Bible in 90 Days
7 So I became like a lion to them—
like a leopard lying in wait by the way.
8 I will meet them like a bear robbed of her cubs,
and I will tear open their chests.
There I will devour them like a lioness.
A beast of the field will rip them to shreds.
9 It has corrupted you, O Israel,
for you are against Me—against your Helper!
10 Where then is your king?
So, will he save you in all your cities?
Or your judges, to whom you said:
‘Give me a king and princes!’
11 I give you a king in My anger,
and take him away in My wrath.
12 Ephraim is bound by iniquity;
his sin is treasured up.
13 Pains of birth come on him.
He is not a wise son.
When the time comes,
he should not delay at the opening of the womb.
14 Should I ransom them from the hand of Sheol?
Should I redeem them from death?
O death, where are your plagues?
O Sheol, where is your sting?[a]
Comfort is hidden from My eyes.”
15 Because he is the son of kinsmen,
he should have been fruitful.
An east wind will come—the wind from Adonai,
coming up from the wilderness.
His spring will become dry,
and his fountain will dry up.
He will plunder the treasury
of every precious vessel.
Salvation Like Dew for Israel
14 Samaria will bear her guilt,[b]
for she has rebelled against her God.
They will fall by the sword,
their infants dashed to pieces,
their pregnant women ripped open.
2 Return O Israel, to Adonai your God,
for you have stumbled in your iniquity.
3 Take words with you and return to Adonai.
Say to Him: “Take away all iniquity,
and accept what is good,
so we may repay with offerings[c] of our lips:
4 ‘Assyria will not save us.
We will not ride on horses,
and we will never again say, “Our god,”
to the work of our hands,
for with You, orphans find mercy.’”
5 “I will heal their backsliding,
I will love them freely,
for My anger will turn away from him.
6 I will be like dew for Israel.
He will blossom like a lily,
and thrust out his roots like Lebanon.
7 His tender shoots will spread out.
His beauty will be like an olive tree
and his fragrance will be like Lebanon.
8 Those dwelling in his shadow will return.
They will grow grain and bud like a vine.
His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
9 Ephraim: “What more are idols to me?
I have responded and observed Him.
I will be like a luxuriant cypress tree.
From me will be found Your fruit.”
10 Who is wise? Let him discern these things.
Who is intelligent? Let him know them.[d]
For the ways of Adonai are straight,
and the just walk in them,
but the wicked stumble in them.
1 The word of Adonai that came to Joel the son of Pethuel:
Mourn the Land’s Destruction
2 Hear this, elders!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the land.
Has this ever happened in your days,
or even in the days of your fathers?
3 Tell your children about it—
your children to their children,
their children to another generation.
4 What the locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten,
and what the swarming locust left,
the canker-worm has eaten,
and what the canker-worm left,
the caterpillar has eaten.
5 Awake, drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you drinkers of wine—
on account of sweet wine,
for it is denied to your mouth!
6 For a nation has invaded my land.
Vast—yes, without number!
Its teeth are lion’s teeth,
with jaw-teeth of a lioness.[e]
7 He has turned my vine to waste
and my fig tree to splinters.
He has stripped off all the bark
and flung it down—
its branches are left white.
8 Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth
for the husband of her youth!
9 Grain offering and drink offering
are cut off from the House of Adonai.
Kohanim—ministers of Adonai—mourn.
10 The field is ruined, the land grieves,
for the grain has been devastated,
new wine is dried up, oil languishes.
11 Be ashamed, O ploughmen;
wail, O vinedressers,
over wheat and over barley,
for the harvest of the field is lost.
12 The vine withered, the fig tree wilted.
Pomegranate, palm and apple tree
—all trees of the field—are withered,
for joy has withered away
from the children of men.
13 Gird yourselves and weep, kohanim!
Howl, ministers of the altar!
Come, lie in sackcloth all night,
ministers of my God.
For grain and drink offering are withheld
from the House of your God.
The Day is Near!
14 Consecrate a fast.
Proclaim a solemn assembly.
Gather elders and all living in the land
to the House of Adonai your God,
and cry to Adonai.
15 Ah, the day!
The day of Adonai is near!
As havoc from Shaddai it will come.
