Bible in 90 Days
7 Therefore I will be unto them as a lion; as a leopard by the derech will I lie in wait;
8 I will meet them as a dov (bear) that is bereaved of her cubs, and will rip open the covering of their lev, and there will I devour them like a lion; as the wild beast of the sadeh would tear them.
9 O Yisroel, thou art destroyed; because thou art against Me, thine Ezer (Help).
10 Where now is thy melech that he may save thee? Where in all thy cities are thy shofetim of whom thou saidst, Give me a melech and sarim?
11 I gave thee a melech in Mine anger, and took him away in My wrath [Isa 53:10].
12 The avon (iniquity) of Ephrayim is bound up; his chattat is lurking.
13 The chevlei yoledah (birth pangs of a woman in childbirth) shall come upon him; he is a ben lo chacham; for when it is time he does not come to the opening of the womb.
14 Should I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Should I redeem them from mavet? O Mavet, where are the dever (pestilence, plague) of thee? O Sheol, where is thy destruction? Nocham (sorrow, compassion, pity) shall be hidden from Mine eyes.
15 Even though he thrives among his achim, an east wind shall come, the Ruach Hashem shall come up from the midbar (desert), and his makor (spring, fountain) shall become dry, and his well shall be dried up; it shall plunder the otzar of every keli chemdah (precious vessel).
16 (14:1) Shomron shall bear guilt; for she hath rebelled against her Elohim; they shall fall by the cherev; their olalim shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped open.
14 1 (2) O Yisroel, return unto Hashem Eloheicha; for thy downfall hast been thine avon (iniquity).
2 (3) Take devarim (words) with you, and turn to Hashem; say unto Him, Take away avon (iniquity), and receive us graciously that we may render the sacrifices of our lips.[MJ 13:15]
3 (4) Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride upon susim; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are Eloheinu; for in Thee the yatom (orphan) findeth compassion.
4 (5) I will heal their meshuvah (backsliding); I will love them freely; for Mine anger is turned away from him.
5 (6) I will be as the tal (dew) unto Yisroel: he shall blossom as the lily, and strike root as Levanon.
6 (7) His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the zayit (olive tree), and his hod (splendor) as Levanon.
7 (8) They that dwell under his tzel (shade) shall return; they shall revive as the dagan, and grow as the gefen; the remembrance thereof shall be as the yayin of Levanon.
8 (9) Ephrayim shall say, What have I to do any more with atzabim? It is I who answer and look after him; I am like an evergreen cypress. From Me is thy p’ri found.
9 (10) Who is chacham, and he shall have binah of these things? Prudent, and he shall know them? For the Darkhei Hashem are right, and the tzaddikim shall walk in them; but the poshe’im (transgressors) shall fall therein.
1 The Devar Hashem that came to Yoel Ben Petuel:
2 Hear this, ye zekenim, and give ear, all ye yoshvei ha’aretz (inhabitants of the land). Hath anything like this been in your days, or even in the days of your avot (fathers)?
3 Tell ye your banim (children) of it, and let your banim tell their banim, and their banim to the next generation.
4 That which the locust swarm hath left hath the arbeh (great locust) eaten; and that which the arbeh hath left hath the crawling locust eaten; and that which the crawling locust hath left hath the other locust eaten.
5 Awake, ye shikkorim (drunkards), and weep; and wail, all ye drinkers of yayin, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a Goy is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of an aryeh (lion), and he hath the fangs of a lioness.
7 He hath laid my gefen (vine) waste, and barked my teenah (fig tree); he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.
8 Lament like a betulah girded with sackcloth for the ba’al (husband) of her youth.
9 The minchah and the nesekh is cut off from the Beis Hashem; the kohanim, the mesharetim (ministers) of Hashem, mourn.
10 The sadeh (field) is wasted, the adamah (land) mourneth; for the grain is wasted; the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
11 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen [i.e., farmers]; wail, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the katzir (harvest) of the sadeh is perished.
12 The gefen is dried up, and the teenah languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the sadeh, are withered; because sasson (joy) is withered away from the bnei Adam.
