Amos Chapter 1 The words of Amos,
who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning
Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days
of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before
the earthquake, And he said, The Lord will roar from Zion
and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the habitations of the shepherds
shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither. Thus saith the
Lord, For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four I will
not turn away the punishment thereof, because they have threshed
Gilead with threshing instruments of iron. But I will send a fire
into the house of Hazel, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad. I will break also the bar of
Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Avon, and him
that holdeth the scepter from the house of Eden. And the people
of Syria shall go into captivity unto Ker, saith the Lord. Thus
saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Gaza, and for four I will
not turn away the punishment thereof, because they carried
away captive the whole captivity to deliver them up to Edom. But
I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the
palaces thereof. And I will cut off the inhabitant
from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the scepter from Ashkelon. And
I will turn mine hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the
Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord God. Thus said the Lord,
For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four I will not turn
away the punishment thereof, because they delivered up the
whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly
covenant. But I will send a fire on the
wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof. Thus saith
the Lord for three transgressions of Edom and for four I will not
turn away the punishment thereof because he did pursue his brother
with the sword and it cast off all pity and His anger to tear
perpetually and he kept his wrath forever But I will send a fire
upon Timon which shall devour the palaces of Bosra. I Thus
saith the Lord, for three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and
for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because
they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they
might enlarge their border. But I will kindle a fire in the
wall of Rabba, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting
in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind.
And their king shall go into captivity. He and his princes
together, saith the Lord. Amos chapter 2 Thus saith the Lord, for three
transgressions of Moab, and for four I will not turn away the
punishment thereof, because he burned the bones of the king
of Edom into lime. But I will send a fire upon Moab,
and it shall devour the palaces of Kiriath, and Moab shall die
with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will
slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the Lord. Thus
saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will
not turn away the punishment thereof, because they have despised
the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and
their lies cause them to err, after the which their fathers
have walked. But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall
devour the palaces of Jerusalem. Thus saith the Lord, For three
transgressions of Israel, and for four I will not turn away
the punishment thereof, because they sold the righteous for silver,
and the poor for a pair of shoes, that pant after the dust of the
earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the
meek. And a man and his father will go in unto the same maid
to profane my holy name. And they lay themselves down
upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the
wine of the condemned in the house of their God. Yet destroyed
I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of
the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks, yet I destroyed
his fruit from above and his roots from beneath. Also I brought
you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through
the wilderness to possess the land of the Amorite. And I raised
up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites.
Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel?" saith the Lord. But he gave the Nazarites wine
to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not. Behold,
I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong
shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver
himself. Neither shall he stand that handleth
the bow, and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself,
neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself, and
he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked
in that day, saith the Lord. Amos chapter 3 Hear this word that the Lord
hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole
family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You
only have I known of all the families of the earth. Therefore
I will punish you for all your iniquities. Can two walk together
except they be agreed? Will a lion roar in the forest
when he hath no prey? Will a young lion cry out of
his den if he have taken nothing? Can a bird fall in a snare upon
the earth, where no djinn is for him? Shall one take up a
snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all? Shall a
trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid?
Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?
Surely the Lord will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto
his servants, the prophets. The lion hath roared, who will
not fear? The Lord God hath spoken, who
can but prophesy? Publish in the palaces at Ashdod,
and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves
upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults
in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.
For they know not to do right, saith the Lord, who store up
violence and robbery in their palaces. Therefore thus saith
the Lord God, an adversary there shall be even round about the
land, and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy
palaces shall be spoiled. Thus saith the Lord, As the shepherd
taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an
ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell
in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch. Hear
ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God,
the God of hosts, that in the day that I shall visit the transgressions
of Israel upon him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel, and
the horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. And I will smite the winter house
with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses shall have an end, saith the Lord. Amos chapter 4 Hear this word,
ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which
oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their
masters, Bring, and let us drink. The Lord God hath sworn by his
holiness that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take
you away with hooks, and your posterity with fish-hooks, and
he shall go out at the breeches, every cow at that which is before
her, and he shall cast them into the palace, saith the Lord. come
to Bethel and transgress, at Gilgal multiply transgression,
and bring your sacrifices every morning and your tithes after
three years, and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven,
and proclaim and publish the free offerings. For this liketh
you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God. And I also
have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want
of bread in all your places. Yet have ye not returned unto
me, saith the Lord. And also I have withholden the
rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest.
