The Book of Amos

From The Holy Bible

Chapter 1

1The words of Amos who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, that he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. 2And he said, "The LORD will roar from Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem. Then the pastures of the shepherds will mourn and the top of Carmel will wither."a 3Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Damascus and for four, I will not turn away its punishment because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron.b 4"But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael that will devour the palaces of Benhadad.c 5"I will break also the bar of Damascus and cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven, and the one who holds the scepter from the house of Eden. And the people of Syria will go into captivity to Kir," says the LORD. 6Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Gaza and for four, I will not turn away its punishment because they carried away captive the whole captivity in order to deliver them up to Edom.d 7"But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza that will devour its palaces.e 8"And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod and the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon. And I will turn My hand against Ekron. And the remnant of the Philistines will perish," says the Lord GOD.f 9Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Tyre and for four, I will not turn away its punishment because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom and did not remember the brotherly covenant.g 10"But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre that will devour its palaces." 11Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Edom and for four, I will not turn away its punishment because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity. And his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever.h 12"But I will send a fire on Teman that will devour the palaces of Bozrah."i 13Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of the children of Ammon and for four, I will not turn away its punishment because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead so that they might enlarge their border.j 14"But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah and it will devour its palaces, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind.k 15"And their king will go into captivity, he and his princes together," says the LORD.

a. Or "Carmel"

b. Or "threshing instruments of iron"

c. Or "Benhadad"

d. Or "Gaza"

e. Or "palaces"

f. Or "remnant of the Philistines will perish"

g. Or "brotherly covenant"

h. Or "his brother"

i. Or "Bozrah"

j. Or "women with child"

k. Or "Rabbah"

Chapter 2

1Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Moab and for four, I will not turn away its punishment because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime.a 2"But I will send a fire on Moab and it will devour the palaces of Kirioth. And Moab will die with tumult, with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.b 3"And I will cut off the judge from the midst of it and will slay all its princes with him," says the LORD. 4Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Judah and for four, I will not turn away its punishment because they have despised the law of the LORD and have not kept His commandments. And their lies caused them to err, lies after which the fathers followed.c 5"But I will send a fire on Judah and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem." 6Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Israel and for four, I will not turn away its punishment because they sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoesd 7"They pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor and pervert the way of the meek. And a man and his father will go in to the same girl to profane My holy name.e 8"And they lie down by every altar on clothes taken in pledge. And they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.f 9"Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from beneath.g 10"I also brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you forty years through the wilderness in order to possess the land of the Amorite.h 11"Then I raised up of your sons for prophets and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even as this, O you children of Israel?" says the LORD.i 12"But you gave the Nazarites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, 'Do not prophesy.'j 13"Behold, I will crush you, as a cart is weighed down when full of sheaves.k 14"Therefore, flight will perish from the swift, and the strong will not strengthen his force, nor will the mighty deliver himself.l 15"Neither will he stand who handles the bow. And he who is swift of foot will not deliver himself, nor will he who rides the horse deliver himself. 16"And he who is courageous among the mighty will flee away naked in that day," says the LORD.

a. Or "burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime"

b. Or "Kirioth"

c. Or "their lies caused them to err"

d. Or "pair of shoes"

e. Or "to profane My holy name"

f. Or "taken in pledge"

g. Or "the Amorite"

h. Or "forty years"

i. Or "Nazarites"

j. Or "Do not prophesy"

k. Or "as a cart is weighed down when full of sheaves"

l. Or "nor will the mighty deliver himself"

Chapter 3

1Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family that He brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, 2"You only I have known of all the families of the earth. Therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities."a 3Can two walk together, except they have agreed? 4Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den if he has taken nothing? 5Can a bird fall in a snare on the earth where no trap is for it? Will one take up a snare from the earth and have taken nothing at all? 6Will a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be afraid? If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it?b 7Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing without first revealing His plans to His servants the prophets.c 8The lion has roared. Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken. Who can but prophesy?d 9Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, "Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria and behold the great unrest in its midst and the oppressed in its midst. 10"For they do not know how to do right," says the LORD, "who store up violence and robbery in their palaces."e 11Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "An adversary will be throughout the land. And he will bring down your strength from you and your palaces will be plundered." 12Thus says the LORD, "As the shepherd takes out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so will the sons of Israel dwelling in Samaria be snatched away--in the corner of a bed and the cover of a couch! 13"Hear and testify in the house of Jacob," says the Lord GOD, the God of armies. 14"For in the day that I will visit the transgressions of Israel on him I will also visit the altars of Bethel. And the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.f 15"And I will smite the winter house with the summer house. And the houses of ivory will perish, and the great houses will have an end," says the LORD.g

a. Or "I will punish you for all your iniquities"

b. Or "has not the LORD done it?"

