Amos 6; Amos 7; Amos 8; Amos 9

1 How terrible it will be for you men who are so contented on Mount Zion! How terrible for you who feel secure on the hill of Samaria! You are famous men from the greatest nation. The people of Israel come to you for help and advice.

2 Go to the city of Calneh. Look at it. Go from there to the great city of Hamath. Then go down to Gath in Philistia. Are those places better off than your two kingdoms? Is their land larger than yours?

3 You are trying to avoid the time when trouble will come. But you are only bringing closer the Assyrian rule of terror.

4 You lie down on beds that are decorated with ivory. You rest on your couches. You eat the best lambs and the fattest calves.

5 You pluck away on your harps as David did. You play new songs on musical instruments.

6 You drink wine by the bowlful. You use the finest lotions. But Joseph's people will soon be destroyed. And you aren't even sad about it.

7 So you will be among the first to be taken away as prisoners. You won't be able to enjoy good food. You won't lie around on couches anymore.

8 The LORD and King has taken an oath in his own name. He is the LORD God who rules over all. He announces, "I hate the pride of Jacob's people. I can't stand their forts. I will hand the city of Samaria and everything in it over to their enemies."

9 Ten men might be left in one house. If they are, they will die there.

10 Relatives might come to burn the dead bodies. If they do, they'll have to carry them out of the house first. They might ask someone still hiding there, "Is anyone here with you?" If the answer is no, the relatives will say, "Be quiet! We must not pray in the LORD's name."

11 The LORD has already given an order. He will smash large houses to pieces. He will crush small houses to bits.

12 Horses don't run on rocky ground. People don't plow there with oxen. But you have turned fair treatment into poison. You have turned the fruit of right living into bitterness.

13 You are happy because you captured the town of Lo Debar. You say, "We were strong enough to take Karnaim too."

14 But the LORD God rules over all. He announces, "People of Israel, I will stir up a nation against you. They will crush you from Lebo Hamath all the way down to the Arabah Valley."

1 The LORD and King gave me a vision. He was bringing large numbers of locusts on the land. The king's share of the first crop had already been harvested. Now the second crop was coming up.

2 The locusts stripped the land clean. Then I cried out, "LORD and King, forgive Israel! How can Jacob's people continue? They are such a weak nation!"

3 So the LORD had pity on them. "I will let them continue for now," he said.

4 The LORD and King gave me a second vision. He was using fire to punish his people. It dried up the deep waters. It burned the land up.

5 Then I cried out, "LORD and King, please stop! How can Jacob's people continue? They are such a weak nation!"

6 So the LORD had pity on them. "I will let them continue for now," the LORD and King said.

7 Then the Lord gave me a third vision. He was standing by a wall. It had been built very straight, all the way up and down. He was holding a plumb line.

8 The LORD asked me, "What do you see, Amos?" "A plumb line," I replied. Then the Lord said, "Look at what I am doing. I am hanging a plumb line next to my people Israel. It will show how crooked they are. I will no longer spare them.

9 "The high places where Isaac's people worship other gods will be destroyed. The other places of worship in Israel will also be torn down. I will use my sword to attack Jeroboam's royal family."

10 Amaziah was priest of Bethel. He sent a message to Jeroboam, the king of Israel. He said, "Amos is making evil plans against you right here in Israel. The people in the land can't stand to listen to what he's saying.

11 Amos is telling them, " 'Jeroboam will be killed with a sword. The people of Israel will be taken away as prisoners. They will be carried off from their own land.' "

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, "Get out of Israel, you prophet! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your living there. Do your prophesying there.

13 Don't prophesy here at Bethel anymore. This is where the king worships. The main temple in the kingdom is located here."

14 Amos answered Amaziah, "I was not a prophet. I wasn't even a prophet's son. I was a shepherd. I also took care of sycamore-fig trees.

15 But the LORD took me away from taking care of the flock. He said to me, 'Go. Prophesy to my people Israel.'

16 Now then, listen to the LORD's message. You say, " 'Don't prophesy against Israel. Stop preaching against the people of Isaac.'

17 "But the LORD says, " 'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city of Bethel. Your sons and daughters will be killed with swords. Your land will be measured and divided up. And you yourself will die in another country. The people of Israel will be taken away as prisoners. They will be carried off from their own land.' "

1 The LORD and King gave me a vision. He showed me a basket of ripe fruit.

2 "What do you see, Amos?" he asked. "A basket of ripe fruit," I replied. Then the LORD said to me, "The time is ripe for my people Israel. I will no longer spare them.