16 Is food not cut off before our eyes—
joy and gladness from God’s House?
17 Seed has shriveled under the dirt clod.
Storehouses are desolate,
granaries are torn down,
for the grain has withered.
18 How the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed,
because they have no pasture.
The flocks of sheep also suffer.
19 To You, Adonai, I cry!
For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
and flame has set ablaze all the trees of the field.
20 Also beasts of the field pant toward You.
For the water of wadis are dried up,
and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
2 Blow the shofar in Zion!
Sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all living in the land tremble—
for the day of Adonai is coming—
surely it is near![f]
2 A day of darkness and gloominess,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
as blackness spreads over the mountains.
A great and mighty people—
from antiquity there was never anything like it,
nor after it ever again from generation to generation.[g]
3 A fire devours before them
and behind them flame blazes up.
Like the Garden of Eden is the land before them,
and behind them a desolate wilderness.
Nothing at all ever escapes them.
4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses—
they gallop like war horses.[h]
5 Like the clatter of chariots,[i]
they leap on the tops of mountains,
like crackling flame of fire devouring stubble,
like a mighty horde in battle array.
6 Before them peoples are in anguish.
All faces become ashen gray.
7 They run like mighty men.
They climb a wall like men of war.
They each march in line,
never deviating from their ways.
8 One does not crowd another.
Each one marches on his own highway.
They plunge through the weapons,
never breaking off.
9 They rush on the city,
they run on the wall,
they climb up into the houses,
coming through the windows like a thief.
10 Before them land quakes,
heaven trembles,
sun and moon become dark,
stars withdraw their brightness.[j]
11 Adonai utters His voice before His army.
For His camp is very vast—
for mighty is it that carries out His word.
For great is the day of Adonai—[k] very terrifying!
Who can endure it?
Call for Teshuvah
12 “Yet even now”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“turn to Me with all your heart,
with fasting, weeping and lamenting.”
13 Rend your heart, not your garments,
and turn to Adonai, your God.
For He is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger, abundant in mercy,
and relenting about the calamity due.
14 Who knows? He may turn and relent,
and may leave a blessing behind Him
—so there may be a grain offering
and a drink offering for Adonai, your God.
Blow the Shofar
15 Blow the shofar in Zion!
Sanctify a fast;
proclaim an assembly.
16 Gather the people;
sanctify the congregation;
assemble the elders;
gather the children,
even those nursing at breasts.
Let the bridegroom come out from his bedroom
and the bride from her chamber.
17 Between the porch and the altar
let the kohanim, ministers of Adonai,
weep, and let them say:
“Have pity, Adonai, on Your people.
Don’t make Your heritage a scorn,
a byword among the nations.
Why should the peoples say,
‘Where is their God?’”[l]
18 Adonai will be zealous for His land,
and have compassion on His people.
19 Adonai will answer and say to His people:
“Behold, I will send you the grain,
the new wine, and the fresh oil,
and you will be satisfied with it.
I will no longer make you a mockery among the nations.
20 “But I will remove the northern invader far from you—
yes, I will banish him to a dry and desolate land—
his vanguard into the Eastern Sea
and his rearguard into the Western Sea.
His odor will go up—
Yes, his stench will rise.”
For He[m] has done great things!
Rain and Restoration
21 Do not fear, O land. Be glad! Rejoice!
For Adonai has done great things.
22 Do not be afraid, beasts of the field,
for the desert pastures have sprouted,
for the tree bears its fruit.
Fig tree and vine yield their strength.
23 So be glad, children of Zion,
and rejoice in Adonai, your God.
For He gives you the early rain[n] for prosperity,
Yes, He will bring down rain for you,
the early and latter rain as before.
24 The threshing floors will be full of grain
and the vats will overflow with new wine and fresh oil.
25 “I shall restore to you the years
that the locust, the swarming locust,
the canker-worm and the caterpillar have eaten—
My great army that I sent among you.”
26 “You will surely eat and be satisfied,
and praise the Name of Adonai your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
Never again will My people be shamed
27 You will know that I am within Israel.
Yes, I am Adonai your God—there is no other—
Never again will My people be shamed.”
