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  Amos

1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of TeKo-a, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. ²And he said, Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the pastures of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall where.

³This says Jehovah: For three transgressions of Damascus, yes, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gil-e-ad with threshing instruments of iron: ⁴but I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad. ⁵And I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, and him that holds the sceptre from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, says Jehovah. ⁶This says Jehovah: For three transgressions of Gaza, yes, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole people, to deliver them up to Edom: ⁷but I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it shall devour the palaces thereof. ⁸And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holds the sceptre from Ash-ke-lon; and I will turn my hand against Ekron; and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, says the Lord Jehovah. ⁹This says Jehovah: For three transgressions of Tyre, yes, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole people to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant: ¹⁰but I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre, and it shall devour the palaces thereof. ¹¹This says Jehovah: For three transgressions of Edom, yes, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever: ¹²but I will send a fire upon Teman, and it shall devour the palaces of Bozrah. ¹³This says Jehovah: For three transgressions of the children of Am-mon, yes, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gil-e-ad, that they may enlarge their border. ¹⁴But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rab-bah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind; ¹⁵and their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, says Jehovah.

2 This says Jehovah: For three transgressions of Mo-ab, yes, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime: ²but I will send a fire upon Mo-ab, and it shall devour the palaces of Ker-i-oth; and Mo-ab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet; ³and I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, says Jehovah. ⁴This says Jehovah: For three transgressions of Judah, yes, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have rejected the law of Jehovah, and have not kept his statutes, and their lies have caused them to err, after which their fathers did walk: ⁵but I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem. ⁶This says Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes-- ⁷they that pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father go unto the same maiden, to profane my holy name: ⁸and they lay themselves down beside every altar upon clothes taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink the wine of such as have been fined.

⁹Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. ¹⁰Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite. ¹¹And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazirites. Is it not even this, O you children of Israel? says Jehovah. ¹²But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not. ¹³Behold, I will press you in your place, as a cart presses that is full of sheaves. ¹⁴And flight shall perish from the swift; and the strong shall not strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver himself; ¹⁵neither shall he stand that handles the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself; neither shall he that rides the horse deliver himself; ¹⁶and he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, says Jehovah.

3 Hear this word that Jehovah has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying, ²You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities. ³Shall two walk together, except they have agreed? ⁴Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing? ⁵Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no trap is set for him? shall a snare spring up from the ground, and have taken nothing at all? ⁶Shall the trumpet be blown in a city, and the people not be afraid? shall evil befall a city, and Jehovah has not done it? ⁷Surely the Lord Jehovah will do nothing, except he reveal his secret unto his servants the prophets. ⁸The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord Jehovah has spoken; who can but prophesy?

⁹Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold what great tumults are therein, and what oppressions in the midst thereof. ¹⁰For they know not to do right, says Jehovah, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces. ¹¹Therefore this says the Lord Jehovah: An adversary there shall be, even round about the land; and he shall bring down your strength from you, and your palaces shall be plundered. ¹²This says Jehovah: As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued that sit in Samaria in the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed. ¹³Hear you, and testify against the house of Jacob, says the Lord Jehovah, the God of hosts. ¹⁴For in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also visit the altars of Beth-el; and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. ¹⁵And I will strike the winter-house with the summer-house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, says Jehovah.

4 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say unto their lords, Bring, and let us drink. ²The Lord Jehovah has sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that they shall take you away with hooks, and your residue with fish-hooks. ³And you shall go out at the breaches, every one straight before her; and you shall cast yourselves into Harmon, says Jehovah. ⁴Come to Beth-el, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes every three days; ⁵and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim freewill-offerings and publish them: for this pleases you, O you children of Israel, says the Lord Jehovah.

⁶And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places; yet have you not returned unto me, says Jehovah. ⁷And I also have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. ⁸So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet have you not returned unto me, says Jehovah. ⁹I have affected you with blasting and mildew: the multitude of your gardens and your vineyards and your fig-trees and your olive-trees has the palmer-worm devoured: yet have you not returned unto me, says Jehovah. ¹⁰I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have carried away your horses; and I have made the stench of your camp to come up even into your nostrils: yet have you not returned unto me, says Jehovah. ¹¹I have overthrown cities among you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning: yet have you not returned unto me, says Jehovah. ¹²Therefore this will I do unto you, O Israel; and because I will do this unto you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel. ¹³For, lo, he that forms the mountains, and creates the wind, and declares unto man what is his thought; that makes the morning darkness, and treads upon the high places of the Earth--Jehovah, the God of hosts, is his name.

5 Hear this word which I take up for a lamentation over you, O house of Israel. ²The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall rise no more: she is cast down upon her land; there is none to raise her up. ³For this says the Lord Jehovah: The city that went forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which went forth a hundred shall have ten left, to the house of Israel.

