Amos

Sefaria · Tanakh > Prophets · 146 sections

7.1
This is what my Lord GOD showed me: He was creating [a plague of] locusts at the time when the late-sown crops were beginning to sprout—aMeaning 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.the late-sown crops after the king’s reaping.-a
7.2
When it had finished devouring the herbage in the land, I said, “O Lord GOD, pray forgive. How will Jacob survive? He is so small.”
7.3
The LORD relented concerning this. “It shall not come to pass,” said the LORD.
7.4
This is what the Lord GOD showed me: Lo, my Lord GOD was summoning bEmendation yields “flaming.”to contend by-b fire which consumed the Great Deep and was consuming the fields.
7.5
I said, “Oh, Lord GOD, refrain! How will Jacob survive? He is so small.”
7.6
The LORD relented concerning this. “That shall not come to pass, either,” said my Lord GOD.
7.7
This is what He showed me: He was standing on a wall cOr “destined for the pickax”; meaning of Heb. uncertain.checked with a plumb line-c and He was holding a plumb line.dOr “pickax”; meaning of Heb. uncertain.
7.8
And the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” “A plumb line,”dOr “pickax”; meaning of Heb. uncertain. I replied. And my Lord declared, “I am going to apply a plumb linedOr “pickax”; meaning of Heb. uncertain. 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! eLit. “eat bread.”Earn your living-e 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,fI.e., by profession. and I am not a prophet’s disciple. I am a cattle breedergMeaning of Heb. uncertain; emendation yields “sheep breeder”; cf. the next verse and 1.1. and a tender of sycamore figs.
7.15
But the LORD took me away from following the flock, and the LORD said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’
7.16
And so, hear the word of the LORD. 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 the LORD said: Your wife shall hEmendation yields “be ravished”; cf. Lam. 5.11.play the harlot-h 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 unclean soil;iCf. Hos. 9.3 and note. for Israel shall be exiled from its soil.”
8.1
This is what my Lord GOD showed me: There was a basket of figs.aHeb. qayiṣ, lit. “summer fruit.”
8.2
He said, “What do you see, Amos?” “A basket of figs,” I replied. And the LORD said to me: “The bHeb. qeṣ.hour of doom-b 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 my Lord GOD: So many corpses Left lying everywhere! Hush!”
8.4
Listen to this, you cEmendation yields “who on every new moon devour the needy, and on every sabbath the humble of the land”; cf. v. 5.who devour the needy, annihilating the poor of the land,-c
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, dGiving short measures of grain, but using oversize weights for the silver received in payment.using an ephah that is too small, and a shekel that is too big,-d 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
The LORD swears byeOr “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 my Lord 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 itfI.e., the earth; cf. vv. 8 and 9d. mourn as for an only child, AllgLit. “the end.” of it as on a bitter day.
8.11
A time is coming—declares my Lord 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 the LORD.
8.12
Men shall wander from hEmendation yields “south to west.”sea to sea-h and from north to east to seek the word of the LORD, 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,”iSee 1 Kings 12.28–29. And “As the way to Beer-sheba lives”jSee 5.5 with note.— They shall fall to rise no more.
9.1
I saw my LORD standing by the altar, and He said: aMeaning of Heb. uncertain.Strike the capitals so that the thresholds quake, and make an end of the first of them all.-a 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 my Lord the 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 His chambers in heaven And founded His vault on the earth, Who summons the waters of the sea And pours them over the land— His name is the LORD.
9.7
To Me, O Israelites, you are Just like the Cushites —declares the LORD. True, I brought Israel up From the land of Egypt, But also the Philistines from Caphtor And the Arameans from Kir.
9.8
Behold, the Lord GOD has His eye Upon 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 the LORD.
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,bA 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
cI.e., the House of David shall reestablish its authority over the nations that were ruled by David.So that they shall possess the rest of Edom And all the nations once attached to My name-c —declares the LORD who will bring this to pass.
9.13
A time is coming —declares the LORD— When the plowman shall meet the reaper,dCf. Lev. 26.5. And the treader of grapes Him 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 LORD your God.

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