I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain
upon another city. One peace was rained upon, and
the peace whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three
cities wandered unto one city to drink water, but they were
not satisfied. Yet have ye not returned unto
me? saith the Lord. I have smitten you with blasting
and milled you when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig
trees and your olive trees increased. The palmer worm devoured them.
Yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord? I have sent
among you the pestilence after the manor of Egypt. Your young
men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses,
and I have made the stink of your camps to come up into your
nostrils. Yet have ye not returned unto
me, saith the Lord? I have overthrown some of you,
as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. and he were, as a firebrand,
plucked out of the burning. Yet have ye not returned unto
me, saith the Lord. Therefore thus will I do unto
thee, O Israel, and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to
meet thy God, O Israel. For lo, he that formeth the mountains,
and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought,
that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places
of the earth, The Lord, the God of hosts, is his name. Amos chapter 5 Hear ye this word
which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of
Israel. The virgin of Israel is fallen.
She shall no more rise. She is forsaken upon her land.
There is none to raise her up. For thus saith the Lord God,
the city that went out by a thousand shall leave a hundred, and that
which went forth by a hundred shall leave ten to the house
of Israel. For thus saith the Lord unto
the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live. But seek
not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba. For
Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.
Seek the Lord, and ye shall live, lest ye break out like fire in
the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench
it in Bethel. ye who turn judgment to wormwood,
and leave off righteousness in the earth. Seek him that maketh
the seven stars an Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into
the morning, and maketh the day dark with night, that calleth
for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face
of the earth. The Lord is his name that strengtheneth
the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come
against the fortress. They hate him that rebuketh in
the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. Forasmuch,
therefore, as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from
him burdens of wheat, ye have built houses of hewn stone, but
he shall not dwell in them, ye have planted pleasant vineyards,
but he shall not drink wine of them. For I know your manifold
transgressions and your mighty sins. They afflict the just,
they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from
their right. Therefore the prudent shall keep
silence in that time, for it is an evil time. Seek good, and
not evil, that ye may live. And so the Lord the God of hosts
shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love
the good. Establish judgment in the gate.
It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the
remnant of Joseph. Therefore the Lord, the God of
hosts, the Lord, saith thus, Wailing shall be in all streets.
And they shall say in all the highways, Alas, alas! And they shall call the husbandman
to mourning, And such as are skillful of lamentation to wailing. And in all vineyards shall be
wailing, For I will pass through thee, saith the Lord. Woe unto
you that desire the day of the Lord! To what end is it for you? The day of the Lord is darkness,
and not light, as if a man did flee from a lion and a bear met
him, or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall,
and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the Lord
be darkness, and not light, even very dark, and no brightness
in it? I hate, I despise your feast
days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though
ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not
accept them, neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat
beasts. Take thou away from me the noise
of thy songs. for I will not hear the melody
of thy vials. But let judgment run down as
waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. Have ye offered
unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years,
O house of Israel? But ye have borne the tabernacle
of your Moloch, and Chion, your images, the star of your God,
which ye made to yourselves. Therefore will I cause you to
go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose name is
the God of hosts. Amos chapter 6 Woe to them that
are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which
are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came.
Pass thee unto Calni, and see, and from thence go ye to Hamath
the great, then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Be they better
than these kingdoms, or their border greater than your border.
Ye that put far away the evil day. and cause the seat of violence
to come near, that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves
upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the
calves out of the midst of the stall, that chant to the sound
of the vial, and invent to themselves instruments of music like David. They drink wine in bowls, and
anoint themselves with the chief ointments, but they are not grieved
for the affliction of Joseph. Therefore now shall they go captive
with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that
stretch themselves shall be removed. The Lord God hath sworn by himself,
saith the Lord God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob,
and hate his palaces. Therefore will I deliver up the
city with all that is therein. And it shall come to pass, if
there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die. And a man's
uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him to bring
out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is
by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? And
he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue,
for we may not make mention of the name of the Lord. For behold,
the Lord commandeth, and he will smite the great houses with breeches,
and the little houses with clefts. Shall horses run upon the rock?
