Amos (Amos)

AMOS

1

1 The words of N57Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Yisrael in the days of Uzziyahu king of Judah (Yehudah), and in the days of Jeroboam (Yarovam) the son of Yoash king of Yisrael, two years before the earthquake.

2 And he said, “יהוה will roar from Zion (Tsiyon), and utter His voice from Jerusalem (Yerushalayim); and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.”

3 Thus saith יהוה: “For three transgressions of Damascus (Dammeseq), and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilad with threshing instruments of iron;

4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad.

5 I will break also the bar of Damascus (Dammeseq), and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria (Aram) shall go into captivity unto Kir,” saith יהוה.

6 Thus saith יהוה: “For three transgressions of Gaza (Azzah), 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;

7 But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza (Azzah), which shall devour the palaces thereof;

8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn Mine hand against Ekron; and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,” saith Lord (Adonai) יהוה.

9 Thus saith יהוה: “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;

10 But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof.”

11 Thus saith יהוה: “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 did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever;

12 But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.”

13 Thus saith יהוה: “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 Gilad, that they might enlarge their border;

14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;

15 And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together,” saith יהוה.

2

1 Thus saith יהוה: “For three transgressions of Moav, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime;

2 But I will send a fire upon Moav, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth; and Moav shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the shofar.

3 And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him,” saith יהוה.

4 Thus saith יהוה: “For three transgressions of Judah (Yehudah), and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because they have despised the Torah of יהוה, and have not kept His commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked;

5 But I will send a fire upon Judah (Yehudah), and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem (Yerushalayim).

6 Thus saith יהוה: “For three transgressions of Yisrael, 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,

7 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;

8 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.

9 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.

10 Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt (Mitsrayim), and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.

11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites (Nazirim). Is it not even thus, O you children of Yisrael?” saith יהוה.

12 “But you gave the Nazarites (Nazirim) wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘Prophesy not!’.

13 Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.

14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself;

15 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.

16 And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day”, saith יהוה.

3

1 Hear this word that יהוה hath spoken against you, O children of Yisrael, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt (Mitsrayim), saying:

2 “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

3 Can two walks together, except they be agreed?

4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has taken nothing?

5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? Shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?

6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be disaster (raah) in a city, and יהוה hath not done it?

7 Surely Lord (Adonai) יהוה will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets.

8 The lion hath roared, who will not fear? Lord (Adonai) יהוה hath spoken, who can but prophesy?

9 “Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt (Mitsrayim), and say: ‘Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria (Shomeron); and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.

10 For they know not to do right’, saith יהוה, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.

11 Therefore thus saith Lord (Adonai) יהוה: “An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down your strength from you, and your palaces shall be plundered.”

12 Thus saith יהוה: “As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Yisrael be taken out that dwell in Samaria (Shomeron) in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus (Dammeseq) in a couch!

13 Hear you, and testify in the house of Jacob (Yaaqov),” saith Lord (Adonai) יהוה, God of hosts (Elohei Tsevaot),

14 That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Yisrael upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel (Beit-El); and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.

15 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 יהוה.

4

1 Hear this word, you kine (women) of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria (Shomeron), who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their masters (husbands), “Bring, and let us drink.”

2 Lord (Adonai) יהוה hath sworn by His holiness, that, behold, the days shall come upon you, that He will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.

3 And you shall go out at the breaches, every cow (women) at that which is before her; and you shall cast them into the palace,” saith יהוה.

4 “Come to Bethel (Beit-El), and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years;

5 And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings, for this liketh you, O you children of Yisrael,” saith Lord (Adonai) יהוה.

6 “And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places; yet have you not returned unto Me,” saith יהוה.

7 “And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city; one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.

8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied; yet have you not returned unto me,” saith יהוה.

9 “I have smitten you with blasting and mildew; when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them; yet have you not returned unto Me,” saith יהוה.

10 “I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt (Mitsrayim); 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 unto your nostrils; yet have you not returned unto Me,” saith יהוה.

11 “I have overthrown some of you, as God (Elohim) overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning; yet have you not returned unto Me,” saith יהוה.

12 “Therefore thus will I do unto you, O Yisrael; and because I will do this unto you, prepare to meet your God (Elohim), O Yisrael!”

13 For, behold, He Who 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, יהוה God of hosts (YHWH Elohei Tsevaot) is His name.

5

1 Hear you this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Yisrael:

2 The virgin of Yisrael is fallen; she shall no more rise. She is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.

3 For thus saith Lord (Adonai) יהוה: “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 Yisrael!”

4 For thus saith יהוה unto the house of Yisrael: “Seek you Me, and you shall live;

5 But seek not Bethel (Beit-El), nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-Sheva; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel (Beit-El) shall come to nothing.

6 Seek יהוה, and you shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph (Yosef), and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel (Beit-El).

7 You who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth!”

8 Seek Him who maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; who calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: יהוה is His name.

9 He who causes destruction against the strong, so that the destruction shall come against the fortress.

10 They hate him who rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him who speaketh uprightly.

11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and you take from him burdens of wheat; you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink wine of them.

12 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.

13 Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time, for it is an evil time.

14 Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so יהוה God of hosts (YHWH Elohei Tsevaot), shall be with you, as you have spoken.

15 Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate; it may be that יהוה God of hosts (YHWH Elohei Tsevaot) will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph (Yosef).

16 Therefore יהוה God of hosts (YHWH Elohei Tsevaot), the Lord (Adonai), 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 skilful of lamentation to wailing.

17 And in all vineyards shall be wailing, for I will pass through you,” saith יהוה.

18 Woe unto you that desire the day of יהוה! To what end is it for you? The day of יהוה is darkness, and not light.

19 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.