Promise of the Ruach Adonai
3 “So it will be afterward,[o]
I will pour out My Ruach on all flesh:[p]
your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
2 “Also on the male and the female servants
will I pour out My spirit in those days.[q]
3 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth—
blood, fire and pillars of smoke.[r]
4 The sun will be turned into darkness
and the moon into blood, before the great and awesome day of Adonai comes.
5 Then all who call on Adonai’s Name[s] will escape,
for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
there will be rescue, as Adonai has said,
among the survivors whom Adonai is calling.”
Valley of Jehoshaphat
4 “For behold, in those days and at that time,
when I restore Judah and Jerusalem from exile,
2 I will gather all nations
and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat.
I will plead[t] with them there on behalf of My people,
even My inheritance, Israel,
whom they scattered among the nations
and they divided up My land.
3 They cast lots for My people,
traded a boy for a prostitute,
and sold a girl for wine, which they drank.”
4 “Moreover, what are you to Me, Tyre and Sidon[u] and all regions of Philistia? Did you render retribution for Me? Even if you were rendering retribution for Me, swiftly, speedily, will I return your retribution back on your own head. 5 For you took My silver and My gold, and you carried My valuable treasures into your temples.
6 “The children of Judah and of Jerusalem you sold to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own territory.
7 “Behold, I am rousing them from the place where you sold them, and I will return your retribution on your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they will sell them to the men of Sheba[v], to a nation far off—for Adonai has spoken.”
9 Proclaim this among the nations:
Prepare for war.
Stir up the mighty men.
Let the warriors advance and attack.
10 Beat your plowshares into swords,
and your pruning knives into spears.
Let the weak say, “I am strong.”
11 Rouse yourselves and come,
all nations around, and gather there.
Adonai, bring Your mighty ones down!
12 “Let the nations rouse themselves
and go up to the valley of Jehoshaphat.
For there will I sit
to judge all the surrounding nations.”
13 Swing the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Come, tread, for the winepress is full
—the vats overflow—
for their wickedness is great![w]
14 Multitudes, multitudes,
in the valley of decision!
For the day of Adonai is near
in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon become dark,
the stars withdraw their brightness.
16 Adonai will roar from Zion
and give His voice from Jerusalem.
Heaven and earth will shudder,
Shalom in Zion
but Adonai will be a refuge for His people,
and a safe place for the children of Israel.
17 So you will know that I am Adonai, your God,
dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain.
Then will Jerusalem be holy,
and foreigners will cross through her no more.
18 It will be in that day,
the mountains will drip sweet wine,
the hills will flow with milk,
and all the wadis of Judah will flow with water.[x]
A spring will flow out from the House of Adonai
and water the valley of Shittim.
19 Egypt will become a desolation
and Edom a desert wasteland,
because of the violence against the children of Judah,
because they shed innocent blood in their land.
20 But Judah will be inhabited forever—
Jerusalem from generation to generation.
21 I will acquit their bloodguilt that I had not acquitted,[y]
for Adonai dwells in Zion.
The Lion Roars at the Nations
1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds from Tekoa. He perceived these words concerning Israel during the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and during the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. 2 He said:
Adonai roars from Zion,
From Jerusalem He gives His voice.
The shepherds’ pastures mourn,
and the top of Mount Carmel withers.
3 Thus says Adonai:
For three crimes of Damascus,
even for four, I will not relent.
For they threshed Gilead
with iron threshing sledges,
4 I will send fire into Hazael’s palace.
It will devour Ben-hadad’s citadels.
5 I will break the Damascus gate-bar
and cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven,
wielding Beth-eden’s scepter.
So the people of Aram
will go into exile to Kir.
Adonai has said it.
6 Thus says Adonai:
“For three crimes of Gaza,
even for four, I will not relent.
For they exiled an entire population,
giving them over to Edom.
7 So I will send fire on the wall of Gaza
—it will devour its citadels.
8 I will cut off Ashdod’s inhabitant,
wielding Ashkelon’s scepter.
I will turn My hand against Ekron
and the rest of the Philistines will perish.
My Lord Adonai has said it.
9 Thus says Adonai:
For three crimes of Tyre,
even for four, I will not relent.
For they gave an entire population over to Edom,
and did not remember the covenant of brothers.