Will one plough there with oxen? For ye have turned judgment into
gall, And the fruit of righteousness into hemlock. Ye which rejoice
in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to as horns
by our own strength? But behold, I will raise up against
you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the LORD the God of hosts,
and they shall afflict you from the entering inn of Hemath unto
the river of the wilderness. Amos chapter 7 Thus hath the Lord God showed
unto me. And behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning
of the shooting up of the latter growth, and lo, it was the latter
growth after the king's mowings. And it came to pass, that when
they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I
said, O Lord God, forgive I beseech thee, by whom shall Jacob arise,
for he is small. The Lord repented for this. It
shall not be, saith the Lord. Thus hath the Lord God showed
unto me, and behold, the Lord God called the contend by fire,
and it devoured the great deep, and it eat up a part. Then said
I, O Lord God, cease I beseech thee. By whom shall Jacob arise,
for he is small? The Lord repented for this. This
also shall not be, saith the Lord God. Thus he showed me,
and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb-line,
with a plumb-line in his hand. And the Lord said unto me, Amos,
what seest thou? And I said, A plumb-line? Then
said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst
of my people Israel. I will not again pass by them
any more. And the high places of Isaac
shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. Then
Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel,
saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house
of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. For thus
Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall
surely be led away captive out of their own land. Also Amaziah
said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land
of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there, but prophesy
not again any more at Bethel, for it is the king's chapel,
and it is the king's court. Then answered Amos, and said
to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son,
but I was an herdman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit. And the Lord
took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go
prophesy unto my people Israel. Now therefore, hear thou the
word of the Lord. Thou sayest, Prophesy not against
Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac. Therefore
thus saith the Lord, Thy wife shall be in Harlot in the city,
and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword. and
thy land shall be divided by line, and thou shalt die in a
polluted land, and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth
of his land. Amos chapter 8 Thus hath the Lord God showed
unto me. And behold, a basket of summer
fruit. And he said, Amos, what seest
thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord
unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel. I will not
again pass by them anymore. And the songs of the temple shall
be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God. There shall be
many dead bodies in every place. They shall cast them forth with
silence. Hear this, O ye that swallow
up the needy, Even to make the poor of the land to fail, Saying,
When will the new moon be gone, That we may sell corn, and the
sabbath, That we may set forth wheat? Making the ephah small,
and the shekel great, And falsifying the balances by deceit, That
we may buy the poor for silver, And the needy for a pair of shoes,
Yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat. The Lord hath sworn by
the excellency of Jacob, surely I will never forget any of their
works. Shall not the land tremble for
this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? And it shall
rise up holy as a flood, and it shall be cast out and drowned
as by the flood of Egypt. And it shall come to pass in
that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to
go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day. And
I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs
into lamentation. And I will bring up sackcloth
upon all loins, and baldness upon every head. And I will make
it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a
bitter day. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine
of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the
Lord. And they shall wander from sea
to sea, and from the north even to the east. They shall run to
and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins
and young men faint for thirst. They that swear by the sin of
Samaria, and say, Thy God, O Dan, liveth, and the manna of Beersheba
liveth, even they shall fall, and never rise up again. Amos chapter 9 I saw the Lord
standing upon the altar, and He said, Smite the lintel of
the door that the posts may shake, and cut them in the head, all
of them. And I will slay the last of them with the sword.
He that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth
of them shall not be delivered. Though they dig into hell, thence
shall my hand take them. Though they climb up to heaven,
thence will I bring them down. And though they hide themselves
in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence.
And though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea,
thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them. And though
they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I
command the sword, and it shall slay them. And I will set mine
eyes upon them for evil, and not for good. And the Lord God
of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt,
and all that dwell therein shall mourn, and it shall rise up holy
like a flood, and shall be drowned as by the flood of Egypt. It
is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded
his troop in the earth. He that calleth for the waters
of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth,
the Lord is his name. Are ye not as children of the
Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the Lord. Have
not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines
from Caphtah, and the Syrians from Chur? Behold, the eyes of
the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it
from off the face of the earth, saving that I will not utterly
destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. For lo, I will command,
and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like
as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain
fall upon the earth. All the sinners of my people
shall die by the sword, which, say, the evil shall not overtake
nor prevent us. In that day will I raise up the
tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof.
And I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the
days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom. And of all
the heathen which are called by my name saith the Lord that
doeth this. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, And
the treader of grapes him that soweth seed, And the mountains
shall drop sweet wine. And all the hills shall melt,
and I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they
shall build the waste cities and inhabit them, and they shall
plant vineyards and drink the wine thereof. They shall also
make gardens and eat the fruit of them, and I will plant them
upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their
land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.