Amos 1:8

1:8 I will remove ¹  the ruler ²  from Ashdod, ³ 

the one who holds the royal scepter from Ashkelon. ⁴ 

I will strike Ekron ⁵  with my hand; ⁶ 

the rest of the Philistines will also die.” ⁷ 

The sovereign Lord has spoken!

Amos 4:8

4:8 People from ⁸  two or three cities staggered into one city to get ⁹  water,

but remained thirsty. ¹⁰ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 5:3

5:3 The sovereign Lord says this:

“The city that marches out with a thousand soldiers ¹¹  will have only a hundred left;

the town ¹²  that marches out with a hundred soldiers ¹³  will have only ten left for the family of Israel.” ¹⁴ 

Amos 7:9

7:9 Isaac’s centers of worship ¹⁵  will become desolate;

Israel’s holy places will be in ruins.

I will attack Jeroboam’s dynasty with the sword.” ¹⁶ 

Amos 8:8

8:8 Because of this the earth ¹⁷  will quake, ¹⁸ 

and all who live in it will mourn.

The whole earth ¹⁹  will rise like the River Nile, ²⁰ 

it will surge upward ²¹  and then grow calm, ²²  like the Nile in Egypt. ²³ 

Amos 9:5

9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. ²⁴ 

He touches the earth and it dissolves; ²⁵ 

all who live on it mourn.

The whole earth ²⁶  rises like the River Nile, ²⁷ 

and then grows calm ²⁸  like the Nile in Egypt. ²⁹ 

[1:8]  ¹ tn Heb “cut off.”

[1:8]  ² tn Heb “the one who sits.” Some translations take this expression as a collective singular referring to the inhabitants rather than the ruler (e.g., NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[1:8]  ³ sn Ashdod was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashkelon, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ⁴ sn Ashkelon was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ⁵ sn Ekron was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will turn my hand against Ekron.” For other uses of the idiom, “turn the hand against,” see Ps 81:14; Isa 1:25; Jer 6:9; Zech 13:7.

[1:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the remnant of the Philistines will perish.” The translation above assumes that reference is made to other Philistines beside those living in the cities mentioned. Another option is to translate, “Every last Philistine will die.”

[4:8]  ⁸ tn The words “people from” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “to drink.”

[4:8]  ¹⁰ tn Or “were not satisfied.”

[5:3]  ¹¹ tn The word “soldiers” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:3]  ¹² tn Heb “The one.” The word “town” has been used in the translation in keeping with the relative sizes of the armed contingents sent out by each. It is also possible that this line is speaking of the same city of the previous line. In other words, the contingent sent by that one city would have suffered a ninety-nine percent casualty loss.

[5:3]  ¹³ tn The word “soldiers” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for/to the house of Israel.” The translation assumes that this is a graphic picture of what is left over for the defense of the nation (NEB, NJB, NASB, NKJV). Others suggest that this phrase completes the introductory formula (“The sovereign Lord says this…”; see v. 4a; NJPS). Another option is that the preposition has a vocative force, “O house of Israel” (F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos [AB], 476). Some simply delete the phrase as dittography from the following line (NIV).

[7:9]  ¹⁵ tn Traditionally, “the high places” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “pagan shrines.”

[7:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “And I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with a sword.”

[8:8]  ¹⁷ tn Or “land” (also later in this verse).

[8:8]  ¹⁸ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[8:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “all of it.”

[8:8]  ²⁰ tc The MT reads “like the light” (כָאֹר, kha’or; note this term also appears in v. 9), which is commonly understood to be an error for “like the Nile” (כִּיאוֹר, ki’or). See the parallel line and Amos 9:5. The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity. If this emendation is correct, in the Hebrew of Amos “Nile” is actually spelled three slightly different ways.

[8:8]  sn The movement of the quaking earth is here compared to the annual flooding and receding of the River Nile.

[8:8]  ²¹ tn Or “churn.”

[8:8]  ²² tn Or “sink back down.” The translation assumes the verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’), following the Qere.

[8:8]  ²³ tn The entire verse is phrased in a series of rhetorical questions which anticipate the answer, “Of course!” (For example, the first line reads, “Because of this will the earth not quake?”). The rhetorical questions entrap the listener in the logic of the judgment of God (cf. 3:3-6; 9:7). The rhetorical questions have been converted to affirmative statements in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ²⁴ tn The words “will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:5]  ²⁵ tn Or “melts.” The verb probably depicts earthquakes and landslides. See v. 5b.

[9:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “all of it.”

[9:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ²⁸ tn Or “sinks back down.”

[9:5]  ²⁹ sn See Amos 8:8, which is very similar to this verse.