord has caused it.

7 Before the Lord God does anything, he tells his plans to his servants the prophets.

8 The lion has roared! Who wouldn't be afraid? The Lord God has spoken. Who will not prophesy?

9 Announce this to the strong buildings of Ashdod and to the strong buildings of Egypt: "Come to the mountains of Samaria, where you will see great confusion and people hurting others."

10 "The people don't know how to do what is right," says the Lord. "Their strong buildings are filled with treasures they took by force from others."

11 So this is what the Lord God says: "An enemy will take over the land and pull down your strongholds; he will take the treasures out of your strong buildings."

12 This is what the Lord says: "A shepherd might save from a lion's mouth only two leg bones or a scrap of an ear of his sheep. people who now sit on their beds and on their couches."

13 "Listen and be witnesses against the family of Jacob," says the Lord God, the God All-Powerful.

14 "When I punish Israel for their sins, I will also destroy the altars at Bethel. The corners of the altar will be cut off, and they will fall to the ground.

15 I will tear down the winter house, together with the summer house. The houses decorated with ivory will be destroyed, and the great houses will come to an end," says the Lord.

Amos 4

1 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashann on the Mountain of Samaria. You take things from the poor and crush people who are in need. Then you command your husbands, "Bring us something to drink!"

2 The Lord God has promised this: "Just as surely as I am a holy God, the time will come when you will be taken away by hooks, and what is left of you with fishhooks.

3 You will go straight out of the city through holes in the walls, and you will be thrown on the garbage dump," says the Lord.

4 "Come to the city of Bethel and sin; come to Gilgal and sin even more. Offer your sacrifices every morning, and bring one-tenth of your crops every three days.

5 Offer bread made with yeast as a sacrifice to show your thanks, and brag about the special offerings you bring, because this is what you love to do, Israelites," says the Lord God.

6 "I did not give you any food in your cities, and there was not enough to eat in any of your towns, but you did not come back to me," says the Lord.

7 "I held back the rain from you three months before harvest time. Then I let it rain on one city but not on another. Rain fell on one field, but another field got none and dried up.

8 People weak from thirst went from town to town for water, but they could not get enough to drink. Still you did not come back to me," says the Lord.

9 "I made your crops die from disease and mildew. When your gardens and your vineyards got larger, locusts ate your fig and olive trees. But still you did not come back to me," says the Lord.

10 "I sent disasters against you, as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with swords, and your horses were taken from you. I made you smell the stink from all the dead bodies, but still you did not come back to me," says the Lord.

11 "I destroyed some of you as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick pulled from a fire, but still you did not come back to me," says the Lord.

12 "So this is what I will do to you, Israel; because I will do this to you, get ready to meet your God, Israel."

13 He is the one who makes the mountains and creates the wind and makes his thoughts known to people. He changes the dawn into darkness and walks over the mountains of the earth. His name is the Lord God All-Powerful.

Amos 5

1 Listen to this funeral song that I sing about you, people of Israel.

2 "The young girl Israel has fallen, and she will not rise up again. She was left alone in her own land, and there is no one to help her up."

3 This is what the Lord God says: "If a thousand soldiers leave a city, only a hundred will return; if a hundred soldiers leave a city, only ten will return."

4 This is what the Lord says to the nation of Israel: "Come to me and live.

5 But do not look in Bethel or go to Gilgal, and do not go down to Beersheba. The people of Gilgal will be taken away as captives, and Bethel will become nothing."

6 Come to the Lord and live, or he will move like fire against the descendants of Joseph. The fire will burn Bethel, and there will be no one to put it out.

7 You turn justice upside down, and you throw on the ground what is right.

8 God is the one who made the star groups Pleiades and Orion; he changes darkness into the morning light, and the day into dark night. He calls for the waters of the sea to pour out on the earth. The Lord is his name.

9 He destroys the protected city; he ruins the strong, walled city.

10 You hate those who speak in court against evil, and you can't stand those who tell the truth.

11 You walk on poor people, forcing them to give you grain. You have built fancy houses of cut stone, but you will not live in them. You have planted beautiful vineyards, but you will not drink the wine from them.

12 I know your many crimes, your terrible sins. You hurt people who do right, you take money to do wrong, and you keep the poor from getting justice in court.

13 In such times the wise person will keep quiet, because it is a bad time.

14 Try to do good, not evil, so that you will live, and the Lord God All-Powerful will be with you just as you say he is.

15 Hate evil and love good; be fair in the courts. to the people of Joseph who are left alive.

16 This is what the Lord, the Lord God All-Powerful, says: "People will be crying in all the streets; they will be saying, 'Oh, no!' in the public places. They will call the farmers to come and weep and will pay people to cry out loud for them.

17 People will be crying in all the vineyards, because I will pass among you to punish you," says the Lord.

18 How terrible it will be for you who want the Lord's day of judging to come. Why do you want that day to come? It will bring darkness for you, not light.

19 It will be like someone who runs from a lion and meets a bear, or like someone who goes into his house and puts his hand on the wall, and then is bitten by a snake.

20 So the Lord's day of judging will bring darkness, not light; it will be very dark, not light at all.

21 The Lord says, "I completely hate your feasts; I cannot stand your religious meetings.

22 If you offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won't accept them. You bring your best fellowship offerings of fattened cattle, but I will ignore them.

23 Take the noise of your songs away from me! I won't listen to the music of your harps.

24 But let justice flow like a river, and let goodness flow like a stream that never stops.

25 "People of Israel, you did not bring me sacrifices and offerings while you traveled in the desert for forty years.

26 You have carried with you your king, the god Sakkuth, and Kaiwan your idol, and the star gods you have made.

27 So I will send you away as captives beyond Damascus," says the Lord, whose name is the God All-Powerful.