Bible in 90 Days
7 “So I will be like a lion to them.
Like a leopard I will stalk them along the road.
8 I will confront them like a bear deprived of her cubs;[a]
I will tear open their ribs.
I will devour them like a lion—
the wild beasts will rip them apart.
9 “You have destroyed yourself, Israel,
although I remain your help.
10 Now where is your king?
Will he save you in all your cities?
And where are[b] your judges,
about whom you demanded,
‘Give me a king and officials!’?
11 I gave you a king in my anger,
and I took him[c] away in my fury.”
12 “Ephraim’s guilt is on record;
his sin is stored away.
13 When the time of childbirth comes,
he will be so foolish
that he will refuse to be born.”
14 “From the power of Sheol I will rescue them,
from death I will redeem them.
Death, where are[d] your plagues?
Sheol, where is[e] your destruction?
My eyes will remain closed to your pleas for[f] compassion.
15 Even though he is fruitful compared to his relatives,
an east wind will come,
the Lord’s wind storm from the wilderness,
and his spring will evaporate.
His fountain will dry up,
and the Lord’s[g] wind storm will plunder
all the expensive vessels of the treasury.
16 [h]Samaria will be held guilty,
because she has rebelled against her God.
By the sword they will fall—
with their infants dashed to pieces,
and their pregnant women torn open.”
A Call to Repentance
14 [i]“Return, Israel, to the Lord your God,
for you have fallen due to your own iniquity.
2 Bring a prepared speech with you
as you return to the Lord. Say to him:
‘Take away all our[j] iniquity,
and accept what is good.
Then we will present the fruit[k] of our lips.
3 Assyria won’t save us;
we won’t be riding on horses,
Nor will we be saying anymore to the work of our hands,
“You are[l] our God.”
Indeed, in you the orphan finds mercy.’
4 “I will correct their apostasy,
loving them freely,
since my anger will have turned away from them.[m]
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
Israel[n] will blossom like a lily,
growing roots like the cedars of[o] Lebanon.
6 Israel’s[p] branches will spread out,
and its beauty will be like an olive tree,
with its scent like that of Lebanon.
7 Those who live under its protection[q] will surely return.
Their grain will flourish;
they will blossom like a vine,
and Israel’s[r] scent will be like wine from Lebanon.
8 “Ephraim, what have I in common with idols?
I have listened and will pay attention to him.
I am like a flourishing cypress;
in me will your fruit be found.”
Concluding Counsel
9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things.
Whoever is discerning, let him know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right:
the righteous follow his example,
but the rebellious stumble in them.
The Coming Invasion
1 This message from the Lord came to Pethuel’s son Joel.[s]
2 “Hear this, you elders!
Listen, all of you residents of the land!
Has there ever been anything like this during your lifetime,[t]
or even when your ancestors were alive?[u]
3 Pass it on to your children,
and from[v] your children to their children,
and from[w] their children to the following generation.
4 Whatever the devouring locust left behind
the locust swarm has consumed!
Whatever the locust swarm has left behind,
the young locust[x] has consumed!
Whatever the young locust[y] has left behind,
the ravaging locust has consumed!”
A Call to Mourning
5 “Wake up, you drunkards!
Cry aloud and howl, you wine drinkers,
because your supply of new wine has been snatched from you.[z]
6 Indeed, a nation has invaded my land—
it is strong and its population is too large to count[aa]—
with teeth like a lion
and fangs[ab] like a lioness.
7 That nation[ac] laid waste my vines,
and stripped bare my fig tree,
discarding it.
It stripped off[ad] its bark.
8 “Grieve like a virgin,
who, dressed in her mourner’s clothes,[ae]
cries out in memory[af] of the man she was going to marry.[ag]
9 Both grain offering and wine offering have been removed from the Lord’s Temple;[ah]
the priests and ministering servants of the Lord are mourning.”
The Coming Famine
10 “The fields lie in ruins
and the ground is dried up.[ai]
Indeed, the grain is ruined,
the new wine has evaporated,
and the olive oil has run out.
11 Be dismayed, you farmers!
Cry aloud, you vintners,
for the wheat and barley,
because the harvest in your fields has been lost.