10 I will send fire on the wall of Tyre—
it will devour its citadels.
11 Thus says Adonai:
For three crimes of Edom
even for four, I will not relent.
For he pursued his brother with a sword
and stifled his compassion.
For his anger tore continually,
and he kept his wrath forever.
12 So I will send fire in Teman—
it will devour Bozrah’s citadels.
13 Thus says Adonai:
For three crimes of the sons of Ammon
even for four, I will not relent.
For they ripped open pregnant women of Gilead
to expand their territory,
14 I will kindle fire on Rabbah’s wall
and it will devour its citadels,
amid shouting on a day of battle,
with storm on a day of whirlwind.
15 Their king will go into exile,
he and his princes together.
Thus Adonai has said.
2 Thus says Adonai:
For three crimes of Moab
even for four, I will not relent.
For he burned the bones of Edom’s king to lime,
2 So I will send fire upon Moab—
it will devour Kerioth’s citadels.
Moab will die in an uproar,
with a shout of alarm
and the sound of the shofar.
3 I will cut off the ruler from her midst,
and slay all her princes with him.
Thus Adonai has said.
As for Judah and Israel
4 Thus says Adonai:
“For three crimes of Judah
even for four, I will not relent.
For they despise Adonai’s Torah
and have not kept His statutes.
Their lies have misled them—
those their fathers walked after.
5 So I will send fire upon Judah—
it will devour Jerusalem’s citadels.”
6 Thus says Adonai:
“For three crimes of Israel
even for four, I will not relent.
For they sell the righteous for silver
and the needy for a pair of shoes.
7 They trample the head of the poor
into the dust of the earth
and thwart the way of the humble.
A man and his father go to the same girl,[z]
to profane My holy Name.
8 Upon garments taken in pledge
they stretch out beside every altar,
and drink wine confiscated as fines
in the house of their gods.
9 “I destroyed the Amorite before them,
whose height was like cedars
and as strong as oaks—
yes, I destroyed his fruit from above
and his roots from beneath.
10 It was I also who brought you up from the land of Egypt
and led you forty years in the wilderness
to possess the Amorite’s land.
11 I raised up prophets from your sons
and Nazirites from your young men.
Is this not so, Bnei Yisrael?”
declares Adonai.
12 “But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink,
and you commanded the prophets saying,
‘Do not prophesy.’
13 Behold! I will cause a tottering beneath you
as a cart totters when full of sheaves.
14 Then flight will fail for the swift.
The mighty will not strengthen his power,
The warrior will not save his life.
15 The archer will not stand,
the fleet-footed will not escape,
the horseman will not save himself.
16 The valiant among the warriors
will flee naked in that day.”
declares Adonai.
The Prophet Reveals Destruction
3 Hear this word that Adonai has spoken against you, Bnei Yisrael, against the whole family that I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:
2 “Only you have I known from among
all the families of the earth.
Therefore, I will punish you
for all your iniquities.
3 Can two walk together
unless they meet by appointment?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest
when he has no prey?
Does a young lion growl from his den
unless he has taken prey?
5 Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground
if it has no bait?
Will a snare spring up from the ground
without taking anything?
6 If a shofar alarm sounds in a city,
will people not tremble?
If there is calamity in a city,
has not Adonai caused it?
7 For the Lord Adonai, will do nothing,
unless He has revealed His counsel
to His servants the prophets.[aa]
8 A lion has roared, who will not fear?
My Lord Adonai has spoken,
who shall not prophesy?
9 Proclaim on the citadels in Ashdod
and the citadels in the land of Egypt:
“Assemble on Samaria’s mountains:
Behold the great tumult within it,
even the oppression within it.”
10 They do not know how to be honest,
—declares Adonai—
those who are saving up violence and destruction in their citadels.
11 Therefore thus says my Lord Adonai:
“An adversary will surround the land!
He will bring down your strength.
Your citadels will be plundered
12 Thus says Adonai:
“Just as the shepherd snatches out of the mouth of the lion
two legs, or a piece of an ear,
so will Bnei-Yisrael dwelling in Samaria
escape with the corner of a bed
or a head of a couch.
13 Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob.”
It is the declaration of my Lord
Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot.