13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye kohanim; howl, ye mesharetim of the Mizbe’ach; come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye mesharetim of my G-d; for the minchah and the nesekh is withheld from the Beis of your G-d [i.e., the Beis Hamikdash].
14 Sanctify ye a tzom (fast), call an atzarah (solemn assembly), gather the zekenim and all the yoshvei ha’aretz into the Beis Hashem Eloheichem, and cry unto Hashem,
15 Alas for the day! For the Yom Hashem [see Isa13: 9-13; Am 5:18-20; 8:9-14; Zeph 1:14-23 on the coming Day of the L-rd when Hashem intervenes to execute mishpat and righteousness] is karov (near, at hand), and like destruction from Shaddai shall it come.
16 Is not the okhel (food) cut off before our eyes, yea, simchah (joy) and gladness from the Beis Eloheinu [the Beis Hamikdash]?
17 The seed is rotten under their clods, the otzarot (storehouses) are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the grain is withered.
18 How do the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the edrei hatzon (flocks of sheep) are made desolate.
19 To Thee, Hashem, will I cry; for the eish hath devoured the pastures of the midbar, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
20 The beasts of the field cry also unto Thee; for the rivers of mayim (water) are dried up, and the eish hath devoured the pastures of the midbar.
2 Blow ye the shofar in Tziyon, and sound an alarm on My Har Kodesh; let all the yoshvei ha’aretz tremble; for the Yom Hashem cometh, for it is near at hand;
2 A day of choshech and of gloominess, a day of anan (cloud) and of thick darkness, as the shachar (dawn) spread upon the mountains; an am rav (great people, army) and strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of dor v’dor.
3 An eish devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth; ha’aretz is as the Gan Eden before them, and behind them a desolate midbar; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of susim; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
5 Like the noise of merkavot (chariots) on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of eish that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people drawn up in milchamah (battle).
6 Before their face, the amim (nations) shall be in anguish; every face turns pale.
7 They shall run like gibborim; they shall climb the chomah (wall) like anshei milchamah; and they shall march every one in formation, and they shall not swerve from their course;
8 Neither shall one push another; they shall walk every one in his own column; and when they burst through defenses, they shall not break ranks.
9 They shall run to and fro in the ir (city); they shall run upon the chomah, they shall climb up into the batim (houses); they shall enter in at the windows like the ganav.
10 The eretz shall quake before them; the Shomayim shall tremble; the shemesh and the yarei’ach shall be dark, and the kokhavim shall withdraw their shining;
11 And Hashem shall utter His voice before His army; His machaneh (camp) is very great; for the executor of His devar (word, command) is strong; for the Yom Hashem is gadol and very terrible; and who can endure it?
12 Therefore also now, saith Hashem, turn ye back to Me with all your lev, and with tzom, and with weeping, and with mourning;
13 And rend your lev, and not your garments, and turn unto Hashem Eloheichem; for He is channun (gracious) and rachum (merciful), slow to anger, and of rav chesed, and He relents from sending calamity.
14 Who knoweth but that He will return and have pity, and leave behind Him a brocha; even a minchah and a nesekh unto Hashem Eloheichem?
15 Blow the shofar in Tziyon, sanctify a tzom, call an atzarah (solemn assembly);
16 Gather the people, set apart as kodesh the kahal (congregation), assemble the zekenim, gather the olalim, even those nursing at the breast; let the choson go forth of his cheder, and the kallah out of her chuppah (canopy).
17 Let the kohanim, the mesharetim of Hashem, weep between the Ulam and the Mizbe’ach, and let them say, Spare Thy people, Hashem, and make not Thine nachalah (inheritance) an object of scorn, a byword among the Goyim. Why should they say among the peoples, Where is their G-d?
18 Then will Hashem be jealous for His land, and take pity on His people.
19 Yea, Hashem will answer and say unto His people, Hineni, I am sending you dagan, and tirosh, and yitzhar, and ye shall be satisfied therewith; and I will no more make you an object of scorn among the Goyim;
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern [army, army of locusts], and will drive him into an eretz barren and desolate, with his vanguard toward the eastern sea [Dead Sea], and his rearguard toward the western sea [Mediterranean Sea], and his stench and foul smell will go up. Surely it hath done great things.