12 The grapevine is shriveled
and the fig tree is withered,
along with the pomegranate tree, the palm tree, the apple tree
and all of the cultivated trees.[aj]
Truly, joy has evaporated from Adam’s children.”[ak]
A Call to Mourn and Repent
13 “Put on your mourning clothes, you priests;
and cry aloud, you ministering servants at the altar!
Come! Stay the night in mourner’s clothes,[al] you ministers of my God,
because the grain offering and the wine offering is held back from the Temple of your God.
14 Set apart time for a fast!
Call a solemn assembly!
Gather the elders and everyone living in the land to the Temple of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord!”
A Lament about the Day of the Lord
15 Oh, no! For the Day of the Lord approaches,
and like destruction from the Almighty, it will come!
16 Isn’t our food supply cut off right in front of us,[am]
along with joy and gladness from the Temple of our God?
17 Seeds shrivel within their furrows,
the storehouses lie empty,
and granaries stand in ruins
because the grain has withered.
18 Oh, how the livestock groan!
The herds of cattle[an] wander about
because they have no pasture.
Even flocks of sheep suffer!
19 To you, Lord, I cry out,
because fire has devoured the open pastures,
and has set all the cultivated trees[ao] ablaze.
20 The livestock also cries out to you,
because their water sources have evaporated
and because fire has consumed the open pastures.
The Warning of God
2 “Sound the ram’s horn in Zion!
Sound an alarm on my holy mountain!
Tremble, all of you[ap] inhabitants of the land,
because the Day of the Lord is coming.
Oh, how near it is!
2 A day of doom and gloom,
a day of clouds and shadows[aq]
like the dawn spreads out to cover the mountains—
a people strong and robust.
Never has there been anything like it,
neither will anything follow to compare with[ar] it,
even through the lifetime of generation upon generation.”[as]
Joel’s Description of the Approaching Army
3 “A fire blazes in their presence,
and behind them a conflagration rages.
Before they come, the land is like the garden in Eden;
after they leave, there is only a barren wasteland.
Indeed, nothing escapes them.
4 As to their form, they’re like horses;
and like chariot horses, how they can[at] run!
5 They leap like the rumbling of chariots echoing from mountain tops,
like the roar of wild fire that devours the chaff,
as an army[au] firmly established in battle array.
6 The people are terrified in their presence;
every face grows pale.[av]
7 They run like elite soldiers,
climbing ramparts like men trained for war.
Each man advances in proper order,
never breaking rank.
8 Neither does a man crowd his fellow soldier;[aw]
each one marches in his own path.
When they fall by the sword
they are not injured.
9 They swarm through the city,
running upon its ramparts.
Climbing atop the houses,
they enter through windows like a thief.”
Great is the Day of the Lord
10 “The land quivers in their presence;
even the heavens shake.
The sun and moon will grow dark,
and the stars will stop shining.
11 The Lord will shout in the presence of his forces,
because his encampment is very great;
for powerful is he who carries out his message.
Truly the Day of the Lord is great, and very terrifying.
Who will be able to survive[ax] it?”
Repentance and Restoration
12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“Turn back to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, tears, and mourning.
13 Tear your hearts, not your garments;[ay]
and turn back to the Lord your God.
For he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to become angry,
overflowing in gracious love,
and grieves about this evil.
14 Who knows? He will turn back and relent, will he not,
leaving behind a blessing,
even a grain offering and drink offering for the Lord your God?”
A Public Call to a Solemn Assembly
15 “Sound the ram’s horn in Zion!
Dedicate a fast and call for a solemn assembly!
16 Gather the people!
Dedicate the congregation!
Bring in the elders.
Gather the youngsters
and even the nursing infants.
Call the bridegroom from his wedding preparations,[az]
and the bride from her dressing room.
17 As they serve[ba] between the porch and the altar,
let the priests and ministers of the Lord weep and pray:
‘Spare your people, Lord,
and do not make your heritage a disgrace
so that nations ridicule them.
Why should they say among the people,
“Where is their God?”’”
