6:1 Woe 1 to those who live in ease in Zion, 2
to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria.
They think of themselves as 3 the elite class of the best nation.
The family 4 of Israel looks to them for leadership. 5
6:2 They say to the people: 6
“Journey over to Calneh and look at it!
Then go from there to Hamath-Rabbah! 7
Then go down to Gath of the Philistines!
Are they superior to our two 8 kingdoms?
Is their territory larger than yours?” 9
6:3 You refuse to believe a day of disaster will come, 10
but you establish a reign of violence. 11
6:4 They lie around on beds decorated with ivory, 12
and sprawl out on their couches.
They eat lambs from the flock,
and calves from the middle of the pen.
6:5 They sing 13 to the tune of 14 stringed instruments; 15
like David they invent 16 musical instruments.
6:6 They drink wine from sacrificial bowls, 17
and pour the very best oils on themselves. 18
Yet they are not concerned over 19 the ruin 20 of Joseph.
6:7 Therefore they will now be the first to go into exile, 21
and the religious banquets 22 where they sprawl on couches 23 will end.
6:8 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his very own life. 24
The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking:
“I despise Jacob’s arrogance;
I hate their 25 fortresses.
I will hand over to their enemies 26 the city of Samaria 27 and everything in it.”
6:9 If ten men are left in one house, they too will die. 6:10 When their close relatives, the ones who will burn the corpses, 28 pick up their bodies to remove the bones from the house, they will say to anyone who is in the inner rooms of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” He will respond, “Be quiet! Don’t invoke the Lord’s name!” 29
6:11 Indeed, look! The Lord is giving the command. 30
He will smash the large house to bits,
and the small house into little pieces.
6:12 Can horses run on rocky cliffs?
Can one plow the sea with oxen? 31
Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant,
and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant. 32
6:13 You are happy because you conquered Lo-Debar. 33
You say, “Did we not conquer Karnaim 34 by our own power?”
6:14 “Look! I am about to bring 35 a nation against you, family 36 of Israel.”
The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking.
“They will oppress 37 you all the way from Lebo-Hamath 38 to the Stream of the Arabah.” 39
7:1 The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw 40 him making locusts just as the crops planted late 41 were beginning to sprout. (The crops planted late sprout after the royal harvest. 42 ) 7:2 When they had completely consumed the earth’s vegetation, I said,
“Sovereign Lord, forgive Israel! 43
How can Jacob survive? 44
He is too weak!” 45
7:3 The Lord decided not to do this. 46 “It will not happen,” the Lord said.
7:4 The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw 47 the sovereign Lord summoning a shower of fire. 48 It consumed the great deep and devoured the fields.
7:5 I said, “Sovereign Lord, stop!
How can Jacob survive? 49
He is too weak!” 50
7:6 The Lord decided not to do this. 51 The sovereign Lord said, “This will not happen either.”
7:7 He showed me this: I saw 52 the sovereign One 53 standing by a tin 54 wall holding tin in his hand. 7:8 The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “Tin.” The sovereign One then said,
“Look, I am about to place tin among my people Israel.
I will no longer overlook their sin. 55
7:9 Isaac’s centers of worship 56 will become desolate;
Israel’s holy places will be in ruins.
I will attack Jeroboam’s dynasty with the sword.” 57
7:10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel 58 sent this message 59 to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is conspiring against you in the very heart of the kingdom of Israel! 60 The land cannot endure all his prophecies. 61 7:11 As a matter of fact, 62 Amos is saying this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly be carried into exile 63 away from its land.’”
7:12 Amaziah then said to Amos, “Leave, you visionary! 64 Run away to the land of Judah! Earn your living 65 and prophesy there! 7:13 Don’t prophesy at Bethel 66 any longer, for a royal temple and palace are here!” 67
7:14 Amos replied 68 to Amaziah, “I was not a prophet by profession. 69 No, 70 I was a herdsman who also took care of 71 sycamore fig trees. 72 7:15 Then the Lord took me from tending 73 flocks and gave me this commission, 74 ‘Go! Prophesy to my people Israel!’ 7:16 So now listen to the Lord’s message! You say, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel! Don’t preach 75 against the family of Isaac!’
7:17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:
‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the streets 76
and your sons and daughters will die violently. 77
Your land will be given to others 78
and you will die in a foreign 79 land.
Israel will certainly be carried into exile 80 away from its land.’”
8:1 The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw 81 a basket of summer fruit. 82
8:2 He said, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end 83 has come for my people Israel! I will no longer overlook their sins. 84
8:3 The women singing in the temple 85 will wail in that day.”
