Amos 9:12

9:12 As a result they ¹  will conquer those left in Edom ² 

and all the nations subject to my rule.” ³ 

The Lord, who is about to do this, is speaking!

Amos 5:24

5:24 Justice must flow like torrents of water,

righteous actions ⁴  like a stream that never dries up.

Amos 4:11

4:11 “I overthrew some of you the way God ⁵  overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. ⁶ 

You were like a burning stick ⁷  snatched from the flames.

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 ⁸  like fire against Joseph’s ⁹  family; ¹⁰ 

the fire ¹¹  will consume

and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. ¹² 

Amos 2:9

2:9 For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites. ¹³ 

They were as tall as cedars ¹⁴ 

and as strong as oaks,

but I destroyed the fruit on their branches ¹⁵ 

and their roots in the ground. ¹⁶ 

Amos 7:3

7:3 The Lord decided not to do this. ¹⁷  “It will not happen,” the Lord said.

Amos 7:6

7:6 The Lord decided not to do this. ¹⁸  The sovereign Lord said, “This will not happen either.”

[9:12]  ¹ sn They probably refers to the Israelites or to the Davidic rulers of the future.

[9:12]  ² tn Heb “take possession of the remnant of Edom”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “possess the remnant of Edom.”

[9:12]  ³ tn Heb “nations over whom my name is proclaimed.” The Hebrew idiom indicates ownership, sometimes as a result of conquest. See 2 Sam 12:28.

[9:12]  sn This verse envisions a new era of Israelite rule, perhaps patterned after David’s imperialistic successes (see 2 Sam 8-10). At the same time, however, the verse does not specify how this rule is to be accomplished. Note that the book ends with a description of peace and abundance, and its final reference to God (v. 15) does not include the epithet “the Lord who commands armies,” which has militaristic overtones. This is quite a different scene than what the book began with: nations at war and standing under the judgment of God.

[5:24]  ⁴ tn Traditionally, “righteousness.”

[4:11]  ⁵ tn Several English versions substitute the first person pronoun (“I”) here for stylistic reasons (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[4:11]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “like that which is burning.”

[5:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “rush.” The verb depicts swift movement.

[5:6]  ⁹ sn Here Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[5:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “house.”

[5:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:6]  ¹² 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.”

[2:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “I destroyed the Amorites from before them.” The translation takes מִפְּנֵי (mippÿney) in the sense of “for the sake of.” See BDB 818 s.v. פָּנֻה II.6.a and H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos (Hermeneia), 134. Another option is to take the phrase in a spatial sense, “I destroyed the Amorites, [clearing them out] from before them [i.e., Israel]” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[2:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “whose height was like the height of cedars.”

[2:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his fruit from above.”

[2:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and his roots from below.”

[7:3]  ¹⁷ tn Or “changed his mind about this.”

[7:6]  ¹⁸ tn Or “changed his mind about this.”