c. Or "revealing His plans"

d. Or "Who can but prophesy?"

e. Or "do not know how to do right"

f. Or "Bethel"

g. Or "houses of ivory will perish"

Chapter 4

1Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who are on Mount Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their husbands, "Bring now, that we may drink.a 2The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness, "Behold, the days will come on you when He will take you away with hooks and your posterity with hooks.b 3"And you will each go straight out through the breaches in the wall, and you will be cast toward Harmon," says the LORD.c 4"Come to Bethel and transgress. At Gilgal multiply transgression. And bring your sacrifices every morning and your tithes every three days.d 5"And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free-will offerings. For so you love to do, O you children of Israel," says the Lord GOD. 6"And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places. Yet you have not returned to Me," says the LORD.e 7"And I have also withheld the rain from you when there were still three months until the harvest. And I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city. One part was rained on, and the part on which it did not rain withered. 8"So two or three cities wandered to one city, to drink water. But they were not satisfied. Yet you have not returned to Me," says the LORD. 9"I have blasted you with scorching wind and mildew. When your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the locust devoured them. Yet you have not returned to Me," says the LORD.f 10"I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt. Your young men I have slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses. And I have made the stench of your camps come up to your nostrils. Yet you have not returned to Me," says the LORD.g 11"I have destroyed some of your cities, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning. Yet you have not returned to Me," says the LORD. 12"Therefore, thus I will do to you, O Israel. And because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel."h 13For behold, He who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thoughts, who makes the morning darkness and treads on the high places of the earth, the LORD God of armies is His name.i

a. Or "cows of Bashan"

b. Or "hooks"

c. Or "Harmon"

d. Or "tithes"

e. Or "Yet you have not returned to Me"

f. Or "locust devoured them"

g. Or "pestilence after the manner of Egypt"

h. Or "prepare to meet your God"

i. Or "the LORD God of armies is His name"

Chapter 5

1Hear you this word that I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel. 2The virgin of Israel has fallen. She will no longer rise. She is forsaken on her land. There is no one to raise her up. 3For thus says the Lord GOD, "The city that went out by a thousand will have a hundred left, and that which went out by a hundred will have ten left to the house of Israel." 4For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel, "Seek Me and you will live."a 5"But do not seek Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal. And do not pass to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into captivity and Bethel will come to nought.b 6"Seek the LORD and you will live, lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph and devour it, and there be no one to quench it in Bethel.c 7"You who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth, 8"seek Him who makes the Pleiades and Orion and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth. The LORD is his name."d 9He causes ruin to burst forth on the strong, and brings destruction on the fortress. 10They hate him who rebukes in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks uprightly.e 11Therefore, because you trample on the poor and you take from him tribute of grain, and have built mansions of hewn stone, you will not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, but you will not drink wine from them.f 12For I know your many transgressions and your mighty sins. They afflict the just. They take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate.g 13Therefore, the prudent will keep silence in that time, for it is an evil time.h 14Seek good and not evil, so that you may live. And so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you as you have said.i 15Hate the evil and love the good, and establish justice at the gate. It may be that the LORD God of armies will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.j 16Therefore, the LORD, the God of armies, the Lord, says thus, "Wailing will be in all streets. And they will say in all the highways, 'Alas! Alas!' And they will call the farmer to mourning and professional mourners to lamentation.k 17"And in all vineyards there is wailing because I will pass through you," says the LORD. 18Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! To what end is it for you? The day of the LORD is darkness and not light.l 19As if a man flees from a lion and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20Will not the day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it? 21"I hate, I despise your feast days. And I will not take delight in your solemn assemblies.m 22"Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them. Neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.n 23"Take away from Me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. 24"But let justice run down as waters and righteousness as an overflowing stream.o 25"Have you offered to Me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?p 26"But you have borne the shrine of your king and the pedestal of your images, the star of your god that you made for yourselves.q 27"Therefore, I will cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus," says the LORD, whose name is the God of armies.r