14 “For in a day I shall punish Israel for the transgressions of Israel,
and attend to the altars of Bethel—
the horns of the altar will be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15 I will also strike the winter house
together with the summer house.
The houses of ivory will perish,
and great houses will be demolished.”
It is the declaration of Adonai.
Word for Worldly Women
4 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on Samaria’s hill,
who oppress the poor,
who crush the needy,
who say to their masters: “Bring, so we may drink.”
2 My Lord Adonai has sworn by His holiness:
“Behold, days are coming upon you
when he will drag you away with meat-hooks,
the last of you with fishhooks.
3 You will go out through breaches—
each woman straight ahead,
and you will be cast to Harmon.”[ab]
It is the declaration of Adonai.
4 “Come to Bethel and transgress,
in Gilgal multiply transgression.
Every morning bring your sacrifices
and your tithes every three days.
5 Offer up hametz as a thank offering,
call out about freewill offerings—
boast about it!
For so you love to do, Bnei-Yisrael.”
It is the declaration of my Lord Adonai.
Yet You Have Not Returned
6 “So also, I myself have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities
and lack of bread in all your places—
yet you have not returned to Me,”
declares Adonai.
7 “Also I myself have withheld from you
the rain—when three months remain to the harvest,
I caused it to rain on one city,
while on another city I sent no rain;
one piece of ground would get rain,
while the portion not rained on would wither.
8 So two or three cities go staggering to one city to drink water,
but would not be satisfied—
yet you have not returned to Me,”
declares Adonai.
9 “I struck you with blight and mildew.
Your many gardens and vineyards,
your fig-trees and olive trees the locust has devoured—
yet you have not returned to Me,”
declares Adonai.
10 “I sent among you a plague in the manner of Egypt.
I slew your young men by the sword,
with your chariot-horses in captivity.
I made the stench of your camp rise up even to your own nostrils—
yet you have not returned to Me,”
declares Adonai.
11 I overthrew some of you as God
overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah[ac].
You became like a firebrand snatched from a blaze—
yet you have not returned to Me,”
declares Adonai.
Prepare to Meet Your God
12 “Therefore here is what I will do to you, Israel.
Because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, Israel!”
13 For behold! He who forms mountains
who creates the wind,
who declares His thoughts to man,
who makes dawn out of darkness,
who walks above the heights of the earth—
His Name is Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot!
Seek Adonai and Live
5 Hear this word that I take up as a lament over you, O house of Israel:
2 She has fallen, never rising again—virgin Israel—
She is forsaken on her land,
with nobody to lift her up.
3 For thus says Adonai Elohim:
“The city that sends out a thousand
will have a hundred left,
and one that sends out a hundred
will have ten left for the house of Israel.”
4 For thus says Adonai to the house of Israel:
“Seek Me, and live!
5 But do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,
do not cross over to Beersheba.
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
and Bethel will come to trouble.
6 Seek Adonai, and live—
lest He rush like fire through the house of Joseph.
Yes, it will devour Bethel,
with no one to quench it.[ad]
Sins of Injustice
7 You who turn justice to wormwood
threw righteousness to the ground.
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion
and changes deep darkness to morning.
Who darkens the day into night.
Who summons the water of the sea
and pours it out on the face of the earth
—Adonai is His Name.
9 He flashes destruction on the mighty,
so destruction will come against a fortress.
10 They despise one who reproves at the gate,
so they detest one who speaks with integrity.
11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor,
exacting from him a burden of grain,
you built houses of hewn stone,
but will not dwell in them,
you planted pleasant vineyards,
but will not drink their wine.
12 For I know your crimes are many
and your sins countless—
afflicting the righteous, taking bribes,
and turning the needy aside at the gate.
13 Therefore the prudent keep silent at such a time
—for it is a distressful time.
14 Seek good and not evil,
so you may live,
and so Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot may be with you
—just as you said!
15 Hate evil, love good,
maintain justice at the gate.
Maybe Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot will
extend grace to Joseph’s remnant.[ae]
16 Therefore thus said Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot, my Lord:
“There will be wailing in all plazas and in all streets.
They will say: ‘Alas! Alas!’
The farmer will be called to mourning
along with those who know the lamentation song.