The sovereign Lord is speaking.
“There will be many corpses littered everywhere! 86 Be quiet!”
8:4 Listen to this, you who trample 87 the needy,
and do away with 88 the destitute in the land.
8:5 You say,
“When will the new moon festival 89 be over, 90 so we can sell grain?
When will the Sabbath end, 91 so we can open up the grain bins? 92
We’re eager 93 to sell less for a higher price, 94
and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales! 95
8:6 We’re eager to trade silver for the poor, 96
a pair of sandals 97 for the needy!
We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!” 98
8:7 The Lord confirms this oath 99 by the arrogance of Jacob: 100
“I swear 101 I will never forget all you have done! 102
8:8 Because of this the earth 103 will quake, 104
and all who live in it will mourn.
The whole earth 105 will rise like the River Nile, 106
it will surge upward 107 and then grow calm, 108 like the Nile in Egypt. 109
8:9 In that day,” says the sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon,
and make the earth dark in the middle of the day. 110
8:10 I will turn your festivals into funerals, 111
and all your songs into funeral dirges.
I will make everyone wear funeral clothes 112
and cause every head to be shaved bald. 113
I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; 114
when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day. 115
8:11 Be certain of this, 116 the time is 117 coming,” says the sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine through the land –
not a shortage of food or water
but an end to divine revelation! 118
8:12 People 119 will stagger from sea to sea, 120
and from the north around to the east.
They will wander about looking for a revelation from 121 the Lord,
but they will not find any. 122
8:13 In that day your 123 beautiful young women 124 and your 125 young men will faint from thirst. 126 8:14 These are the ones who now take oaths 127 in the name of the sinful idol goddess 128 of Samaria.
They vow, 129 ‘As surely as your god 130 lives, O Dan,’ or ‘As surely as your beloved one 131 lives, O Beer Sheba!’
But they will fall down and not get up again.”
9:1 I saw the sovereign One 132 standing by the altar 133 and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, 134 so the thresholds shake!
Knock them down on the heads of all the people, 135
and I will kill the survivors 136 with the sword.
No one will be able to run away; 137
no one will be able to escape. 138
9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, 139
my hand would pull them up from there.
Even if they could climb up to heaven,
I would drag them down from there.
9:3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,
I would hunt them down and take them from there.
Even if they tried to hide from me 140 at the bottom of the sea,
from there 141 I would command the Sea Serpent 142 to bite them.
9:4 Even when their enemies drive them into captivity, 143
from there 144 I will command the sword to kill them.
I will not let them out of my sight;
they will experience disaster, not prosperity.” 145
9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. 146
He touches the earth and it dissolves; 147
all who live on it mourn.
The whole earth 148 rises like the River Nile, 149
and then grows calm 150 like the Nile in Egypt. 151
9:6 He builds the upper rooms of his palace 152 in heaven
and sets its foundation supports 153 on the earth. 154
He summons the water of the sea
and pours it out on the earth’s surface.
The Lord is his name.
9:7 “You Israelites are just like the Ethiopians in my sight,” 155 says the Lord.
“Certainly I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt,
but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor 156 and the Arameans from Kir. 157
9:8 Look, the sovereign Lord is watching 158 the sinful nation, 159
and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.
But I will not completely destroy the family 160 of Jacob,” says the Lord.
9:9 “For look, I am giving a command
and I will shake the family of Israel together with all the nations.
It will resemble a sieve being shaken,
when not even a pebble falls to the ground. 161
9:10 All the sinners among my people will die by the sword –
the ones who say, ‘Disaster will not come near, it will not confront us.’
9:11 “In that day I will rebuild the collapsing hut 162 of David.
I will seal its 163 gaps,
repair its 164 ruins,
and restore it to what it was like in days gone by. 165
9:12 As a result they 166 will conquer those left in Edom 167
and all the nations subject to my rule.” 168
The Lord, who is about to do this, is speaking!
9:13 “Be sure of this, 169 the time is 170 coming,” says the Lord,
“when the plowman will catch up to the reaper 171
and the one who stomps the grapes 172 will overtake 173 the planter. 174
Juice will run down the slopes, 175
it will flow down all the hillsides. 176
9:14 I will bring back my people, Israel; 177
they will rebuild the cities lying in rubble 178 and settle down. 179
They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce; 180
they will grow orchards 181 and eat the fruit they produce. 182
9:15 I will plant them on their land
and they will never again be uprooted from the 183 land I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.