Amos

Sefaria · Tanakh > Prophets · 146 sections

7.1
This is what my Sovereign GOD showed me: [A plague of] locusts was created at the time when the late-sown crops were beginning to sprout—the late-sown crops after the king’s reaping.athe late-sown crops after the king’s reaping Meaning of Heb. uncertain. The king’s reaping of fodder apparently occurred near the end of the rainy season, and whatever the locust destroyed after that could not be replaced for another year.
7.2
When it had finished devouring the herbage in the land, I said, “O my Sovereign, ETERNAL One, pray forgive. How will Jacob survive? He is so small.”
7.3
GOD relented concerning this. “It shall not come to pass,” said GOD.
7.4
This is what my Sovereign GOD showed me: Lo, my Sovereign GOD was summoning to contend bybto contend by Emendation yields “flaming.” fire that consumed the Great Deep and was consuming the fields.
7.5
I said, “Oh, my Sovereign, ETERNAL One, refrain! How will Jacob survive? He is so small.”
7.6
GOD relented concerning this. “That shall not come to pass, either,” said my Sovereign GOD.
7.7
This is what I was shown: [God] was standing on a wall checked with a plumb linecchecked with a plumb line Or “destined for the pickax”; meaning of Heb. uncertain. while holding a plumb line.dplumb line Or “pickax”; meaning of Heb. uncertain.
7.8
And GOD asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” “A plumb line,”eplumb line See second note at v. 7. I replied. And my Sovereign declared, “I am going to apply a plumb linefplumb line See previous note. to My people Israel; I will pardon them no more.
7.9
The shrines of Isaac shall be laid waste, and the sanctuaries of Israel reduced to ruins; and I will turn upon the House of Jeroboam with the sword.”
7.10
Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent this message to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is conspiring against you within the House of Israel. The country cannot endure the things he is saying.
7.11
For Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall be exiled from its soil.’”
7.12
Amaziah also said to Amos, “Seer, off with you to the land of Judah! Earn your livinggEarn your living Lit. “eat bread.” there, and do your prophesying there.
7.13
But don’t ever prophesy again at Bethel; for it is a king’s sanctuary and a royal palace.”
7.14
Amos answered Amaziah: “I am not a prophet,hnot a prophet By profession. and I am not a prophet’s disciple. I am a cattle breedericattle breeder Meaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “sheep breeder”; cf. the next verse and 1.1. and a tender of sycamore figs.
7.15
But GOD took me away from following the flock, and GOD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’
7.16
And so, hear the word of GOD. You say I must not prophesy about the House of Israel or preach about the House of Isaac;
7.17
but this, I swear, is what GOD said: Your wife shall play the whorejplay the whore Emendation yields “be abused”; cf. Lam. 5.11. in the town, your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided up with a measuring line. And you yourself shall die on impure soil;kimpure soil Cf. Hos. 9.3 and note. for Israel shall be exiled from its soil.”
8.1
This is what my Sovereign GOD showed me: There was a basket of figs.afigs Heb. qayiṣ, lit. “summer fruit.”
8.2
I was asked, “What do you see, Amos?” “A basket of figs,” I replied. And GOD said to me: “The hour of doombhour of doom Heb. qeṣ. has come for My people Israel; I will not pardon them again.
8.3
And the singing women of the palace shall howl on that day—declares the Sovereign GOD: So many corpses Left lying everywhere! Hush!”
8.4
Listen to this, you who devour the needy, annihilating the poor of the land,cwho devour the needy, annihilating the poor of the land Emendation yields “who on every new moon devour the needy, and on every sabbath the humble of the land”; cf. v. 5.
8.5
saying, “If only the new moon were over, so that we could sell grain; the sabbath, so that we could offer wheat for sale, using an ephah that is too small, and a shekel that is too big,dusing an ephah that is too small, and a shekel that is too big I.e., giving short measures of grain, but using oversize weights for the silver received in payment. tilting a dishonest scale,
8.6
and selling grain refuse as grain! We will buy the poor for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals.”
