Amos 3:13

3:13 Listen and warn ¹  the family ²  of Jacob! ³ 

The sovereign Lord, the God who commands armies, ⁴  is speaking!

Amos 5:21

5:21 “I absolutely despise ⁵  your festivals!

I get no pleasure ⁶  from your religious assemblies!

Amos 7:3

7:3 The Lord decided not to do this. ⁷  “It will not happen,” the Lord said.

Amos 8:7

8:7 The Lord confirms this oath ⁸  by the arrogance of Jacob: ⁹ 

“I swear ¹⁰  I will never forget all you have done! ¹¹ 

[3:13]  ¹ tn Or “testify against.”

[3:13]  ² tn Heb “house.”

[3:13]  ³ tn These words are spoken to either the unidentified heralds addressed at the beginning of v. 9, or to the Egyptians and Philistines (see v. 9b). Another possibility is that one is not to look for a specific addressee but rather appreciate the command simply as a rhetorical device to grab the attention of the listeners and readers of the prophetic message.

[3:13]  ⁴ tn Traditionally, “the God of hosts.”

[5:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “I hate”; “I despise.”

[5:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will not smell.” These verses are full of vivid descriptions of the Lord’s total rejection of Israelite worship. In the first half of this verse two verbs are used together for emphasis. Here the verb alludes to the sense of smell, a fitting observation since offerings would have been burned on the altar ideally to provide a sweet aroma to God (see, e.g., Lev 1:9, 13, 17; Num 29:36). Other senses that are mentioned include sight and hearing in vv. 22-23.

[7:3]  ⁷ tn Or “changed his mind about this.”

[8:7]  ⁸ tn Or “swears.”

[8:7]  ⁹ sn In an oath one appeals to something permanent to emphasize one’s commitment to the promise. Here the Lord sarcastically swears by the arrogance of Jacob, which he earlier had condemned (6:8), something just as enduring as the Lord’s own life (see 6:8) or unchanging character (see 4:2). Other suggestions include that the Lord is swearing by the land, his most valuable possession (cf. Isa 4:2; Ps 47:4 [47:5 HT]); that this is a divine epithet analogous to “the Glory of Israel” (1 Sam 15:29); or that an ellipsis should be understood here, in which case the meaning is the same as that of 6:8 (“The Lord has sworn [by himself] against the arrogance of Jacob”).

[8:7]  ¹⁰ tn The words “I swear” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation because a self-imprecation is assumed in oaths of this type.

[8:7]  ¹¹ tn Or “I will never forget all your deeds.”