a. Or "Seek Me and you will live"

b. Or "Bethel will come to nought"

c. Or "no one to quench it in Bethel"

d. Or "The LORD is his name"

e. Or "abhor him who speaks uprightly"

f. Or "mansions of hewn stone"

g. Or "turn aside the poor in the gate"

h. Or "prudent will keep silence"

i. Or "will be with you as you have said"

j. Or "remnant of Joseph"

k. Or "professional mourners to lamentation"

l. Or "darkness and not light"

m. Or "solemn assemblies"

n. Or "peace offerings of your fat beasts"

o. Or "overflowing stream"

p. Or "forty years"

q. Or "star of your god"

r. Or "beyond Damascus"

Chapter 6

1Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and who trust in the mountain of Samaria, who are named foremost among the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes!a 2Go over to Calneh and see. And from there go to Hamath the great. Then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than these kingdoms, or their border greater than your border?b 3Woe to you who put off the day of calamity and who bring near the seat of violence,c 4who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the stall,d 5who sing idly to the sound of the stringed instruments, and invent for themselves instruments of music like David,e 6who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the chief ointments, but are not grieved because of the affliction of Joseph.f 7Therefore, they will go captive with the first who go captive. And those who recline at banquets will be removed.g 8The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself, says the LORD the God of hosts, "I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his palaces. Therefore, I will deliver up the city with all who are in it."h 9And it will come to pass that if there remains ten men in one house, they will die. 10Then a man's relative will take him up, or he who burns the bodies will lift him up to carry out his bones from the house. Then he will say to the one who is in the innermost part of the house, "Is there still any with you?" And he will say, "No." Then he will say, "Keep quiet. For the name of the LORD is not to be mentioned."i 11For behold, the LORD commands and He will smite the great house into bits and the little house into pieces.j 12Will horses run on the rock? Will one plow there with oxen? For you have turned justice into gall and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,k 13you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar, who say, "Have we not by our own strength taken Karnaim for ourselves?"l 14"For behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel," says the LORD the God of armies. "And they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the valley of the Arabah."m

a. Or "at ease in Zion"

b. Or "Are they better than these kingdoms"

c. Or "seat of violence"

d. Or "beds of ivory"

e. Or "instruments of music like David"

f. Or "chief ointments"

g. Or "go captive with the first who go captive"

h. Or "pride of Jacob and hate his palaces"

i. Or "the name of the LORD is not to be mentioned"

j. Or "smite the great house into bits"

k. Or "into wormwood"

l. Or "Karnaim"

m. Or "valley of the Arabah"

Chapter 7

1Thus has the Lord GOD showed to me, and behold, He formed the locust swarms at the beginning of the late crop. And lo, it was the late crop after the king's mowing. 2Now it came to pass when they had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said, "O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech You. By whom will Jacob arise, for he is small?"a 3The LORD relented from this. "It will not be," says the LORD. 4Thus has the Lord GOD showed to me. And behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep and ate up part of the land. 5Then I said, "O Lord GOD, please stop, I beseech You. By whom will Jacob arise, for he is small?"b 6The LORD relented from this. "This also will not be," says the Lord GOD. 7Therefore, He showed me, and behold, the Lord stood on a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. 8Thus the LORD said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel. I will not again pass by them anymore.c 9"And the high places of Isaac will be desolate and the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste. And I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword."d 10Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. 11"For thus Amos says, 'Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will surely be led away captive out of their own land.'e 12Amaziah also said to Amos, "Go, you seer. Flee away into the land of Judah and there eat bread and prophesy there. 13"But do not prophesy again anymore at Bethel, for it is a sanctuary of the king and a royal residence."f 14Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, "I was no prophet, nor was I a prophet's son. But I was a herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore figs.g 15"And the LORD took me as I followed the flock and the LORD said to me, 'Go, prophesy to My people Israel.'"h 16"Now therefore hear the word of the LORD. You are saying, 'Do not prophesy against Israel and do not speak against the house of Isaac.'i 17"Therefore, thus says the LORD, 'Your wife will be a harlot in the city and your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword. And your land will be measured and divided. And you will die in a defiled land, and Israel will surely go into captivity out of his land.'j

a. Or "By whom will Jacob arise"

b. Or "By whom will Jacob arise"

c. Or "I will not again pass by them anymore"

d. Or "house of Jeroboam"

e. Or "led away captive out of their own land"

f. Or "sanctuary of the king"

g. Or "herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore figs"

h. Or "prophesy to My people Israel"

i. Or "house of Isaac"

j. Or "defiled land"

