Study Desk

Listen to this message that I am singing for you, a lament,^(a) house of Israel:

She has fallen; Virgin Israel^(b) will never rise again.^(c) She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise her up.^(d)

For the Lord God says: The city that marches out a thousand strong will have only a hundred left,^(e) and the one that marches out a hundred strong will have only ten left^(f) in the house of Israel.

For the Lord says to the house of Israel: Seek Me and live!^(g)

Do not seek Bethel^(h) or go to Gilgal⁽ⁱ⁾ or journey to Beer-sheba,^(j) for Gilgal will certainly go into exile, and Bethel will come to nothing.

Seek Yahweh^(k) and live, or He will spread like fire^(l) throughout the house of Joseph; it will consume everything, with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.^(m)

Those who turn justice into wormwood⁽ⁿ⁾ throw righteousness to the ground.

The One who made the Pleiades and Orion,^(o) who turns darkness^[a] into dawn^(p) and darkens day into night,^(q) who summons the waters of the sea^(r) and pours them out over the face of the earth^(s)— Yahweh is His name.^(t)

He brings destruction^[b] on the strong,^[c](u) and it falls on the stronghold.^(v)

They hate the one who convicts the guilty^(w) at the city gate and despise^(x) the one who speaks with integrity.

Therefore, because you trample on the poor^(y) and exact a grain tax from him, you will never live in the houses of cut stone^(z) you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.^(aa)

For I know your crimes are many and your sins innumerable. They oppress the righteous,^(ab) take a bribe, and deprive the poor of justice^(ac) at the gates.

Therefore, the wise person will keep silent^[d](ad) at such a time, for the days are evil.

Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and the Lord , the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed.^(ae)

Hate evil and love good;^(af) establish justice in the gate.^(ag) Perhaps the Lord , the God of Hosts, will be gracious^(ah) to the remnant of Joseph.^(ai)

Therefore Yahweh, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: There will be wailing in all the public squares;^(aj) they will cry out in anguish^[e] in all the streets. The farmer will be called on to mourn,^(ak) and professional mourners^[f](al) to wail.

There will be wailing in all the vineyards,^(am) for I will pass among you.^(an) The Lord has spoken.

Woe to you who long for the Day of the Lord !^(ao) What will the Day of the Lord be for you? It will be darkness and not light.^(ap)

It will be like a man who flees from a lion^(aq) only to have a bear confront him. He goes home and rests his hand against the wall only to have a snake bite him.

Won't the Day of the Lord be darkness rather than light,^(ar) even gloom without any brightness in it?^(as)

I hate, I despise your feasts!^(at) I can't stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.^(au)

Even if you offer Me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,^(av) I will not accept them;^(aw) I will have no regard for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle.^(ax)

Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.^(ay)

But let justice flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.^(az)

"House of Israel, was it sacrifices and grain offerings that you presented to Me during the 40 years in the wilderness?^(ba)

But you have taken up^[g] Sakkuth^[h][i] your king^[j] and Kaiwan^[k] your star god, images you have made for yourselves.^(bb)

So I will send you into exile beyond Damascus."^(bc) Yahweh, the God of Hosts, is His name.^(bd) He has spoken.

Woe to those who are at ease in Zion^(a) and to those who feel secure on the hill of Samaria— the notable people in this first of the nations, those the house of Israel comes to.

Cross over to Calneh^(b) and see; go from there to great Hamath;^(c) then go down to Gath^(d) of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours?

You dismiss any thought of the evil day^(e) and bring in a reign of violence.^(f)

They lie on beds inlaid with ivory,^(g) sprawled out on their couches,^(h) and dine on lambs from the flock⁽ⁱ⁾ and calves from the stall.

They improvise songs^[a] to the sound of the harp^(j) and invent^[b] their own musical instruments like David.^(k)

They drink wine by the bowlful^(l) and anoint themselves with the finest oils but do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.^(m)

Therefore, they will now go into exile as the first of the captives,⁽ⁿ⁾ and the feasting^(o) of those who sprawl out will come to an end.

The Lord God has sworn by Himself^(p)—this is the declaration of Yahweh, the God of Hosts: I loathe Jacob's pride^(q) and hate his citadels,^(r) so I will hand over the city^(s) and everything in it.

And if there are 10 men left in one house, they will die.^(t)

A close relative^[c] and burner^[d](u) will remove his corpse^[e] from the house. He will call to someone in the inner recesses of the house, "Any more with you?" That person will reply, "None." Then he will say, "Silence, because Yahweh's name must not be invoked."^(v)

For the Lord commands: The large house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.^(w)

Do horses gallop on the cliffs; does anyone plow there with oxen?^[f] Yet you have turned justice into poison^(x) and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood^(y)—

you who rejoice over Lo-debar^(z) and say, "Didn't we capture Karnaim for ourselves by our own strength?"^(aa)

But look, I am raising up a nation against you, house of Israel^(ab)— this is the declaration of the Lord, the God of Hosts— and they will oppress you from the entrance of Hamath^[g](ac) to the Brook of the Arabah.^[h]

The Lord God showed me this: He was forming a swarm of locusts^(a) at the time the spring crop first began to sprout—after the cutting of the king's hay.

When the locusts finished eating the vegetation of the land,^(b) I said, "Lord God , please forgive!^(c) How will Jacob survive since he is so small?"^(d)

The Lord relented concerning this.^(e) "It will not happen," He said.

The Lord God showed me this: The Lord God was calling for a judgment by fire.^(f) It consumed the great deep and devoured the land.