21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice; for Hashem hath done great things.
22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field; for the pastures of the midbar do spring up, for the etz beareth her fruit, the te’enah and the gefen do yield their strength.
23 Be glad then, ye bnei Tziyon, and rejoice in Hashem Eloheichem; for He hath given you the former rain according to (His) tzedakah, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the yoreh (former rain), and the malkosh (latter rain) as before.
24 And the threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with yayin and yitzhar.
25 And I will restore to you the shanim (years) that the arbeh (great locust) hath eaten, the crawling locust, and the other locust, and the locust swarm, My great army which I sent among you.
26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the Shem of Hashem Eloheichem, that hath dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be ashamed.
27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Yisroel, and that I am Hashem Eloheichem, and there is no other; and My people shall never be put to shame.
28 (3:1) And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Ruach [Hakodesh] upon all basar; and your banim and your banot shall prophesy, your zekenim shall dream chalomot, your bochurim shall see chezyonot (visions):
29 (3:2) And also upon the avadim and upon the shefachot in those days will I pour out My Ruach [Hakodesh, see Ac 2:1-42].
30 (3:3) And I will show mofetim in the heavens and in the earth, dahm, and eish, and pillars of smoke.
31 (3:4) The shemesh shall be turned into choshech, and the yarei’ach into dahm, before the great and terrible Yom Hashem come.
32 (3:5) And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the Shem of Adonoi shall be saved; for in Mt Tziyon and in Yerushalayim shall be deliverance, as Hashem hath said, and in the seridim (remnant, survivors) whom Hashem shall call [Jer 23:5-6; Zech 6:11-12; Ezra 3:8].
3 (4:1) For, hinei, in those days, and in that time, when I shall restore the fortunes of Yehudah and Yerushalayim,
2 (4:2) I will also gather all Goyim, and will bring them down into the valley of Yehoshafat, and will enter into judgment against them there concerning My people and for My nachalah Yisroel, whom they have scattered among the Goyim, and My land they divided up.
3 (4:3) And they have cast lots for My people; and have traded the yeledim as barter for zonot, and sold the yaldah for yayin, that they might drink.
4 (4:4) Yea, and what have ye to do with Me, O Tzor, and Tzidon, and all the coasts of Peleshet? Will ye render Me a pay-back? And if ye recompense Me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own rosh;
5 (4:5) Because ye have taken My kesef and My zahav, and have carried into your temples My goodly pleasant things:
6 (4:6) Also the Bnei Yehudah and the Bnei Yerushalayim have ye sold unto the Yevanim (Greeks), that ye might remove them far from their territory.
7 (4:7) Hineni, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompense upon your own rosh;
8 (4:8) And I will sell your banim and your banot into the hand of the Bnei Yehudah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a Goy far off; for Hashem hath spoken it.
9 (4:9) Proclaim ye this among the Goyim; Prepare milchamah, wake up the gibborim, let all the anshei hamilchamah draw near and attack;
10 (4:10) Beat your plowblades into charavot (swords) and your pruning knives into spears; let the weak say, I am strong.
11 (4:11) Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye Goyim, and gather yourselves together round about; Hashem, thither cause Thy gibborim to come down.
12 (4:12) Let the Goyim be wakened, and come up to the valley of Yehoshafat; for there will I sit to judge all the Goyim round about.
13 (4:13) Put ye in the sickle, for the katzir is ripe; go in, tread; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their ra’ah is great.
14 (4:14) Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision; for the Yom Hashem is near in the valley of decision.
15 (4:15) The shemesh and the yarei’ach shall be darkened, and the kokhavim shall withdraw their shining.
16 (4:16) Hashem also shall roar out of Tziyon, and utter His voice from Yerushalayim; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but Hashem will be the machseh (refuge) of His people, and the maoz of the Bnei Yisroel.