Response to the People’s Repentance
18 Then the Lord will show great concern for his land,
and will have compassion on his people.
19 The Lord will say to his people,
“Look! I will send you grain, new wine, and oil,
and you will be content with them.
I will no longer cause you to be a disgrace among the nations.”
Destruction of the Invaders
20 “I will remove the northerners[bb] from you,
driving them[bc] to a barren and desolate land—
the front toward the Dead Sea[bd]
and the back toward the Mediterranean.[be]
Their stench will rise,
and their stinking odor will ascend,
because they have done great things.”
The Lord’s Restoration of the Land
21 “Stop being afraid, land!
Rejoice and be glad,
because the Lord will do great things.
22 Stop being afraid, beasts of the field,
because the desert pastures will bloom,
the trees will bear their fruit,
and the fig tree and vine will deliver their wealth.
23 And so be glad, children of Zion,
and rejoice in the Lord your God,
because he has given you the right amount of early rain,
and he will cause the rain to fall for you,
both the early rain and the later rain as before.
24 The threshing floors will be smothered in grain,
and the vats will overflow with wine and oil.
25 “Then I will restore to you the years that the locust swarm devoured,
as did the young locust, the other locusts, and the ravaging locust,
that great army of mine that I sent among you.
26 You will have plenty to eat, and will be fully satisfied.
You will praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has performed wonders specifically for you.
And my people will never be ashamed.
27 As a result, you will know that I am in the midst of Israel;
that I myself am the Lord your God—
and there is none other!
And my people will never be ashamed.”
The Day of the Lord
28 [bf]“Then it will come about at a later time
that I will pour out my Spirit on every person.
Your sons and your daughters will prophesy.
Your elderly people will dream dreams,
and your young people will see visions.
29 Also at that time I will pour out my Spirit
upon men and women servants.
30 I will display warnings in the heavens,
and on the earth blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
31 The sun will be given over to darkness,
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the great and terrifying Day of the Lord.
32 And everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be delivered.
For as the Lord has said,
‘In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape,
the survivors whom the Lord is calling.’”
The Coming Judgment of Nations
3 [bg]“Look, now! In those very days and at that time,
when I restore prosperity to[bh] Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will gather all nations,
bringing them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
I will set out my case against[bi] them there,
on behalf of my people, my heritage Israel,
whom they scattered among the nations,
apportioning my land among themselves.[bj]
3 They cast lots for my people—
they sold a young boy in exchange for a prostitute,
and a girl for wine,
so they could drink.”
The Lord’s Judgment upon Philistia
4 “Furthermore, what have you to do with me,
Tyre, Sidon, and all the sea coasts of Philistia?
Are you taking revenge on me?
If you are taking revenge on me,
I’ll send it back on you[bk] swiftly and promptly,
5 since you took my silver and gold,
carried my precious treasures into your temples,
6 and sold Judah’s and Jerusalem’s descendants to the Greeks,[bl]
so you can remove them far from their homeland!
7 “Look, I will bring them up from where you sold them,
I will turn your revenge back upon you,[bm]
8 and I will sell your sons and daughters into the control of the people of Judah.
And they will sell them to the people of Sheba, a country far away.”
Indeed, the Lord has spoken.”
The Lord’s Call to Judgment
9 “Declare this among the nations:
‘Prepare for war!
Wake up your elite forces!
Let all the soldiers draw near!
Call them up!
10 Beat your plow blades into swords,
and your pruning knives into spears!
Let the frail say, “I am strong!”
11 Hurry and come, all you gentiles!
Gather yourselves together!’”
“Lord, cause your mighty army[bn] to come down.
12 “Let the nations be awakened
and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat;
because I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle,
because the harvest is ripe.
Come and go down,
because the winepress is full.
The wine vats are overflowing,
because their evil is great!
14 “Multitudes, multitudes
in the Valley of Judgment!
For the Day of the Lord is near
in the Valley of Judgment!
15 The sun and moon will grow dark,
and the stars will stop shining.
16 “The Lord will roar from Zion,
and shout from Jerusalem.
The heavens and the earth will shake,
but the Lord will be the refuge of his people,
and the strength of the people of Israel.”