3 "The time is coming when the songs in the temple will turn to crying," announces the LORD and King. "Many, many bodies will be thrown everywhere! So be quiet!"

4 Listen to me, you who walk all over needy people. You crush those who are poor in the land.

5 You say, "When will the New Moon Feast be over? Then we can sell our grain. When will the Sabbath day come to an end? Then people can buy our wheat." But you don't measure out the right amount. You raise your prices. You cheat others by using dishonest scales.

6 You buy poor people to make slaves out of them. You buy those who are in need for a mere pair of sandals. You even sell the worthless parts of your wheat.

7 People of Jacob, you are proud that the LORD is your God. But he has taken an oath in his own name. He says, "I will never forget anything Israel has done.

8 "The land will tremble because of what will happen. Everyone who lives in it will sob. So the whole land will rise like the Nile River. It will be stirred up. Then it will settle back down again like that river in Egypt."

9 The LORD and King announces, "At that time I will make the sun go down at noon. The earth will become dark in the middle of the day.

10 I will turn your holy feasts into times for sobbing. I will turn all of your songs into crying. You will have to wear black clothes. You will shave your heads. I will make you sob as if your only son had died. The end of that time will be like a bitter day."

11 The LORD and King announces, "The days are coming when I will send hunger through the land. But people will not be hungry for food. They will not be thirsty for water. Instead, they will be hungry to hear a message from me.

12 People will wander from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean. They will travel from north to east. They will look for a message from me. But they will not find it.

13 "At that time "the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because they are so thirsty.

14 Some people take oaths in the name of Samaria's shameful god. Others say, 'People of Dan, you can be sure that your god is alive.' Still others say, 'You can be sure that Beersheba's god is alive.' But all of those people will fall dead. They will never get up again."

1 I saw the Lord standing next to the altar in the temple. He said to me, "Strike the tops of the temple pillars. Then the heavy stones at the base of the entrance will shake. Bring everything down on the heads of everyone there. I will kill with my swords those who are left alive. Not one of them will escape. None will get away.

2 They might dig down to the deepest parts of the grave. But my powerful hand will take them out of there. They might climb up to the heavens. But I will bring them down from there.

3 They might hide on top of Mount Carmel. But I will hunt them down and grab hold of them. They might hide from me at the bottom of the ocean. But I will command the serpent to bite them.

4 Their enemies might take them away as prisoners to another country. But I will command their enemies to kill them with their swords. I will turn my eyes toward them to harm them. I will not help them."

5 The LORD rules over all. The Lord touches the earth, and it melts. Everyone who lives in it sobs. The whole land rises like the Nile River. Then it settles back down again like that river in Egypt.

6 The LORD builds his palace high in the heavens. He lays its foundation on the earth. He sends for the waters in the clouds. Then he pours them out on the surface of the land. His name is The Lord.

7 "You Israelites are just like the people of Cush to me," announces the Lord. "I brought Israel up from Egypt. I also brought the Philistines from Crete and the Arameans from Kir.

8 "I am the LORD and King. My eyes are watching the sinful kingdom of Israel. I will wipe it off the face of the earth. But I will not totally destroy the people of Jacob," announces the Lord.

9 "I will give an order. I will shake the people of Israel among all of the nations. They will be like grain that is shaken through a screen. Not a pebble will fall to the ground.

10 All of the sinners among my people will be killed with swords. They say, 'Nothing bad will ever happen to us.'

11 "The time will come when I will rebuild David's fallen tent. I will repair its broken places. I will rebuild what was destroyed. I will make it what it used to be.

12 Then my people will take control of those who are left alive in Edom. They will also possess all of the nations that belong to me," announces the Lord. He will do all of those things.

13 "A new day is coming," announces the Lord. "At that time those who plow the land will catch up with those who harvest the crops. Those who stomp on grapes will catch up with those who plant the vines. Fresh wine will drip from the mountains. It will flow down from all of the hills.

14 I will bring my people Israel back home. I will bless them with great success again. They will rebuild the destroyed cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce. They will make gardens and eat their fruit.

15 I will plant Israel in their own land. They will never again be removed from the land I have given them," says the LORD your God.