17 (4:17) So shall ye have da’as that I am Hashem Eloheichem dwelling in Tziyon, My Har Kodesh; then shall Yerushalayim be kodesh, and there shall no zarim pass through her any more.
18 (4:18) And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with cholov; and all the ravines of Yehudah shall flow with mayim, and a ma’ayon shall come forth out of the Beis Hashem, and shall water the valley of Sheetim.
19 (4:19) Mitzrayim shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate midbar, for the chamas against the Bnei Yehudah, because they have shed dahm naki (innocent blood) in their land.
20 (4:20) But Yehudah shall dwell for ever, and Yerushalayim from dor v’dor.
21 (4:21) For I will cleanse them of bloodguilt which I have not yet cleansed; for Hashem dwelleth in Tziyon.
1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Yisroel in the yamim of Uziyah Melech Yehudah, and in the yamim of Yarov‘am ben Yoash Melech Yisroel, two years before the earthquake.
2 And he said, Hashem roars from Tziyon, and utters His voice from Yerushalayim; and the pastures of the ro’im (shepherds) mourn, and the summit of Mt Carmel withers.
3 Thus saith Hashem: For shloshah peysha’im of Damascus, even for arba’ah, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gil‘ad with threshing sledges of barzel (iron);
4 But I will send an eish onto Bais Chatzael, which shall devour the fortresses of Ben-hadad.
5 I will break down also the gate bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from Bikeat-Aven, and him that holdeth the shevet (sceptre) from Bais Eden; and the people of Aram shall go into golus unto Kir, saith Hashem.
6 Thus saith Hashem: For shloshah peysha’im of Azah (Gaza), even for arba’ah, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the golus shleimah (entire exiled population), to deliver them up to Edom;
7 But I will send an eish on the chomah (wall) of Azah (Gaza), which shall devour the fortresses thereof;
8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the shevet (sceptre) from Ashkelon, and I will turn Mine hand against Ekron; and the she’erit Pelishtim shall perish, saith Adonoi Hashem.
9 Thus saith Hashem: For shloshah peysha’im of Tzor, even for arba’ah, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the golus shleimah to Edom, and remembered not the brit achim;
10 But I will send an eish on the chomah (wall) of Tzor, which shall devour the fortresses thereof.
11 Thus saith Hashem: For shloshah peysha’im of Edom, even for arba’ah, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the cherev, and did cast off all rachamim, and his anger did rage perpetually, and he kept his wrath netzach;
12 But I will send an eish upon Teman, which shall devour the fortresses of Botzrah.
13 Thus saith Hashem: For shloshah peysha’im of the Bnei Ammon, even for arba’ah, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped open the women with child of Gil‘ad, that they might enlarge their border;
14 But I will kindle an eish in the chomah (wall) of Rabbah, and it shall devour the fortresses thereof, with war cries in the yom milchamah, with a tempest in the yom sufah (day of the storm);
15 And their melech shall go into golus, he and his sarim (princes) together, saith Hashem.
2 Thus saith Hashem: For shloshah peysha’im of Moav, even for arba’ah, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of Melech Edom into lime;
2 But I will send an eish upon Moav, and it shall devour the fortresses of Keriyot; and Moav shall die with tumult, with war cries, and with the blast of the shofar;
3 And I will cut off the shofet (judge) from the midst thereof, and will slay all the sarim (princes) thereof with him, saith Hashem.
4 Thus saith Hashem: For shloshah peysha’im of Yehudah, even for arba’ah, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the torat Hashem, and have not been shomer over His chukkim, and their lies caused them to err, after the halakhah of their avot;
5 But I will send an eish upon Yehudah, and it shall devour the fortresses of Yerushalayim.
6 Thus saith Hashem: For shloshah peysha’im of Yisroel, even for arba’ah, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the tzaddik for kesef, and the needy for a pair of sandals;
7 They who pant after the dust of the ground on the rosh of the poor, and turn aside the derech of the anavim; and an ish and his av will go in unto the same na’arah, to commit chillul Hashem against My Shem kodesh;
8 And they lay themselves down upon clothes taken in pledge by every mizbe’ach, and they guzzle the yayin of the fined in the Beis Eloheichem.