God’s Blessings on His People
17 “And truly you will know that I am the Lord your God,
dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain.
Then Jerusalem will be holy,
and no foreigners will invade her again.
18 It will come about at that time
that the mountains will drip with newly pressed wine,
the hills will flow with milk,
and the streams of Judah will flow abundantly.
A fountain will spring from the Temple of the Lord,
to water the Valley of the Acacias.
19 Egypt will be desolate,
and Edom will be a desert,
because of violence against the people of Judah
since they shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah will live forever,
and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 I will acquit their bloodguilt that has not yet been acquitted.
For the Lord lives in Zion!”
Amos is Called to Prophesy
1 The words of Amos,[bo] who was among the sheep breeders of Tekoa, which he spoke[bp] concerning Israel during the reign of[bq] Uzziah, king of Judah and during the reign of[br] Joash’s son Jeroboam, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2 He said, “From Zion the Lord roars,
and from Jerusalem he shouts aloud.
The shepherds’ pastures will languish,
and Carmel’s summit will wither.”
A Warning to Damascus
3 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Damascus
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they have trampled down[bs] Gilead
with ironclad threshing sleds.
4 So I will send down fire upon the house of Hazael,
and it will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
5 I will shatter the gate bars of Damascus,
and I will cut off the residents of the Aven Valley,
along with the one who holds the scepter from Beth-eden;
and the people of Aram will be exiled to Kir,”
says the Lord.
A Warning to Gaza
6 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Gaza
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they exiled the entire population,
delivering them to Edom.
7 So I will send down fire upon the wall of Gaza,
and it will devour their fortified citadels;
8 and I will cut off the inhabitants of Ashdod,
along with Ashkelon’s ruler.[bt]
I will turn to attack[bu] Ekron,
and the rest of the Philistines will die,”
says the Lord God.
A Warning to Tyre
9 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Tyre
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they delivered the entire population to Edom,
and did not remember their covenant with their relatives.[bv]
10 So I will send down fire upon the wall of Tyre,
and it will devour their fortified citadels.”
A Warning to Edom
11 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Edom
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because he[bw] pursued his brother with a sword,
refusing to be compassionate.[bx]
His anger was raging[by] continuously;
he kept up his unending wrath.
12 So I will send down fire upon Teman,
and it will devour the fortified citadels of Bozrah.”
A Warning to Ammon
13 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of the Ammonites
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead
in order to enlarge their national borders.[bz]
14 So I will send down fire upon the wall of Rabbah,
and it will devour their fortified citadels
with an alarm sounding in the time of battle,
and with a whirlwind in the time of storm.
15 Their king will go into captivity—
he and his princes together,”
says the Lord.
A Warning to Moab
2 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Moab
because they[ca] cremated the bones of the king of Edom,
burning them[cb] to lime.
2 So I will send down fire upon Moab,
and it will devour the fortified citadels of Kerioth.
Moab will die in the uproar of battle,[cc]
with a war cry
and with the trumpeting of the ram’s horn.
3 I will execute their rulers among them,
killing all of their officials as well,”
says the Lord.
A Warning to Judah
4 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Judah
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they[cd] rejected the Law of the Lord
and did not keep his statutes.
Their own lies made them wander off,
following along the same path their ancestors walked.
5 So I will send down fire upon Judah,
and it will devour the fortified citadels of Jerusalem.”
A Warning to Israel
6 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Israel
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they sold the righteous for money,
and the poor for sandals,
7 moving quickly[ce] to rub the face[cf] of the needy in the dirt.
Corrupting[cg] the ways of the humble,
a man and his father go to the same woman,
deliberately defiling my holy name.
8 They lay down beside every altar,
on garments pledged as collateral,[ch]
drinking wine paid for through fines
imposed by the temple of their gods.
9 Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorites in front of them,
though their height seemed like a cedar,[ci]
though their strength seemed like an oak,
but whose fruit I destroyed from above
and the roots from beneath.
10 Furthermore, I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
leading you in the wilderness for 40 years,
to take possession of the land of the Amorites.
