Amos 5:9

5:9 He flashes ¹  destruction down upon the strong

so that destruction overwhelms ²  the fortified places.)

Amos 3:6

3:6 If an alarm sounds ³  in a city, do people not fear? ⁴ 

If disaster overtakes a ⁵  city, is the Lord not responsible? ⁶ 

Amos 6:1

The Party is over for the Rich

6:1 Woe ⁷  to those who live in ease in Zion, ⁸ 

to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria.

They think of themselves as ⁹  the elite class of the best nation.

The family ¹⁰  of Israel looks to them for leadership. ¹¹ 

Amos 4:2

4:2 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his own holy character: ¹² 

“Certainly the time is approaching ¹³ 

when you will be carried away ¹⁴  in baskets, ¹⁵ 

every last one of you ¹⁶  in fishermen’s pots. ¹⁷ 

Amos 8:11

8:11 Be certain of this, ¹⁸  the time is ¹⁹  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! ²⁰ 

Amos 9:13

9:13 “Be sure of this, ²¹  the time is ²²  coming,” says the Lord,

“when the plowman will catch up to the reaper ²³ 

and the one who stomps the grapes ²⁴  will overtake ²⁵  the planter. ²⁶ 

Juice will run down the slopes, ²⁷ 

it will flow down all the hillsides. ²⁸ 

Amos 4:10

4:10 “I sent against you a plague like one of the Egyptian plagues. ²⁹ 

I killed your young men with the sword,

along with the horses you had captured.

I made the stench from the corpses ³⁰  rise up into your nostrils.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 5:6

5:6 Seek the Lord so you can live!

Otherwise he will break out ³¹  like fire against Joseph’s ³²  family; ³³ 

the fire ³⁴  will consume

and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. ³⁵ 

Amos 5:17

5:17 In all the vineyards there will be wailing,

for I will pass through ³⁶  your midst,” says the Lord.

Amos 5:20

5:20 Don’t you realize the Lord’s day of judgment will bring ³⁷  darkness, not light –

gloomy blackness, not bright light?

Amos 3:11

3:11 Therefore,” says the sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land. ³⁸ 

He will take away your power; ³⁹ 

your fortresses will be looted.”

Amos 1:8

1:8 I will remove ⁴⁰  the ruler ⁴¹  from Ashdod, ⁴² 

the one who holds the royal scepter from Ashkelon. ⁴³ 

I will strike Ekron ⁴⁴  with my hand; ⁴⁵ 

the rest of the Philistines will also die.” ⁴⁶ 

The sovereign Lord has spoken!

Amos 4:4

Israel has an Appointment with God

4:4 “Go to Bethel ⁴⁷  and rebel! ⁴⁸ 

At Gilgal ⁴⁹  rebel some more!

Bring your sacrifices in ⁵⁰  the morning,

your tithes on ⁵¹  the third day!

Amos 4:6

4:6 “But surely I gave ⁵²  you no food to eat in any of your cities;

you lacked food everywhere you live. ⁵³ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 5:19

5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, ⁵⁴ 

as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,

then escaped ⁵⁵  into a house,

leaned his hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

Amos 8:12

8:12 People ⁵⁶  will stagger from sea to sea, ⁵⁷ 

and from the north around to the east.

They will wander about looking for a revelation from ⁵⁸  the Lord,

but they will not find any. ⁵⁹ 

Amos 9:4

9:4 Even when their enemies drive them into captivity, ⁶⁰ 

from there ⁶¹  I will command the sword to kill them.

I will not let them out of my sight;

they will experience disaster, not prosperity.” ⁶² 

Amos 6:10

6:10 When their close relatives, the ones who will burn the corpses, ⁶³  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!” ⁶⁴ 

Amos 4:9

4:9 “I destroyed your crops ⁶⁵  with blight and disease.

Locusts kept ⁶⁶  devouring your orchards, ⁶⁷  vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 8:2

8:2 He said, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end ⁶⁸  has come for my people Israel! I will no longer overlook their sins. ⁶⁹ 

[5:9]  ¹ tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew verb בָּלַג (balag, translated here “flashes”) is uncertain.