9 Yet destroyed I HaEmori before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his p’ri from above, and his shorashim from beneath.
10 Also I brought you up from Eretz Mitzrayim, and led you arba’im shanah through the midbar, to possess the Eretz HaEmori (land of the Amorite).
11 And I raised up of your banim for nevi’im, and of your bochurim for Nezirim. Is it not even thus, O ye Bnei Yisroel? saith Hashem.
12 But ye gave the Nezirim yayin to drink; and commanded the nevi’im, saying, Prophesy not.
13 Hinei, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
14 Therefore flight shall perish from the swift, and the chazak shall not strengthen his ko’ach, neither shall the gibbor deliver his own nefesh;
15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the keshet; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver his own nefesh; neither shall he that rideth the sus deliver himself.
16 And he that is courageous among the gibborim shall flee away naked in that Yom, saith Hashem.
3 Hear this word that Hashem hath spoken against you, O Bnei Yisroel, against the kol hamishpochoh which I brought up from Eretz Mitzrayim, saying,
2 You only have I known of all the mishpechot ha’adamah: therefore I will punish you for kol avonotechem.
3 Can shnayim walk together, except they be agreed?
4 Will an aryeh roar in the thicket, when he hath no prey? Will a lion roar from his den, if he has taken nothing?
5 Can a bird fall in a pach ha’aretz (trap on the ground), when his snare is not set? Can a pach spring up from ha’aretz without making a capture?
6 Shall a shofar be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be disaster in a city, and Hashem hath not caused it?
7 Surely Adonoi Hashem will do nothing, but He revealeth His sod (secret) unto His avadim hanevi’im.
8 The aryeh hath roared, who will not fear? Adonoi Hashem hath spoken, who can but prophesy?
9 Publish in the fortresses at Ashdod, and in the fortresses in Eretz Mitzrayim, and say, Assemble yourselves upon harei Shomron, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppression in the midst thereof.
10 For they have no da’as to do right, saith Hashem, who store up chamas and shod in their fortresses.
11 Therefore thus saith Adonoi Hashem: An adversary shall surround the land; and he shall bring down thy strongholds from thee, and thy fortresses shall be plundered.
12 Thus saith Hashem: As the ro’eh taketh out of the mouth of the aryeh two legs, or a piece of an ozen; so shall the Bnei Yisroel be saved that dwell in Shomron—with the corner of a mittah (bed), and the edge of a couch.
13 Hear ye, and testify in Bais Ya’akov, saith Adonoi Hashem Elohei HaTzva’os,
14 On the Yom that I visit her to punish the peysha’im of Yisroel, I will also visit to punish the mizbechot of Beit-El; and the horns of the mizbe’ach shall be cut off, and fall to ha’aretz.
15 And I will strike the bais hachoref with the bais hakayitz; and the batim (houses) of ivory shall perish, and the batim rabbim (great houses) shall have an end, saith Hashem.
4 Hear this word, ye cows of Bashan, that are on Mt Shomron, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their adonim, Bring, and let us drink.
2 Adonoi Hashem hath sworn by His Kodesh, that, hinei, the yamim shall come upon you, that He will take you away with hooks, and the last of you with fishhooks.
3 And ye shall go out of the breaks in the wall, every cow right behind the next; and ye shall be cast out toward Harmonah, saith Hashem.
4 Come to Beit-El, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply peysha’im; and bring your zevakhim every boker, and your ma’asrot (tithes) every third day;
5 And offer a todah thank offering with chametz (leavened bread), and proclaim and publish the nedavot (freewill offerings); for this ye love, O Bnei Yisroel, saith Adonoi Hashem.
6 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth [i.e., famine] in all your towns, and want of lechem in all your places; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith Hashem.