Chapter 8

1Thus has the Lord GOD showed to me, and behold a basket of summer fruit. 2And He said, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the LORD said to me, "The end has come on My people of Israel. I will not again pass by them anymore.a 3"And the songs of the temple will be wailings in that day," says the Lord GOD. "There will be many dead bodies in every place. They will cast them out with silence.b 4"Hear this, O you who swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, 5"saying, 'When will the new moon be gone so that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath so that we may market wheat, making the ephah small and the shekel great, and cheat with dishonest scales,c 6'so that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of shoes, and that we may sell the sweepings of the wheat?'d 7The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob, "Surely I will never forget any of their works.e 8"Will not the land tremble because of this, and everyone mourn who dwells in it? And it will rise up like the Nile. And it will be tossed about and subside like the Nile of Egypt.f 9"Then it will come to pass in that day," says the Lord GOD, "that I will cause the sun to go down at noon and I will darken the earth in the clear day.g 10"And I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. And I will bring up sackcloth on all loins and baldness on every head. And I will make it as the mourning of an only son and its end as a bitter day.h 11"Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD, "that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.i 12"And they will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east. They will run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and will not find it.j 13"In that day the fair virgins and young men will faint because of thirst. 14"They who swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, 'Your god, O Dan, lives,' and, 'The way of Beersheba lives,' even they will fall and never rise up again."k

a. Or "I will not again pass by them anymore"

b. Or "They will cast them out with silence"

c. Or "dishonest scales"

d. Or "sweepings of the wheat"

e. Or "pride of Jacob"

f. Or "subside like the Nile of Egypt"

g. Or "darken the earth in the clear day"

h. Or "mourning of an only son"

i. Or "famine of hearing the words of the LORD"

j. Or "will not find it"

k. Or "never rise up again"

Chapter 9

1I saw the Lord standing by the altar. And He said, "Strike the lintel of the door so that the posts may shake. And break them on the heads of them all. And I will slay the last of them with the sword. He who flees of them will not flee away. And he who escapes of them will not be delivered.a 2"Though they dig into Sheol, from there My hand will take them. Though they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down.b 3"And though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out from there. And though they hide from My sight in the bottom of the sea, from there I will command the serpent, and he will bite them.c 4"And though they go into captivity before their enemies, from there I will command the sword, and it will slay them. And I will set My eyes on them for calamity and not for good.d 5And the Lord GOD of armies is He who touches the land, and it will melt, and all who dwell in it will mourn. And it will rise up like the Nile and subside like the Nile of Egypt.e 6It is He who builds His lofty place in the heavens, and has set His foundation on the earth. He who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth, the LORD is His name.f 7"Are you not as children of the Ethiopians to me, O children of Israel?" says the LORD. "Have I not brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?g 8"Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth. Nevertheless, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob," says the LORD.h 9"For behold, I will command and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like grain is sifted in a sieve, yet a kernel will not fall to the ground.i 10"All the sinners of My people will die by the sword, those who say, 'The calamity will not overtake or confront us.'j 11"In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that has fallen and close up its breaches. And I will raise up its ruins and I will build it as in the days of old,k 12"so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by My name," says the LORD who does this.l 13"Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "when the plowman will overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed. And the mountains will drip sweet wine and all the hills will be dissolved.m 14"And I will bring again the captivity of My people of Israel and they will build the ruined cities and inhabit them. And they will plant vineyards and drink their wine. They will also make gardens and eat the fruit of them.n 15"And I will plant them in their land and they will never again be pulled up out of their land that I have given them," says the LORD your God.o

a. Or "break them on the heads of them all"

b. Or "Though they climb up to heaven"

c. Or "top of Carmel"

d. Or "for calamity and not for good"

e. Or "subside like the Nile of Egypt"

f. Or "the LORD is His name"

g. Or "from Kir"

h. Or "I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob"

i. Or "a kernel will not fall to the ground"

j. Or "The calamity will not overtake or confront us"

k. Or "as in the days of old"

l. Or "remnant of Edom"

m. Or "all the hills will be dissolved"

n. Or "eat the fruit of them"

o. Or "never again be pulled up out of their land"