⁴For this says Jehovah unto the house of Israel, Seek me, and you shall live; ⁵but seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-She-ba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall come to nothing. ⁶Seek Jehovah, and you shall live; unless he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el. ⁷You who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth, ⁸seek him that makes the Pleiades and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night; that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth (Jehovah is his name); ⁹that brought sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress. ¹⁰They hate him that reproves in the gate, and they despise him that spoke uprightly. ¹¹Forasmuch therefore as you trample upon the poor, and take taxes from him of wheat: you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink the wine thereof. ¹²For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins--you that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy in the gate from their right. ¹³Therefore he that is prudent shall keep silence in such a time; for it is an evil time. ¹⁴Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you say. ¹⁵Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate: it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

¹⁶Therefore this says Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all the broad ways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! Alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful in lamentation to wailing. ¹⁷And in all vineyards shall be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of you, says Jehovah. ¹⁸Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! why would you have the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light. ¹⁹As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. ²⁰Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

²¹I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies. ²²Yes, though you offer me your burnt-offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts. ²³Take away from me the noise of your songs; for I will not hear the melody of your viols. ²⁴But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. ²⁵Did you bring unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? ²⁶Yes, you have borne the tabernacle of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which you made to yourselves. ²⁷Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, says Jehovah, whose name is the God of hosts.

6 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and to them that are secure in the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come! ²Pass unto Calneh, and see; and from there go to Ha-math the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines: are they better than these kingdoms? or is their border greater than your border? ³--you that put the evil day far away, and cause the seat of violence to come near; ⁴that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; ⁵that sing idle songs to the sound of the viol; that invent for themselves instruments of music, like David; ⁶that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. ⁷Therefore shall they now go captive with the first that go captive; and the revelry of them that stretched themselves shall pass away.

⁸The Lord Jehovah has sworn by himself, says Jehovah, the God of hosts: I despise the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces; therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein. ⁹And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die. ¹⁰And when a man’s uncle shall take him up, even he that burns him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is in the innermost parts of the house, Is there yet any with you? and he shall say, No; then shall he say, Hold your peace; for we may not make mention of the name of Jehovah. ¹¹For, behold, Jehovah commanded, and the great house shall be affected with breaches, and the little house with clefts. ¹²Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? that you have turned justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood; ¹³you that rejoice in a thing of nothing, that say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength? ¹⁴For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, says Jehovah, the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entrance of Ha-math unto the brook of the Arabah.

7 This the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, he formed locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. ²And it came to pass that, when they made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord Jehovah, forgive, I beseech you: how shall Jacob stand? for he is small. ³Jehovah repented concerning this: It shall not be, says Jehovah. ⁴This the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, the Lord Jehovah called to contend by fire; and it devoured the great deep, and would have eaten up the land. ⁵Then said I, O Lord Jehovah, cease, I beseech you: how shall Jacob stand? for he is small. ⁶Jehovah repented concerning this: this also shall not be, says the Lord Jehovah. ⁷This he showed me: and, behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand. ⁸And Jehovah said unto me, Amos, what do you see? And I said, A plumb-line. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel; I will not again pass by them any more; ⁹and the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.

¹⁰Then Amaziah the priest of Beth-el sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. ¹¹For this is what Amos says, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land. ¹²Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O you seer, go, flee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: ¹³but prophesy not again any more at Beth-el; for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a royal house. ¹⁴Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was a herdsman, and a dresser of sycomore-trees: ¹⁵and Jehovah took me from following the flock, and Jehovah said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. ¹⁶Now therefore hear the word of Jehovah: you say, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not your word against the house of Isaac; ¹⁷therefore this says Jehovah: your wife shall be a harlot in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by line; and you yourself shall die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.

8 This the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, a basket of summer fruit. ²And he said, Amos, what do you see? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said Jehovah unto me, The end is come upon my people Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. ³And the songs of the temple shall be wailings in that day, says the Lord Jehovah: the dead bodies shall be many: in every place shall they cast them forth with silence.

⁴Hear this, O you that would swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail, ⁵saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit; ⁶that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat? ⁷Jehovah has sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. ⁸Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwells therein? yes, it shall rise up wholly like the River; and it shall be troubled and sink again, like the River of Egypt. ⁹And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day. ¹⁰And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.

¹¹Behold, the days come, says the Lord Jehovah, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah. ¹²And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it. ¹³In that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst. ¹⁴They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, As your god, O Dan, lives; and, As the way of Beer-She-ba lives; they shall fall, and never rise up again.

9 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar: and he said, strike the capitals, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape. ²Though they dig into Sheol, then shall my hand take them; and though they climb up to heaven, then will I bring them down. ³And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out then; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, then will I command the serpent, and it shall bite them. ⁴And though they go into captivity before their enemies, then will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set my eyes upon them for evil, and not for good. ⁵For the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, is he that touches the land and it melts, and all that dwell therein shall mourn; and it shall rise up wholly like the River, and shall sink again, like the River of Egypt; ⁶it is he that builds his chambers in the heavens, and has founded his vault upon the earth; he that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth; Jehovah is his name. ⁷Are you not as the children of the E-thi-o-pi-ans unto me, O children of Israel? says Jehovah. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caph-tor, and the Syrians from Kir? ⁸Behold, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; save that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says Jehovah. ⁹For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, like as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least kernel fall upon the earth. ¹⁰All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, The evil shall not overtake nor meet us.