7 And also I have withheld the geshem from you, when there were yet shloshah chodashim to the harvest; and I caused it to rain upon one town, and caused it not to rain upon another town; one chelek (part) was rained upon, and the chelek, whereupon it rained not, withered.
8 So two or three towns wandered unto one town, to drink mayim; but they were not satisfied; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith Hashem.
9 I have struck you with blight and mildew; when your ganim (gardens) and your kramim (vineyards) and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the locust devoured them; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith Hashem.
10 I have sent among you the dever after the manner of Mitzrayim; your bocherim have I slain with the cherev, and have taken away your susim; and I have made the stench of your machanot to come up unto your nostrils; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith Hashem.
11 I have overthrown some of you, as Elohim overthrew Sodom and Amora (Gomorrah), and ye were like a firebrand snatched from the burning; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith Hashem.
12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Yisroel; and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet Eloheicha, O Yisroel.
13 For, hinei, He that formeth the harim, and createth the ruach, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the shachar darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, Hashem Elohei Tzva’os Shmo.
5 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a kinah (lamentation), O Bais Yisroel.
2 The Betulat Yisroel is fallen; she shall no more rise; she is forsaken in her own land; there is none to raise her up.
3 For thus saith Adonoi Hashem: The city that went out by a thousand will be left a hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred will be left ten, for Bais Yisroel.
4 For thus saith Hashem unto Bais Yisroel: Seek ye Me, and live;
5 But seek not Beit-El, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer Sheva; for Gilgal shall surely go into golus, and Beit-El shall come to naught.
6 Seek Hashem, and live; lest He break out like eish in Bais Yosef, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Beit-El.
7 Ye who turn mishpat into wormwood, and cast tzedakah to the ground,
8 Seek Him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth tzalmavet into boker, and maketh the yom into lailah; that calleth for the waters of the yam, and poureth them out upon the face of ha’aretz; Hashem Shmo;
9 Who causeth shod (destruction) to flash upon the strong, and shod upon the fortified city.
10 They hate the mochiach (reprover [of injustice]) in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh tamim (uprightly).
11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat; ye have built batim (houses) of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant kramim (vineyards), but ye shall not drink yayin of them.
12 For I have da’as of your manifold peysha’im and your mighty chattaim (sins); they afflict the tzaddik, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the sha’ar (gate, court) from their right.
13 Therefore the maskil (prudent) shall keep silence in such times; for it is an evil time.
14 Seek tov, and not rah, that ye may live; and so Hashem Elohei Tzva’os shall be with you, just as ye say He is.
15 Hate the rah, and love the tov, and establish mishpat in the sha’ar; it may be that Hashem Elohei Tzava’os will be gracious unto the she’erit Yosef.
16 Therefore Hashem Adonoi Elohei Tzva’os saith thus: Wailing shall be in all rechovot; and they shall cry in all the public squares, Alas! Alas! And they shall call the ikkar (farmer) to mourning, and such as are skillful of lamentation to wailing.
17 And in all kramim (vineyards) shall be wailing; for I will pass through thee, saith Hashem.
18 Hoy unto you that desire the Yom Hashem! Why do ye seek it? The Yom Hashem is choshech, and not ohr.
19 As if a man did flee from an ari, and a dov met him; or went into the bais, and leaned his hand on the kir (wall), and a nachash bit him.
20 Shall not the Yom Hashem be choshech, and not ohr? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?
21 I hate, I despise your chagim (religious festivals), and I will not stand in your atzerot (solemn assemblies).
22 Though ye offer Me olot and your minchot, I will not accept them; neither will I regard your choice shelamim (peace offerings).
23 Take thou away from Me the noise of thy shirim (songs); for I will not hear the melody of thy nevalim (harps).
24 But let mishpat run down as mayim, and tzedakah as a never failing stream.
25 Did ye offer unto Me zevakhim and minchah in the midbar arba’im shanah, O Bais Yisroel?
26 But ye have borne the shrine of your Moloch and the pedestal of your tzelamim, your star g-d, which ye made for yourselves.