11 I also raised up your sons to be prophets,
and from your young men I raised up Nazirites.[cj]
Is this not true, people of Israel?”
declares the Lord.
12 “But you forced the Nazirites to drink wine,
and commanded the prophets,
‘You are not to prophesy!’
13 “Oh, how I am burdened down with you,
as a wagon is overloaded with harvested grain!
14 So the swift runner will not escape,[ck]
the valiant will not fortify his strength,
and the mighty warrior will not save his life.
15 The skilled archer will not be able to stand,
the swift runner will not survive,
and the mounted rider will not preserve his own life.
16 Even the bravest of elite troops will run away naked at that time,”
declares the Lord.
A Higher Standard of Accountability
3 “Listen to this message that the Lord has spoken about you, people of Israel. It concerns the entire family that I brought from the land of Egypt:
2 ‘You alone have I known from among all of the families of mankind;
therefore I will hold you accountable for all your iniquities.’”
Seven Questions to Ponder
3 “Will a couple walk in unity
without having met?
4 Will a lion roar in the forest
without having found its prey?
Will a young lion cry from its den
without having caught anything?
5 Does a bird fall into a snare on the ground
without any bait in the trap?
Will a trap snap shut
when there is nothing to catch?
6 And when an alarm[cl] sounds in the city,
the people will tremble, won’t they?
If there is trouble in a city,
the Lord has brought it about, has he not?”
The Lord’s Purposes
7 “Truly the Lord God will do nothing he has mentioned
without revealing his purposes to his servants the prophets.
8 A lion has roared!
Who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken!
Who will not prophesy?
9 Announce this[cm] in the fortified citadels of Ashdod,
and in the fortified citadels of the land of Egypt.
Tell them, ‘Gather together on the mountains of Samaria;
look at the great misery among the citadels,[cn]
along with the oppression within Egypt.’[co]
10 Because they do not know how to act right,”
declares the Lord,
“they are filling their strongholds with treasures
that they took from others by violence into their fortified citadels.”
11 Therefore this is what the Lord God says:
“An enemy will surround the land.
He[cp] will pull down your defenses,
and plunder your fortified citadels.”
12 This is what the Lord says:
“Just as a shepherd might save from the lion’s mouth
only two leg bones or a scrap of an ear,
the Israelis will be saved in a similar manner—
those in Samaria who sit on the remains of their broken beds,[cq]
and those in Damascus who lie on the edge of their couches.”
13 “Listen and testify against the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord God, the God of the Heavenly Armies,
14 “because on that day I will lay out the charges against Israel.
I will also bring judgment upon the altars of Bethel;
the horns of the altar will be cut off
and will fall to the ground.
15 I will wreck both the winter house and the summer house,
and the ivory houses will fall.[cr]
These palaces will surely fall,”
declares the Lord.
Judgment on the Women of Israel
4 “Listen to this message, you fat cows from Bashan,
who live on the Samaritan mountains,
who oppress the poor,
who rob the needy,
and who constantly ask your husbands for one more drink!”
2 The Lord God has taken a sacred oath:[cs]
“The day is coming when they[ct] will take you away on fishhooks,
every last one of you on fishhooks.
3 Each of you will go out through the breaches of the walls[cu]
straight to Mt. Hermon,”[cv]
declares the Lord.
The Lord’s Rebuke to Israel
4 “Come to Bethel and sin,
to Gilgal and sin even more!
Bring along your morning sacrifices,
and pay your tithes every other day.[cw]
5 While you’re at it,[cx] present a thank offering with leaven,
and publicize your freewill offerings,
letting everyone hear about it,
because this is what you really love to do, you Israelis,”
declares the Lord God.
Israel’s Refusal to Return to God
6 “I also have scheduled[cy] food shortages[cz] for you in all of your cities,
and lack of bread in all of your settlements,
but you haven’t returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
7 “I therefore have withheld the rain from you
three months before the harvest,
causing rain to come upon one city,
but not upon another,
and upon one field
but not upon another,
so that it would wither.