[5:9]  ² tn Heb “comes upon.” Many prefer to repoint the verb as Hiphil and translate, “he brings destruction upon the fortified places.”

[3:6]  ³ tn Heb “If the ram’s horn is blown.”

[3:6]  ⁴ tn Or “tremble” (NASB, NIV, NCV); or “shake.”

[3:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “is in”; NIV, NCV, NLT “comes to.”

[3:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “has the Lord not acted?”

[6:1]  ⁷ tn On the Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy; “ah, woe”) as a term of mourning, see the notes in 5:16, 18.

[6:1]  ⁸ sn Zion is a reference to Jerusalem.

[6:1]  ⁹ tn The words “They think of themselves as” are supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the term נְקֻבֵי (nÿquvey; “distinguished ones, elite”) is in apposition to the substantival participles in the first line.

[6:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “house.”

[6:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “comes to them.”

[4:2]  ¹² tn Heb “swears by his holiness.”

[4:2]  sn The message that follows is an unconditional oath, the fulfillment of which is just as certain as the Lord’s own holy character.

[4:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “Look, certainly days are coming upon you”; NRSV “the time is surely coming upon you.”

[4:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “one will carry you away”; NASB “they will take you away.”

[4:2]  ¹⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word translated “baskets” is uncertain. The translation follows the suggestion of S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 128), who discusses the various options (130-32): “shields” (cf. NEB); “ropes”; “thorns,” which leads to the most favored interpretation, “hooks” (cf. NASB “meat hooks”; NIV, NRSV “hooks”); “baskets,” and (derived from “baskets”) “boats.” Against the latter, it is unlikely that Amos envisioned a deportation by boat for the inhabitants of Samaria! See also the note on the expression “fishermen’s pots” later in this verse.

[4:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “your children”; KJV “your posterity.”

[4:2]  ¹⁷ tn The meaning of the Hebrew expression translated “in fishermen’s pots” is uncertain. The translation follows that of S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 128), who discusses the various options (132-33): “thorns,” understood by most modern interpreters to mean (by extension) “fishhooks” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV); “boats,” but as mentioned in the previous note on the word “baskets,” a deportation of the Samaritans by boat is geographically unlikely; and “pots,” referring to a container used for packing fish (cf. NEB “fish-baskets”). Paul (p. 134) argues that the imagery comes from the ancient fishing industry. When hauled away into exile, the women of Samaria will be like fish packed and transported to market.

[4:2]  sn The imagery of catching fish in connection with the captivity of Israel is also found in Jer 16:16 and Hab 1:14.

[8:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[8:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the days are.”

[8:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “not a hunger for food or a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of the Lord.”

[9:13]  ²¹ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[9:13]  ²² tn Heb “the days are.”

[9:13]  ²³ sn The plowman will catch up to the reaper. Plowing occurred in October-November, and harvesting in April-May (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109.) But in the future age of restored divine blessing, there will be so many crops the reapers will take all summer to harvest them, and it will be time for plowing again before the harvest is finished.

[9:13]  ²⁴ sn When the grapes had been harvested, they were placed in a press where workers would stomp on them with their feet and squeeze out the juice. For a discussion of grape harvesting technique, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 110-12.

[9:13]  ²⁵ tn The verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation from the parallel line.

[9:13]  ²⁶ sn The grape harvest occurred in August-September, planting in November-December (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109). But in the future age described here there will be so many grapes the workers who stomp them will still be working when the next planting season arrives.

[9:13]  ²⁷ tn Or “hills,” where the vineyards were planted.

[9:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and all the hills will melt.”

[4:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “in the manner [or “way”] of Egypt.”

[4:10]  ³⁰ tn Heb “of your camps [or “armies”].”

[5:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “rush.” The verb depicts swift movement.

[5:6]  ³² sn Here Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[5:6]  ³³ tn Heb “house.”

[5:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:6]  ³⁵ tn Heb “to/for Bethel.” The translation assumes that the preposition indicates advantage, “on behalf of.” Another option is to take the preposition as vocative, “O Bethel.”

[5:17]  ³⁶ sn The expression pass through your midst alludes to Exod 12:12, where the Lord announced he would “pass through” Egypt and bring death to the Egyptian firstborn.