27 Therefore will I cause you to go into golus beyond Damascus, saith Hashem Elohei Tzva’os Shmo.
6 Hoy to them that are complacent in Tziyon, and have their bitachon in Har Shomron, the notables of the foremost Goyim, to whom Bais Yisroel comes!
2 Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to great Chamat; then go down to Gat of the Pelishtim (Philistines); be they better than these mamlachot? Or their territory more vast than your territory?
3 Ye that put far away the Yom Rah, and cause the shevet chamas to come near;
4 That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the tzon, and the calves from the stall;
5 Who prattle to the tune of the nevel (harp); like Dovid [HaMelech] they invent string instruments.
6 That drink yayin in sacrificial bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest ointments; but they are not grieved for the shever Yosef (ruin of Yosef).
7 Therefore now shall they go into captivity at the head of the golus, and the merry shouting of the revellers will die.
8 Adonoi Hashem hath sworn by Himself, saith Hashem Elohei Tzva’os: I abhor the ga’on Ya’akov, and hate his fortresses; therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.
9 And it shall come to pass, if there remain asarah anashim in one bais, they shall die.
10 And a man’s relative shall take him up, and he that burieth him, to carry out the bones out of the bais, and shall say unto him still hiding inside, Is there yet any with thee? And he shall say, Not one. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue; for the Shem Hashem is not to be invoked.
11 For, hinei, Hashem commandeth, and He will strike the bais hagadol into ruins, and the bais hakaton into pieces.
12 Do susim run upon the rock? Do men plow there with oxen? For ye have turned mishpat into poison, and the p’ri of tzedakah into wormwood;
13 Ye which rejoice over what is worthless, which say, Have we not taken to us horns [i.e., symbols of military resources] by chazekeinu (our own strength)?
14 But, hineni, I will raise up against you a Goy (Nation), O Bais Yisroel, saith Hashem Elohei Tzva’os; and they shall afflict you from the territory of Chamat unto the Wadi of the Aravah. T.N. Notice in the next chapter that Amos refuses to be intimidated by an apostate religious leader who dares to war against Scripture. Amos gives a prophetic prediction that this chalatan will be defrocked by Hashem by being dragged off to an unclean heathen land.
7 Thus hath Adonoi Hashem showed unto me; and, hinei, He formed locusts in the beginning of the springing up of the second crop; and, hinei, it was the second crop after the mowing of the melech.
2 And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the vegetation of ha’aretz, then I said, O Adonoi Hashem, forgive, I beseech thee; how shall Ya’akov survive? For he is katon.
3 Hashem relented for this; It shall not be, saith Hashem.
4 Thus hath Adonoi Hashem showed unto me; and, hinei, Adonoi Hashem called to punish with eish, and it devoured the tehom rabbah (great deep), and did devour the chelek (portion).
5 Then said I, O Adonoi Hashem, cease, I beseech thee; how shall Ya’akov survive? For he is katon.
6 Hashem relented for this: This also shall not be, saith Adonoi Hashem.
7 Thus He showed me; and, hinei, Hashem stood upon a chomah (wall) made with a plumb line, and a plumb line in His hand.
8 And Hashem said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumb line. Then said Hashem, Hineni, I will set a plumb line in the midst of My people Yisroel; I will not again pass by them [and spare them] anymore;
9 And the high places of Yitzchak shall be desolate, and the mikdeshei Yisroel (i.e., heathen sanctuaries) shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the Bais Yarov‘am with the cherev.
10 Then Amatzyah the kohen of Beit-El sent to Yarov‘am Melech Yisroel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of Bais Yisroel; the land is not able to bear all his words.
11 For thus Amos saith, Yarov‘am shall die by the cherev, and Yisroel shall surely be led away into the golus out of their own land.
12 Also Amatzyah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into Eretz Yehudah, and there eat lechem, and prophesy there:
13 But prophesy not again any more at Beit-El; for it is the Mikdash Melech, and it is the Bais Mamlachah.
14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amatzyah, I was no navi, neither was I a ben navi; but I was a herder, and a dresser of sycamore-fig trees;
15 And Hashem took me as I followed the tzon, and Hashem said unto me, Go, prophesy unto My people Yisroel.
16 Now therefore hear thou the Devar Hashem: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Yisroel, and drop not thy word against the Bais Yitzchak.