8 So the people of[da] two or three cities staggered away to another[db] city
in order to obtain drinking water,
but you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
9 “I afflicted you with blight and fungus;
and the locust swarm devoured the harvest
of your gardens, your vineyards, your fig trees, and your olive trees,
but you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
10 “I sent plagues among you as I did with Egypt.
I killed your choicest young men with the sword.
I took your horses away from you.
I filled your noses with the stench of your encampments,
but you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew your cities,[dc]
as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
You’ve become like a burning ember, snatched from the fire,
but you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel.
Because I am about to do this,
prepare to be summoned to your God, Israel!”
13 Look! The one who crafts mountains,
who creates the wind,
who reveals what he is thinking to mankind,
who darkens the morning light,
who tramples down the high places of the land—
the Lord, the God of the Heavenly Armies is his name.
A Lament for Israel
5 “Hear this accusation[dd] that I am bringing against you:
‘A dirge, house of Israel:
2 Fallen is Israel the virgin—never to rise again!
She is abandoned on her own land,
with no one to raise her up.’
3 “For this is what the Lord God says:
‘The city that is sending out a thousand
will have a hundred left;
The city[de] that is sending out a hundred
will have ten left of the house of Israel.’”
Seek God, and Live
4 “For this is what the Lord says to the house of Israel:
‘Seek me and live,
5 but don’t seek Bethel.
Don’t go to Gilgal,
and don’t pass over to Beer-sheba.
Because Gilgal will surely go into captivity,[df]
and Bethel will come to nothing.
6 ‘Seek the Lord and live!
Otherwise, he may break out like a fire in the house of Joseph
and devour Bethel,[dg]
and there will be no one to extinguish it.
7 Those of you who are making justice taste bitter,[dh]
and who have thrown righteousness to the ground:
8 Seek[di] the one who fashions the Pleiades and Orion,
who turns the deep darkness[dj] into morning,
who darkens day into night,
who calls out to the waters of the sea,
pouring them out onto the surface of the earth—
the Lord is his name.
9 It is he who is raining sudden destruction
upon the strong like lightning,[dk]
so that ruin comes upon the fortress.
10 They have hated those who are presenting their cases in court,[dl]
detesting the one who speaks truthfully.
11 ‘Therefore, since you trample the poor continuously,
taxing his grain,
building houses of stone in which you won’t live
and planting fine vineyards from which you won’t drink—
12 and because I know that your transgressions are many,
and your sins are numerous
as you oppose the righteous,
taking bribes as a ransom,
and turning away the poor in court[dm]—
13 therefore the prudent person remains silent at such a time,
for the time is evil.
14 ‘Pursue good and not evil,
so that you may live,
and this is what will happen:[dn]
The Lord God of the Heavenly Armies will be with you,
as you have been claiming.
15 Hate evil and love good,
and establish justice in court—[do]
perhaps the Lord, the God of the Heavenly Armies,
will be gracious to the survivors of Joseph.’”
16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of the Heavenly Armies, the Lord, says:
‘There will be dirges in all of the streets;
and in all of the highways they will cry out in anguish.[dp]
They will call the farmer to mourning
and those who lament[dq] to grieve.
17 And in all of the vineyards there will be mourning
when I pass through your midst,’
says the Lord.”
The Fearful Day of the Lord
18 “Woe to those who are craving the Day of the Lord!
How is it to your benefit, this Day of the Lord?
It’s a day of[dr] darkness to you, and not light.
19 It will be like a man who runs from a lion,
only to encounter a bear;
or who comes home, leans his hand against a wall,
and a serpent bites him!
20 Will not the Day of the Lord be darkness, and not light—
pitch black at that, without a ray of sunshine?”
Let Justice Roll On
21 “I hate—I despise—your festival days,
and your solemn convocations stink.[ds]
22 And[dt] if you send up burnt offerings to me
as well as your grain offerings,
I will not accept them,
nor will I consider your peace offerings of fattened cattle.
23 Spare me your noisy singing—
I will not listen to your musical instruments.[du]
24 “But let justice roll on like many[dv] waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing river.
25 “Was it to me that you brought offerings and gifts
in the desert for 40 years, house of Israel?
