Amos 2:4

2:4 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions ¹  –

make that four! ²  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ³ 

They rejected the Lord’s law; ⁴ 

they did not obey his commands.

Their false gods, ⁵ 

to which their fathers were loyal, ⁶ 

led them astray.

Amos 1:11

1:11 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Edom has committed three crimes ⁷  –

make that four! ⁸  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ⁹ 

He chased his brother ¹⁰  with a sword;

he wiped out his allies. ¹¹ 

In his anger he tore them apart without stopping to rest; ¹² 

in his fury he relentlessly attacked them. ¹³ 

Amos 5:24

5:24 Justice must flow like torrents of water,

righteous actions ¹⁴  like a stream that never dries up.

Amos 7:5

7:5 I said, “Sovereign Lord, stop!

How can Jacob survive? ¹⁵ 

He is too weak!” ¹⁶ 

Amos 5:15

5:15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right!

Promote ¹⁷  justice at the city gate! ¹⁸ 

Maybe the Lord, the God who commands armies, will have mercy on ¹⁹  those who are left from ²⁰  Joseph. ²¹ 

Amos 7:2

7:2 When they had completely consumed the earth’s vegetation, I said,

“Sovereign Lord, forgive Israel! ²² 

How can Jacob survive? ²³ 

He is too weak!” ²⁴ 

Amos 9:15

9:15 I will plant them on their land

and they will never again be uprooted from the ²⁵  land I have given them,”

says the Lord your God.

Amos 4:6

4:6 “But surely I gave ²⁶  you no food to eat in any of your cities;

you lacked food everywhere you live. ²⁷ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 4:8-11

4:8 People from ²⁸  two or three cities staggered into one city to get ²⁹  water,

but remained thirsty. ³⁰ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:9 “I destroyed your crops ³¹  with blight and disease.

Locusts kept ³²  devouring your orchards, ³³  vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:10 “I sent against you a plague like one of the Egyptian plagues. ³⁴ 

I killed your young men with the sword,

along with the horses you had captured.

I made the stench from the corpses ³⁵  rise up into your nostrils.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:11 “I overthrew some of you the way God ³⁶  overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. ³⁷ 

You were like a burning stick ³⁸  snatched from the flames.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

[2:4]  ¹ tn This is the same Hebrew term that is translated “crimes” in the previous oracles (see at 1:3). The change to “covenant transgressions” reflects the probability that the prophet is condemning the nation of Israel for violating stipulations of the Mosaic Law.

[2:4]  ² tn Heb “Because of three violations of Judah, even because of four.”

[2:4]  sn On the three…four style that introduces each of the judgment oracles of chaps. 1-2 see the note on the word “four” in 1:3.

[2:4]  ³ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[2:4]  ⁴ tn Or “instruction”; NCV “teachings.”

[2:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “lies.” This may very well be a derogatory term for idols (perhaps also at Ps. 40:4 [Heb 40:5]). Elsewhere false gods are called “vanities” (Deut 32:21; 1 Kgs 16:13, 26) and a delusion (Isa 66:3). In no other prophetic passages, however, are they called “lies.” The term could refer to the deceptions of false prophets (note Ezek 13:6-9; cf. Hab 2:3). See F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos (AB), 301-6.

[2:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “after which their fathers walked.” The expression “to walk after” is an idiom meaning “to be loyal to.” See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 75-76.

[2:4]  sn Here the idolatry of the parents carried over to the children, who persisted in worshiping the idols to which their fathers were loyal.

[1:11]  ⁷ tn Traditionally, “transgressions” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) or “sins” (NIV). For an explanation of the atrocities outlined in this oracle as treaty violations of God’s mandate to Noah in Gen 9:5-7, see the note on the word “violations” in 1:3.

[1:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “Because of three violations of Edom, even because of four.”

[1:11]  sn On the three…four style that introduces each of the judgment oracles of chaps. 1-2 see the note on the word “four” in 1:3.

[1:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[1:11]  ¹⁰ sn It is likely that “brother” refers here to a treaty partner (see the note on the word “brotherhood” in 1:9). However, it is possible, if Israel is in view, that Edom’s ancient blood relationship to God’s people is alluded to here. Cf. NCV, NLT “their relatives, the Israelites.”