17 In all vineyards will be wailing,
for I will pass through your midst”
—Adonai has spoken.
Dreadful Day of Adonai
18 Oy to you—longing for the Day of Adonai![af]
What would it be for you?
The Day of Adonai will be darkness and not light.[ag]
19 It will be as when a man is fleeing from a lion—
and meets a bear!
Or he comes home,
leans his hand on the wall,
and a snake bites him!
20 Will not the Day of Adonai be darkness, not light?
Gloom, not brightness?
Justice Better Than Sacrifices
21 “I hate, I despise your festivals!
I take no delight in your sacred assemblies.
22 Even if you offer me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them,
nor will I look
at peace offerings of your fattened animals.
23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
24 But let justice roll like water
and righteousness like an ever-flowing torrent.
25 Did you bring sacrifices and offerings to Me in the wilderness
for forty years, O house of Israel?
26 But you lifted up your images
—Siccuth your ‘king’, and Chiun,[ah] your star gods—
which you made for yourselves,[ai]
27 So I will send you into exile,
beyond Damascus.”
Adonai has spoken,
Elohei-Tzva’ot is His Name.
At Ease in Zion
6 Oy! You who are at ease in Zion,
trusting in Samaria’s hill!
Distinguished ones of the foremost of nations—
to whom the house of Israel comes
2 Go over to Calneh and look.
From there go to great Hamath,
go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
Or is their territory larger than yours?
3 Dismissing the day of calamity,
you bring near the throne of violence.
4 Reclining on beds of ivory,
sprawling on their couches,
dining on lambs from the flock
and calves from amid the stall,
5 chanting to the sound of harp like David,
inventing their own instruments of song,
6 drinking wine from bowls,
anointing with choice ointments—
yet they are not sickened over the breakdown of Joseph.
7 Therefore now they will go into exile at the head of the exiles.
Sprawling revelry will cease.
8 My Lord Adonai has sworn by Himself
—declares Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot—
“I loathe the arrogance of Jacob,
I despise his palaces,
so I will shut down the city and everything in it.”
9 If ten people remain in one house, they will die. 10 One’s beloved—the one burning incense for him—will lift him up to carry the bones out of the house, and he will say to one in the innermost recess of the house: “Is anyone else still with you?” And he will say: “No one.” Then he will say, “Hush! For we must not mention the Name of Adonai.”
11 For behold, Adonai will command,
He will smash the big house to fragments
and the little house to splinters.
12 Will horses run on the cliff?
Will one plow there with oxen?
Yet you turned justice into venom,
the fruit of righteousness into wormwood.
13 You are rejoicing for no reason, saying:
“Haven’t we taken two horns for ourselves by our own strength?”
14 “For behold, I am raising up against you,
O house of Israel, a nation,
and they will afflict you
from Lebo-Hamath[aj] to the Valley of the Arabah.”
declares Adonai, the God of Hosts.
Locusts and the Trial by Fire
7 This is what my Lord Adonai has shown me: Behold, He was forming locusts at the beginning of the spring crop—after the cutting of the king’s hay. 2 When the locust-swarm had finished devouring the vegetation of the land, I said:
“Adonai Elohim, please pardon!
How can Jacob stand, for he is small?”
3 Adonai relented concerning this.
“It shall not be,” Adonai said.
4 This is what my Lord Adonai has shown me: Behold, Adonai Elohim was calling for the trial by fire, and it would have devoured the great deep, and it would have devoured the territory. 5 But I said:
“My Lord Adonai, stop, please!
How can Jacob stand, for he is small?”
6 Adonai relented concerning this.
“This also shall not happen,”
says my Lord Adonai.
Plumb Line on a Wall
7 This is what He has revealed to me: Behold, my Lord was standing by a vertical wall, and in His hand was a plumb line. 8 Then Adonai said to me: “What do you see, Amos?”
I said: “A plumb line.”
Then my Lord said:
“Behold, I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel—
I will no longer pass over them.
9 So the high places of Isaac will become desolate,
the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste,
and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Beth-el, sent word to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying: “Amos has been conspiring against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words. 11 For this is what Amos has said: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go captive from his land.’”