26 And you carried the tent of your king[dw]—
and Saturn,[dx] your star god idols[dy] that you crafted for yourselves.
27 So I will cause you to be taken captive beyond Damascus,”
says the Lord,
whose name is God of the Heavenly Armies.
Mourning for the House of Israel
6 “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,
to those who rest on the mountain of Samaria—
the famous men of the nations
to whom the house of Israel came!
2 Cross over to Calneh[dz] and look around,
then go on to that great city of[ea] Hamath,
and from there go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
Or is their territory more extensive than yours?
3 “Disbelieving that a day of evil will come,[eb]
embracing opportunities to commit violence,[ec]
4 lying on ivory beds,
stretching out on your couches,
eating lambs from the flock,
and fattened calves from the stall,
5 chanting to the sound of stringed instruments as if they were David,
composing songs to themselves as if they were musicians,
6 drinking wine from bowls,
anointing themselves with the choicest of oils,
but not grieving on the occasion of Joseph’s ruin—
7 therefore you will be the first to go into exile,
and the celebrations of those who are lounging will end.”
The Lord Swears an Oath
8 “The Lord God has sworn by himself,”
declares the Lord, the God of the Heavenly Armies,
“I utterly detest the arrogance of Jacob;
I hate his fortresses;
and I will deliver up the city,
along with everyone in it.
9 “And if there are ten men remaining in one house,
they will die.
10 One’s relative will pick up the corpse[ed]
to carry them from the house for burning,[ee]
saying to whomever remains inside the house,
‘Is there anyone still with you?’
And he will say, ‘No.’
He will respond, ‘Be quiet,
because we do not mention the name “Lord”.’
11 For indeed, the Lord is giving the command—
and he will smash the large house to rubble
and the small house into bits.
12 “Horses don’t run over bare rock, do they?
One doesn’t plow rock[ef] with oxen, does he?
But you have turned justice to gall,
and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness.[eg]
13 You rejoice in nothing worth mentioning—
that is, you keep on saying,
‘We captured Karnaim by our own strength of will
and by our own effort, didn’t we?’
14 “So look, house of Israel! I will raise up a nation against you,”
declares the Lord, the God of the Heavenly Armies,
“and they will harass you from the entrance of Hamath
to the wadi[eh] of the wilderness.”
The Vision of Locusts
7 This is what the Lord God showed me: Look! He was forming locust swarms as the latter plantings were just beginning to sprout. Indeed, the king had just taken his first fruit tax.[ei] 2 And so it came about that when the swarm[ej] had finished eating the grass of the land, I was saying,
“Lord God, forgive—please!
How will Jacob stand, since he is small?”
3 So the Lord relented from this. “This will not happen,” said the Lord.
The Vision of Fire
4 This is what the Lord God showed me: Look! The Lord God was calling for judgment by fire, and it was drying up the great depths of the ocean[ek] and consuming the land. 5 So I kept on saying,
“Lord God, forgive—please!
How will Jacob stand, since he is so small?”
6 So the Lord relented from this. “This will not happen, either,” said the Lord God.
The Vision of the Plumb Line
7 This is what he showed me: Look! The Lord was standing upon a wall that stood straight and true, with a plumb line in his hand.[el] 8 And the Lord was asking me, “What do you see, Amos?”
I replied, “A plumb line.”
So the Lord said,
“Look, I have set a plumb line
in the midst of my people Israel.
I will no longer spare them.
9 Isaac’s high places will be destroyed,
and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined.
I will rise in opposition to the house of Jeroboam with my[em] sword.”
A Rebuke for Amaziah
10 So Amaziah priest of Bethel sent a message[en] to Jeroboam king of Israel. It said, “Amos has been conspiring against you in the very heart of the house of Israel! The land cannot bear everything he has to say, 11 because Amos is saying this:
‘By the sword will Jeroboam die,
and Israel will surely go into exile
far from her homeland.’”
12 So Amaziah kept saying to Amos, “Get out of here, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Live[eo] there and prophesy there. 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because it’s the king’s sanctuary and a temple of the kingdom.”