8.7
GOD swears byeby Or “concerning”; cf. 6.8 with note. the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget any of their doings.”
8.8
Shall not the earth shake for this And all that dwell on it mourn? Shall it not all rise like the Nile And surge and subside like the Nile of Egypt?
8.9
And in that day —declares the Sovereign GOD— I will make the sun set at noon, I will darken the earth on a sunny day.
8.10
I will turn your festivals into mourning And all your songs into dirges; I will put sackcloth on all loins And tonsures on every head. I will make the earthfthe earth Heb. “it”; cf. vv. 8 and 9d. mourn as for an only child, AllgAll Lit. “the end.” of it as on a bitter day.
8.11
A time is coming—declares the Sovereign GOD—when I will send a famine upon the land: not a hunger for bread or a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of GOD.
8.12
People shall wander from sea to sea and from north to east to seek the word of GOD, but they shall not find it.
8.13
In that day, the beautiful maidens and the young men shall faint with thirst—
8.14
Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria, Saying, “As your god lives, Dan,”hAs your god lives, Dan See 1 Kings 12.28–29. And “As the way to Beer-sheba lives”iAs the way to Beer-sheba lives See 5.5 with note.— They shall fall to rise no more.
9.1
I observed my Sovereign standing by the altar and saying: Strike the capitals so that the thresholds quake, and make an end of the first of them all.aStrike the capitals … first of them all Meaning of Heb. uncertain. And I will slay the last of them with the sword; not one of them shall escape, and not one of them shall survive.
9.2
If they burrow down to Sheol, From there My hand shall take them; And if they ascend to heaven, From there I will bring them down.
9.3
If they hide on the top of Carmel, There I will search them out and seize them; And if they conceal themselves from My sight At the bottom of the sea, There I will command The serpent to bite them.
9.4
And if they go into captivity Before their enemies, There I will command The sword to slay them. I will fix My eye on them for evil And not for good.
9.5
It is the Sovereign GOD of Hosts— At whose touch the earth trembles And all who dwell on it mourn, And all of it swells like the Nile And subsides like the Nile of Egypt;
9.6
Who built the chambers in heaven And founded the vault on the earth, Who summons the waters of the sea And pours them over the land— Whose name is GOD.
9.7
To Me, O Israelites, you are Just like the CushitesbCushites People of Cush, the region south of Egypt. —declares GOD. True, I brought Israel up From the land of Egypt, But also the Philistines from Caphtor And the Arameans from Kir.
9.8
Behold, my Sovereign GOD is keeping an eye On the sinful kingdom: I will wipe it off The face of the earth! But, I will not wholly wipe out The House of Jacob —declares GOD.
9.9
For I will give the order And shake the House of Israel— Through all the nations— As one shakes [sand] in a sieve,csieve A coarse sieve used for cleansing grain of straw and stones, or sand of pebbles and shells. And not a pebble falls to the ground.
9.10
All the sinners of My people Shall perish by the sword, Who boast, “Never shall the evil Overtake us or come near us.”
9.11
In that day, I will set up again the fallen booth of David: I will mend its breaches and set up its ruins anew. I will build it firm as in the days of old,
9.12
So that they shall possess the rest of Edom And all the nations once attached to My namedSo that they shall possess the rest of Edom / And all the nations once attached to My name I.e., the House of David shall reestablish its authority over the nations that were ruled by David. —declares GOD who will bring this to pass.
9.13
A time is coming —declares GOD— When the plower shall meet the reaper,ethe plower shall meet the reaper Cf. Lev. 26.5. And the treader of grapes The one who holds the [bag of] seed; When the mountains shall drip wine And all the hills shall wave [with grain].
9.14
I will restore My people Israel. They shall rebuild ruined cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine; They shall till gardens and eat their fruits.
9.15
And I will plant them upon their soil, Nevermore to be uprooted From the soil I have given them —said the ETERNAL your God.

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