12 Then Amaziah said to Amos: “Seer, go away! Flee back to the land of Judah. Eat bread there, and prophesy there. 13 But at Bethel you are not to prophesy any more—for it is a royal sanctuary and a house of the kingdom.”
14 So Amos responded and said to Amaziah: “I am no prophet, nor am I a son of a prophet. Rather, I am a shepherd tending fig trees. 15 But Adonai took me from following the flock and Adonai said to me: ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’ 16 So now, hear the word of Adonai: You are saying, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’ 17 Therefore, this is what Adonai says:
‘Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city,
your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword,
and your land divided up by a measuring line.
Now, as for you—you will die in an unclean land,
and Israel will surely be led away captive out of its land.’”
A Basket of Summer Fruit
8 This is what my Lord Adonai has shown me: See, there was a basket of summer fruit. 2 He said: “Amos, what do you see?”
“A basket of summer fruit,” I said.
Then Adonai said to me:
“The end has come to My people Israel.
I will not again pass over them.
3 The songs of the palace will become howls in that day.”
It is a declaration of my Lord Adonai.
“So many corpses flung everywhere! Hush!
4 Hear this, you who trample the poor,
destroying the afflicted of the land
5 saying: ‘When will the New Moon be over,
so we may sell grain?
Or Shabbat, so we may open the wheat market?
—Let’s reduce the ephah measure
and increase the shekel,
cheat with deceitful balances,
6 buy the poor for silver,
the needy for a pair of sandals!
We’ll even sell the refuse of the grain!’”
7 Adonai swore by the Pride of Jacob:
“Never will I forget all their deeds!
8 Will not the land tremble over this?
Will not all who dwell in it mourn?
Yes, it will rise up like all the Nile
—it will surge and sink again like the Nile of Egypt.”
9 “It will be in that day”
—declares my Lord Adonai—
“I will make the sun go down at noon,
yes, I will darken the earth in daylight.
10 I will turn your festivals into mourning
and all your songs into a dirge.[ak]
I will pull up sackcloth on every waist
and baldness on every head.
I will make it like the mourning for an only son—
its end a bitter day.”[al]
11 “Behold, days are coming”
—declares my Lord Adonai—
“when I will send a famine on the land
—not a famine of bread
nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of Adonai.[am]
12 So people will wander from sea to sea
and roam from north to east,
searching for the word of Adonai,
but they will not find it.
13 In that day, the fair virgins and the virile young men
will faint from thirst.
14 Those swearing by Samaria’s guilt will say,
‘As your gods live, Dan!’
or ‘As the way of Beersheba lives!’
But they will fall,
never to rise again.”
No Escaping His Eyes
9 I saw my Lord standing by the altar, and He said:
“Strike the tops of the pillars,
so the porches shake!
Break all of them off at the head!
Then the last of them I will slay with the sword—
none of them fleeing will escape
and no fugitive will slip away.
2 If they should dig down to Sheol,
from there My hand will take them.
If they should go up to heaven,
from there will I bring them down.
3 If they should hide themselves at the top of Carmel,
I will search them out and take them from there.
If they hide themselves from My eyes at the bottom of the sea,
from there I will command the sea serpent to bite them.
4 If they should go into captivity before their enemies,
from there I will command the sword to slay them.
I will set My eyes upon them for calamity
and not for prosperity.”
5 My Lord is Adonai-Tzva’ot.
It is He who touches the land so it melts,
and all its inhabitants will mourn.
Then it will surge like all the Nile,
and sink again like the Nile of Egypt.
6 He who builds His upper stories in heaven
fitted its vault over the earth.
He who summons the waters of the sea
and pours them out on the face of the earth
—Adonai is His Name.
7 “Are you not like the children
of the Cushites to Me, Bnei-Yisrael?”
It is the declaration of Adonai.
“Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt,
the Philistines from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir?”
8 Behold, the eyes of my Lord Adonai are on the sinful kingdom.
So I will utterly destroy it from the face of the earth.
Nevertheless, I will not annihilate the house of Jacob.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
9 “For behold, I have commanded,
and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations,
like grain being tossed in a sieve,
without a pebble falling to the ground.
10 By the sword shall all the sinners
of My people die,
those who say:
‘The calamity will not overtake or confront us.’
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.