20 Shall not the day of יהוה be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?

21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

22 Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them; nor will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

23 Take you away from Me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your harps.

24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

25 Have you offered unto Me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Yisrael?

26 But you have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which you made to yourselves.

27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus (Dammeseq),” saith the God of hosts (Elohei Tsevaot), Whose name is יהוה.

6

1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion (Tsiyon), and trust in the mountain of Samaria (Shomeron), which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Yisrael came!

2 Pass you unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go you to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines; be they better than these kingdoms? Or their territory greater than your territory?

3 You that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;

4 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;

5 That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like Dawid;

6 That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments, but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph (Yosef).

7 Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.

8 Lord (Adonai) יהוה hath sworn by Himself, saith יהוה God of hosts (YHWH Elohei Tsevaot): “I abhor the excellency of Jacob (Yaaqov), and hate his palaces; therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.”

9 And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die.

10 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 you?” And he shall say, “No.” Then shall he say, “Hold your tongue, for we must not make mention of the name of יהוה.”

11 For, behold, יהוה commandeth, and He will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts.

12 Shall horses run upon the rock? Will one plow there with oxen? For you have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood (bitterness);

13 You who rejoice in worthless thing (lo debar), who say, “Have we not taken Qarnayim by our own strength?

14 But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Yisrael,” saith יהוה God of hosts (YHWH Elohei Tsevaot); and they shall afflict you from the entrance of Hemath unto the river of the wilderness.

7

1 Thus hath Lord (Adonai) יהוה shewed unto me: Behold, He formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings.

2 And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said: “O Lord (Adonai) יהוה, forgive, I beseech you; by whom shall Jacob (Yaaqov) arise, for he is small?

3 יהוה regretted for this. “It shall not be,” saith יהוה.

4 Thus hath Lord (Adonai) יהוה shewed unto me: and, behold, Lord (Adonai) יהוה called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.

5 Then said I, “O Lord (Adonai) יהוה, cease, I beseech you; by whom shall Jacob (Yaaqov) arise, for he is small?”

6 יהוה regretted for this. “This also shall not be,” saith Lord (Adonai) יהוה.

7 Thus He shewed me; and, behold, the Lord (Adonai) stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in His hand.

8 And יהוה said unto me, “Amos, what seest you?” And I said, “A plumbline.” Then said the Lord (Adonai), “Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of My people Yisrael; I will not again pass by them anymore.

9 And the high places of Isaac (Yitschaq) shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Yisrael shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam (Yarovam) with the sword.

10 Then Amazyah the kohen of Bethel (Beit-El) sent to Jeroboam (Yarovam) king of Yisrael, saying, “Amos hath conspired against you in the midst of the house of Yisrael; the land is not able to bear all his words.

11 For thus Amos saith: ‘Jeroboam (Yarovam) shall die by the sword, and Yisrael shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.’”

12 Also Amazyah said unto Amos, “O you seer, go, flee you away into the land of Judah (Yehudah), and there eat bread, and prophesy there;

13 But prophesy not again anymore at Bethel (Beit-El), for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court.”

14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amazyah: “I was no prophet, nor was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit.

15 And יהוה took me as I followed the flock, and יהוה said unto me, ‘Go, prophesy unto My people Yisrael.’

16 Now therefore hear you the word of יהוה: you sayest, ‘Prophesy not against Yisrael, and drop not your word against the house of Isaac (Yitschaq).’

17 Therefore thus saith יהוה: ‘Your wife shall be a harlot in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by line; and you shalt die in a polluted land; and Yisrael shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.’”

8

1 Thus hath Lord (Adonai) יהוה shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.

2 And He said, “Amos, what seest you?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then said יהוה unto me, “The end has come upon My people of Yisrael; I will not again pass by them anymore.

3 And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day,” saith Lord (Adonai) יהוה; “there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.”

4 Hear this, O you that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,

5 Saying: “When will the New Moon be gone, that we may sell corn? And the Shabbat, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit,

6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?”

7 יהוה hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob (Yaaqov): “Surely I will never forget any of their works.

8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourns that dwelleth therein? And it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt (Mitsrayim).

9 And it shall come to pass in that day,” saith Lord (Adonai) יהוה, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day;

10 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.

11 “Behold, the days come,” saith Lord (Adonai) יהוה, “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 יהוה;

12 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 יהוה, and shall not find it.

13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.

14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria (Shomeron), and say, ‘Your God (Elohim), O Dan, liveth!’ and, ‘The manner of Beer-Sheva liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.”

9

1 I saw the Lord (Adonai) 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.

2 Though they dig into hell (sheol), thence shall Mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down;

3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hidden from My sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them;

4 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.

5 And Lord (Adonai) יהוה of hosts (YHWH Tsevaot) is He who toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn; and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt (Mitsrayim).

6 It is He that buildeth His stories in the heaven, and hath founded His troop in the earth; He who calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: יהוה is His name.

7 “Are you not as children of the Ethiopians (Kushim) unto Me, O children of Yisrael?” saith יהוה. “Have not I brought up Yisrael out of the land of Egypt (Mitsrayim)? And the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians (Arammim) from Kir?

8 Behold, the eyes of Lord (Adonai) יהוה are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob (Yaaqov),” saith יהוה.

9 “For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Yisrael among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.

10 All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, who say, ‘The disaster (raah) shall not overtake nor prevent us.’

11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of Dawid 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;

12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the nations, which are called by My name,” saith יהוה that doeth this.

13 “Behold, the days come,” saith יהוה, “that the plowman 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.

14 And I will bring again the captivity of My people of Yisrael, 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.

15 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 יהוה your God (Elohim).