17 Therefore thus saith Hashem: Thy isha shall be a zonah in the city, and thy banim and thy banot shall fall by the cherev, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in an adamah temei’ah (unclean land); and Yisroel shall surely go forth of his land into golus (exile).
8 Thus hath Adonoi Hashem showed unto me: and hinei a basket of kayitz (summer fruit).
2 And Hashem said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of kayitz (summer fruit). Then said Hashem unto me, The ketz (end) is come upon My people Yisroel; I will not again pass by them [and spare them] anymore.
3 And the shirot of the heikhal shall turn to wailings in that Yom, saith Adonoi Hashem; there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth. Silence!
4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the anivvei aretz (poor of the land) to fail,
5 Saying, When will the Rosh Chodesh be over, that we may sell grain? And Shabbos, that we may market wheat, making the eifah (bushel) small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by mirmah (deceit)?
6 That we may buy the poor for kesef, and the needy for a pair of sandals; yea, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?
7 Hashem hath sworn by the ga’on Ya’akov, Surely I will never forget any of their ma’asim.
8 Shall not ha’aretz (the land) tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? And the whole land shall rise like the Nile; and heave and sink, as by the Nile of Mitzrayim.
9 And it shall come to pass in that Yom, saith Adonoi Hashem, that I will cause the shemesh to go down at noon, and I will darken ha’aretz in the yom ohr (day light);
10 And I will turn your chagim into mourning, and all your shirot into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every rosh; and I will make it as the mourning of a yachid (only son), and the end thereof as a yom mar (bitter day).
11 Hinei, the yamim come, saith Adonoi Hashem, that I will send a ra’av (famine) in the land, not a ra’av (famine) of lechem, nor a thirst for mayim, but of hearing the Divrei Hashem;
12 And they shall wander from yam to yam, and from the tzafon (north) even to the mizrach (east), they shall run to and fro to seek the Devar Hashem, and shall not find it.
13 In that Yom shall the betulot hayafot (fair virgins) and bochurim faint for thirst.
14 They that swear by the sin of Shomron, and say, Chai Elohecha, O Dan; and, The Derech Beer Sheva liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.
9 I saw Adonoi standing by the mizbe’ach; and He said, Strike the pillar capitals [of the heathen shrine], that the thresholds may shake; and smash them upon the heads of all; and I will slay the last of them with the cherev; he that fleeth of them shall not get away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.
2 Though they dig down to Sheol, thence shall Mine hand take them; though they climb up to Shomayim, thence will I bring them down;
3 And though they hide themselves in the summit of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from My sight in the bottom of the yam, thence will I command the nachash, and he shall bite them;
4 And though they go into golus (exile) before their enemies, thence will I command the cherev, and it shall slay them; and I will set Mine eyes upon them for rah, and not for tov.
5 And Adonoi Hashem HaTzva’os is He that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn; and it shall rise up wholly like the Nile; and sink like the Nile of Mitzrayim.
6 It is He that buildeth his ma’alot (stairs) in Shomayim, and hath founded His aguddah (fitted together vault) over Eretz; He that calleth for the waters of the yam, and poureth them out upon the face of ha’aretz; Hashem Shmo.
7 Are ye not as children of Ethiopia unto Me, O Bnai Yisroel? saith Hashem. Have not I brought up Yisroel out of Eretz Mitzrayim? And the Pelishtim (Philistines) from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir?
8 Hinei, the eyes of Adonoi Hashem are upon the mamlachah hachatta’ah, and I will destroy it from off the face of ha’aretz; nevertheless I will not utterly destroy Bais Yaakov, saith Hashem.
9 For, hinei, I will command, and I will sift Bais Yisroel among all Goyim, like as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon ha’aretz.
10 All the chatta’ei ami (sinners of My people) shall die by the cherev, which say, the ra’ah shall not overtake nor come to us.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International