[1:11]  ¹¹ tn Or “He stifled his compassion.” The Hebrew term רָחֲמָיו (rakhamayv) is better understood here (parallel to “brother/treaty partner”) as a reference to “allies” which Edom betrayed. An Aramaic cognate is attested (see DNWSI 2:1069-70). See M. Fishbane, “The Treaty Background of Amos 1:11 and Related Matters,” JBL 89 (1970): 313-18; idem, “Critical Note: Additional Remarks on rh£myw (Amos 1:11),” JBL 91 (1972): 391-93; and M. Barré, “Amos 1:11 reconsidered,” CBQ 47 (1985) 420-27. Some argue that the clause is best translated as “and destroyed his womenfolk.” רַחַם (rakham) means “womb”; the plural here would be a metonymy for “women” and could establish a parallel with the atrocity of 1:13. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 64-65.

[1:11]  ¹² tn Heb “his anger tore continually.” The Hebrew verb טָרַף (taraf, “tear apart”) is often used of an animal tearing apart its prey. The word picture here is that of a vicious predator’s feeding frenzy.

[1:11]  ¹³ tn Traditionally, “he kept his fury continually.” The Hebrew term שְׁמָרָה (shÿmarah) could be taken as a Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular with 3rd person feminine singular suffix (with mappiq omitted), “he kept it” (NASB, NKJV, NRSV). It is also possible in light of the parallelism that שָׁמַר (shamar) is a rare homonym cognate to an Akkadian verb meaning “to rage; to be furious.” Repointing the verb as שָׁמְרָה (shamÿrah, third person feminine singular), one could translate literally, “his fury raged continually” (NIV, NJPS).

[5:24]  ¹⁴ tn Traditionally, “righteousness.”

[7:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “stand.”

[7:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “small.”

[5:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “set up, establish.” In the ancient Near East it was the responsibility especially of the king to establish justice. Here the prophet extends that demand to local leaders and to the nation as a whole (cf. 5:24).

[5:15]  ¹⁸ sn Legal disputes were resolved in the city gate (see the note in v. 12). This repetition of this phrase serves to highlight a deliberate contrast to the injustices cited in vv. 11-13.

[5:15]  ¹⁹ tn Or “will show favor to.”

[5:15]  ²⁰ tn Or “the remnant of” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “what’s left of your people.”

[5:15]  ²¹ sn Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[7:2]  ²² tn “Israel” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:2]  ²³ tn Heb “stand” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[7:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “small.”

[9:15]  ²⁵ tn Heb “their.” The pronoun was replaced by the English definite article in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[4:6]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic (pronoun + verb). It underscores the stark contrast between the judgments that the Lord had been sending with the God of blessing Israel was celebrating in its worship (4:4-5).

[4:6]  ²⁷ tn Heb “But I gave to you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of food in all your places.” The phrase “cleanness of teeth” is a vivid way of picturing the famine Israel experienced.

[4:8]  ²⁸ tn The words “people from” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:8]  ²⁹ tn Heb “to drink.”

[4:8]  ³⁰ tn Or “were not satisfied.”

[4:9]  ³¹ tn Heb “you.” By metonymy the crops belonging to these people are meant. See the remainder of this verse, which describes the agricultural devastation caused by locusts.

[4:9]  ³² tn The Hiphil infinitive construct is taken adverbially (“kept”) and connected to the activity of the locusts (NJPS). It also could be taken with the preceding sentence and related to the Lord’s interventions (“I kept destroying,” cf. NEB, NJB, NIV, NRSV), or it could be understood substantivally in construct with the following nouns (“Locusts devoured your many orchards,” cf. NASB; cf. also KJV, NKJV).

[4:9]  ³³ tn Or “gardens.”

[4:10]  ³⁴ tn Heb “in the manner [or “way”] of Egypt.”

[4:10]  ³⁵ tn Heb “of your camps [or “armies”].”

[4:11]  ³⁶ tn Several English versions substitute the first person pronoun (“I”) here for stylistic reasons (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[4:11]  ³⁷ tn Heb “like God’s overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah.” The divine name may be used in an idiomatic superlative sense here, in which case one might translate, “like the great [or “disastrous”] overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah.”

[4:11]  sn The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is described in Gen 19:1-29.

[4:11]  ³⁸ tn Heb “like that which is burning.”