Amos 9:2-15

2 Though they dig into She'ol, there my hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, there I will bring them down.

3 Though they hide themselves in the top of Karmel, I will search and take them out there; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them.

4 Though they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it will kill them. I will set my eyes on them for evil, and not for good.

5 For the Lord, the LORD of Hosts, is he who touches the land and it melts, and all who dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise up wholly like the River, and will sink again, like the River of Mitzrayim.

6 It is he who builds his chambers in the heavens, and has founded his vault on the eretz; he who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the eretz; the LORD is his name.

7 Are you not like the children of the Kushim to me, children of Yisra'el?" says the LORD. "Haven't I brought up Yisra'el out of the land of Mitzrayim, and the Pelishtim from Kaftor, and the Aram from Kir?

8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the eretz; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Ya`akov," says the LORD.

9 "For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Yisra'el among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall on the eretz.

10 All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, 'Evil won't overtake nor meet us.'

11 In that day I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen, and close up its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old;

12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations who are called by my name," says the LORD who does this.

13 "Behold, the days come," says the LORD, "That the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the one treading grapes him who sows seed; And sweet wine will drip from the mountains, And flow from the hills.

14 I will bring back the captivity of my people Yisra'el, And they will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they will plant vineyards, and drink wine from them. They shall also make gardens, And eat the fruit of them.

15 I will plant them on their land, And they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them," says the LORD your God.

Amos 9:2-15 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.