[5:20]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Will not the day of the Lord be.”

[3:11]  ³⁸ tc The MT reads “an enemy and around the land.” It is also possible to take the MT as an exclamation (“an enemy, and all about the land!”; see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 118; NJPS; cf. NLT).Most scholars and versions emend the text to יְסוֹבֵב (yÿsovev, Polel imperfect), “will encircle.”

[3:11]  ³⁹ tn Heb “He will bring down your power from you.” Some emend the text to read “Your power will be brought down from you.” The shift, however, from an active to a passive sense also appears at 3:14 (“I will destroy Bethel’s altars. The horns of the altar will be cut off.”) The pronouns (“your…you”) are feminine singular, indicating that the personified city of Samaria is addressed here. Samaria’s “power” here is her defenses and/or wealth.

[1:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “cut off.”

[1:8]  ⁴¹ 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]  ⁴² sn Ashdod was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashkelon, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ⁴³ sn Ashkelon was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ⁴⁴ sn Ekron was one of the five major Philistine cities (along with Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, and Gath).

[1:8]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ 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.”

[4:4]  ⁴⁷ sn Bethel and Gilgal were important formal worship centers because of their importance in Israel’s history. Here the Lord ironically urges the people to visit these places so they can increase their sin against him. Their formal worship, because it was not accompanied by social justice, only made them more guilty in God’s sight by adding hypocrisy to their list of sins. Obviously, theirs was a twisted view of the Lord. They worshiped a god of their own creation in order to satisfy their religious impulses (see 4:5: “For you love to do this”). Note that none of the rituals listed in 4:4-5 have to do with sin.

[4:4]  map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[4:4]  ⁴⁸ tn The Hebrew word translated “rebel” (also in the following line) could very well refer here to Israel’s violations of their covenant with God (see also the term “crimes” in 1:3 [with note] and the phrase “covenant transgressions” in 2:4 [with note]; 3:14).

[4:4]  ⁴⁹ sn See the note on Bethel earlier in this verse.

[4:4]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “for.”

[4:4]  ⁵¹ tn Or “for.”

[4:6]  ⁵² 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]  ⁵³ 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.

[5:19]  ⁵⁴ tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:19]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).

[8:12]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:12]  ⁵⁷ tn That is, from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Dead Sea in the east – that is, across the whole land.

[8:12]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “looking for the word of.”

[8:12]  ⁵⁹ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[9:4]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “Even if they go into captivity before their enemies.”

[9:4]  ⁶¹ tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

[9:4]  ⁶² tn Heb “I will set my eye on them for disaster, not good.”

[6:10]  ⁶³ tn The translation assumes that “their relatives” and “the ones who will burn the corpses” are in apposition. Another option is to take them as distinct individuals, in which case one could translate, “When their close relatives and the ones who will burn the corpses pick up…” The meaning of the form translated “the ones who burn the corpses” is uncertain. Another option is to translate, “the ones who prepare the corpses for burial” (NASB “undertaker”; cf. also CEV). See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 215-16.

[6:10]  ⁶⁴ tn This verse is notoriously difficult to interpret. The Hebrew text literally reads, “And he will lift him up, his uncle, and the one burning him, to bring out bones from the house. And he will say to the one who is in the inner parts of the house, ‘Is there [anyone] still with you?’ And he will say, ‘Be quiet for not to invoke the name of the Lord.’” The translation assumes that the singular pronominal and verbal forms throughout the verse are collective or distributive. This last sentence has been interpreted in several ways: a command not to call on the name of the Lord out of fear that he might return again in judgment; the realization that it is not appropriate to seek a blessing in the Lord’s name upon the dead in the house since the judgment was deserved; an angry refusal to call on the Lord out of a sense that he has betrayed his people in allowing them to suffer.

[4:9]  ⁶⁵ 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]  ⁶⁶ 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]  ⁶⁷ tn Or “gardens.”

[8:2]  ⁶⁸ tn There is a wordplay here. The Hebrew word קֵץ (qets, “end”) sounds like קָיִץ (qayits, “summer fruit”). The summer fruit arrived toward the end of Israel’s agricultural year; Israel’s national existence was similarly at an end.

[8:2]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “I will no longer pass over him.”