14 Amos replied in answer to Amaziah,
“I am no prophet,
nor am I a prophet’s son,
for I have been shepherding
and picking the fruit of[ep] sycamore[eq] trees.
15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock and the Lord kept saying to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’
16 “Very well then, hear this message from the Lord:
‘You are saying,
“Don’t prophesy against Israel,
and don’t preach against the house of Isaac.”
17 ‘Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“Your wife will become a whore in the city,
and your sons and daughters will die by the sword.
Your land will be divided and apportioned,
and you will die in a foreign[er] land.
Israel will surely go into exile,
far from its homeland.”’”
The Vision of a Fruit Basket
8 This is what the Lord God showed me: Look! A basket of summer fruit! 2 And he was asking, “What do you see, Amos?”
I answered, “A basket of summer fruit.”
Then the Lord told me,
“The end[es] approaches for my people Israel.
I will no longer spare them.[et]
3 At that time,”
declares the Lord God,
“the temple songs will be wailing.
Many bodies will accumulate everywhere.
4 “Hear this, you who are swallowing up the needy,
who intend to make the poor of the land fail,
5 and who are saying,
‘When will the New Moon fade
so we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath conclude[eu]
so we may market winnowed wheat?—
shortchanging the measure,[ev]
raising the price,
falsifying the scales by treachery,
6 buying the poor for cash,[ew]
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
selling chaff mixed in with the wheat.’
7 “The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
I will never forget anything they have done.
8 Surely the land will tremble because of this, won’t it?
And all who live in it will mourn, won’t they?
The entire land will swell up like a flooded[ex] river.
It will be stirred up and then will sink
like the river of Egypt.
9 It will come about at that time,” declares the Lord God,
“I will cause the sun to set at noon
and the earth to darken in the daylight.
10 I will turn your festivals into mourning,
and all of your songs to dirges.
I will cause all of you to put on sackcloth
and to shave all of your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son,
and its conclusion will be like the end of[ey] a bitter day.”
A Famine of the Word of God
11 “Look! The days are coming,”
declares the Lord God,
“when I will send a famine throughout the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water—
but rather a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People[ez] will stagger from sea to sea,
from north to east.
They will run back and forth,
searching for a message from the Lord,
but they won’t find it.
13 At that time,
the beautiful virgins will faint,
as will the strong young men—from thirst.
14 Those who have been swearing oaths by the sin of Samaria,
or who say, ‘As your god lives, Dan…’
or who say, ‘As the way of Beer-sheba lives…’—
will fall, and will never rise again.”
Israel to be Destroyed
9 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar as he was saying,
“Strike the doorposts
so that the thresholds tremble,
bringing them down on the heads of all of them.
Those who survive I will kill with the sword.
Those who flee will not escape.
There will be no deliverance for the fugitives.
2 “Even if they burrow into Sheol,[fa]
from there my hand will find them.
Even if they ascend to the heavens,
from there I will bring them down.
3 Even if they hide at the top of Mount[fb] Carmel,
from there I will search and seize them.
Even if they hide from my sight in the depths of the sea,
from there I will order the serpent to strike them.
4 Even if they go into exile among their enemies,
from there I will order the sword to kill them.
I will fix my gaze on them to inflict disaster,
and not to do good.[fc]
5 “The Lord God of the Heavenly Armies
who is touching the earth so that it melts
and all of its inhabitants mourn there—
the land rises like the Nile[fd] River,
but sinks like the river of Egypt—
6 who is building his stairway to heaven
and setting its foundation on earth;
who is calling for the waters of the sea
and pouring them out over the surface of the land—
the Lord is his name!
7 “Aren’t you people of Israel like the people of Cush to me?”
declares the Lord.
“I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt, did I not,
as well as the Philistines from Caphtor[fe]
and the Arameans from Kir?
8 Look! The eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom.
I will destroy it from the face of the earth;
but I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.
9 “Look! I’m giving the order:
I will sift the house of Israel throughout all the nations,
as one sifts with a sieve,
yet not a single kernel will reach the ground!
10 All sinners among my people will die by the sword,
especially all who are saying,
‘Disaster will not come upon or conquer us!’”
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.