Then I said, "Lord God , please stop!^(g) How will Jacob survive since he is so small?"

The Lord relented concerning this.^(h) "This will not happen either," said the Lord God .

He showed me this: The Lord was standing there by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand.

The Lord asked me, "What do you see, Amos?"⁽ⁱ⁾ I replied, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel;^(j) I will no longer spare them:^(k)

Isaac's high places^(l) will be deserted, and Israel's sanctuaries will be in ruins;^(m) I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with a sword."

Amaziah the priest⁽ⁿ⁾ of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you^(o) right here in the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words,

for Amos has said this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.'"^(p)

Then Amaziah said to Amos, "Go away, you seer!^(q) Flee to the land of Judah. Earn your living^[a] and give your prophecies there,

but don't ever prophesy^(r) at Bethel again, for it is the king's sanctuary^(s) and a royal temple."

So Amos answered Amaziah, "I was^[b] not a prophet or the son of a prophet;^[c](t) rather, I was^[d] a herdsman,^(u) and I took care of sycamore figs.

But the Lord took me from following the flock^(v) and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.'"^(w)

Now hear the word of the Lord . You say: Do not prophesy^(x) against Israel; do not preach^(y) against the house of Isaac.

Therefore, this is what the Lord says: Your wife will be a prostitute in the city,^(z) your sons and daughters will fall by the sword,^(aa) and your land will be divided up with a measuring line. You yourself will die on pagan^[e] soil,^(ab) and Israel will certainly go into exile^(ac) from its homeland.

The Lord God showed me this: A basket of summer fruit.

He asked me, "What do you see, Amos?"^(a) I replied, "A basket of summer fruit."^(b) The Lord said to me, "The end has come for My people Israel;^(c) I will no longer spare them.^(d)

In that day the temple^[a] songs^(e) will become wailing"^(f)—this is the Lord God 's declaration. "Many dead bodies, thrown everywhere!^(g) Silence!"^(h)

Hear this, you who trample on the needy⁽ⁱ⁾ and do away with the poor of the land,^(j)

asking, "When will the New Moon be over so we may sell grain,^(k) and the Sabbath, so we may market wheat?^(l) We can reduce the measure while increasing the price^[b] and cheat with dishonest scales.^(m)

We can buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals⁽ⁿ⁾ and even sell the chaff!"

The Lord has sworn^(o) by the Pride of Jacob:^[c](p) I will never forget all their deeds.^(q)

Because of this, won't the land quake^(r) and all who dwell in it mourn?^(s) All of it will rise like the Nile;^(t) it will surge and then subside like the Nile in Egypt.^(u)

And in that day— this is the declaration of the Lord God — I will make the sun go down at noon;^(v) I will darken the land in the daytime.^(w)

I will turn your feasts into mourning^(x) and all your songs into lamentation;^(y) I will cause everyone^[d] to wear sackcloth^(z) and every head to be shaved.^(aa) I will make that grief like mourning for an only son^(ab) and its outcome like a bitter day.

Hear this! The days are coming— this is the declaration of the Lord God — when I will send a famine through the land: not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord .^(ac)

People will stagger from sea to sea and roam from north to east, seeking the word of the Lord ,^(ad) but they will not find it.

In that day the beautiful young women,^(ae) the young men also, will faint from thirst.^(af)

Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria^(ag) and say, "As your god lives, Dan,"^(ah) or "As the way^[e][f] of Beer-sheba lives"^(ai)— they will fall, never to rise again.^(aj)

I saw the Lord standing beside the altar,^(a) and He said: Strike the capitals of the pillars^(b) so that the thresholds shake; knock them down on the heads of all the people. Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword.^(c) None of those who flee will get away;^(d) none of the fugitives will escape.

If they dig down to Sheol,^(e) from there My hand will take them; if they climb up to heaven,^(f) from there I will bring them down.

If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will track them down^(g) and seize them; if they conceal themselves from My sight on the sea floor,^(h) from there I will command the sea serpent to bite them.⁽ⁱ⁾

And if they are driven by their enemies into captivity,^(j) from there I will command the sword to kill them.^(k) I will fix My eyes on them for harm and not for good.^(l)

The Lord, the God of Hosts— He touches the earth;^(m) it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn; all of it rises like the Nile and subsides like the Nile of Egypt.⁽ⁿ⁾

He builds His upper chambers in the heavens^(o) and lays the foundation of His vault on the earth.^(p) He summons the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth.^(q) Yahweh is His name.^(r)

Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to Me?^(s) This is the Lord 's declaration. Didn't I bring Israel from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor,^[a](t) and the Arameans from Kir?^(u)

Look, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom,^(v) and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.^(w) However, I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob^(x)— this is the Lord 's declaration—

for I am about to give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel^(y) among all the nations, as one shakes a sieve, but not a pebble will fall to the ground.

All the sinners among My people^(z) who say: "Disaster will never overtake^[b] or confront us,"^(aa) will die by the sword.

In that day I will restore the fallen booth^(ab) of David:^(ac) I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins,^(ad) and rebuild it as in the days of old,^(ae)

so that they may possess the remnant of Edom^(af) and all the nations that are called by My name^[c](ag)— this is the Lord 's declaration— He will do this.

Hear this! The days are coming— this is the Lord 's declaration— when the plowman will overtake the reaper^(ah) and the one who treads grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, and all the hills will flow with it.^(ai)

I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel.^[d](aj) They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities,^(ak) plant vineyards and drink their wine, make gardens and eat their produce.^(al)

I will plant them on their land, and they will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them.^(am) Yahweh your God has spoken.