Bible: Amos 3-6
Every Effect has its Cause
3:1 Listen, you Israelites, to this message which the
3:3 Do two walk together without having met? 4
3:4 Does a lion roar in the woods if he has not cornered his prey? 5
Does a young lion bellow from his den if he has not caught something?
3:5 Does a bird swoop down into a trap on the ground if there is no bait?
Does a trap spring up from the ground unless it has surely caught something?
3:6 If an alarm sounds 6 in a city, do people not fear? 7
If disaster overtakes a 8 city, is the
3:7 Certainly the sovereign
3:8 A lion has roared! 10 Who is not afraid?
The sovereign
Samaria Will Fall
3:9 Make this announcement in 12 the fortresses of Ashdod
and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt.
Say this:
“Gather on the hills around Samaria! 13
Observe the many acts of violence 14 taking place within the city, 15
the oppressive deeds 16 occurring in it.” 17
3:10 “They do not know how to do what is right.” (The
“They store up 18 the spoils of destructive violence 19 in their fortresses.
3:11 Therefore,” says the sovereign
He will take away your power; 21
your fortresses will be looted.”
3:12 This is what the
“Just as a shepherd salvages from the lion’s mouth a couple of leg bones or a piece of an ear,
so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be salvaged. 22
They will be left with just a corner of a bed, 23
and a part 24 of a couch.”
3:13 Listen and warn 25 the family 26 of Jacob! 27
The sovereign
3:14 “Certainly when 29 I punish Israel for their 30 covenant transgressions, 31
I will destroy 32 Bethel’s 33 altars.
The horns 34 of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.
3:15 I will destroy both the winter and summer houses. 35
The houses filled with ivory 36 will be ruined,
the great 37 houses will be swept away.” 38
The
4:1 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan 39 who live on Mount Samaria!
You 40 oppress the poor;
you crush the needy.
You say to your 41 husbands,
“Bring us more to drink!” 42
4:2 The sovereign
“Certainly the time is approaching 44
when you will be carried away 45 in baskets, 46
every last one of you 47 in fishermen’s pots. 48
4:3 Each of you will go straight through the gaps in the walls; 49
you will be thrown out 50 toward Harmon.” 51
The
Israel has an Appointment with God
4:4 “Go to Bethel 52 and rebel! 53
At Gilgal 54 rebel some more!
Bring your sacrifices in 55 the morning,
your tithes on 56 the third day!
4:5 Burn a thank offering of bread made with yeast! 57
Make a public display of your voluntary offerings! 58
For you love to do this, you Israelites.”
The sovereign
4:6 “But surely I gave 59 you no food to eat in any of your cities;
you lacked food everywhere you live. 60
Still you did not come back to me.”
The
4:7 “I withheld rain from you three months before the harvest. 61
I gave rain to one city, but not to another.
One field 62 would get rain, but the field that received no rain dried up.
4:8 People from 63 two or three cities staggered into one city to get 64 water,
but remained thirsty. 65
Still you did not come back to me.”
The
4:9 “I destroyed your crops 66 with blight and disease.
Locusts kept 67 devouring your orchards, 68 vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees.
Still you did not come back to me.”
The
4:10 “I sent against you a plague like one of the Egyptian plagues. 69
I killed your young men with the sword,
along with the horses you had captured.
I made the stench from the corpses 70 rise up into your nostrils.
Still you did not come back to me.”
The
4:11 “I overthrew some of you the way God 71 overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 72
You were like a burning stick 73 snatched from the flames.
Still you did not come back to me.”
The
4:12 “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel.
Because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, Israel! 74
4:13 For here he is!
He 75 formed the mountains and created the wind.
He reveals 76 his plans 77 to men.
He turns the dawn into darkness 78
and marches on the heights of the earth.
The
Death is Imminent
5:1 Listen to this funeral song I am ready to sing about you, 80 family 81 of Israel:
5:2 “The virgin 82 Israel has fallen down and will not get up again.
She is abandoned on her own land
with no one to help her get up.” 83
5:3 The sovereign
“The city that marches out with a thousand soldiers 84 will have only a hundred left;
the town 85 that marches out with a hundred soldiers 86 will have only ten left for the family of Israel.” 87
5:4 The
“Seek me 89 so you can live!
5:5 Do not seek Bethel! 90
Do not visit Gilgal!
Do not journey down 91 to Beer Sheba!
For the people of Gilgal 92 will certainly be carried into exile; 93
and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds.” 94
5:6 Seek the
Otherwise he will break out 95 like fire against Joseph’s 96 family; 97
the fire 98 will consume
and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. 99
5:7 The Israelites 100 turn justice into bitterness; 101
they throw what is fair and right 102 to the ground. 103
5:8 (But there is one who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion;
he can turn the darkness into morning
and daylight 104 into night.
He summons the water of the seas
and pours it out on the earth’s surface.
The
5:9 He flashes 105 destruction down upon the strong
so that destruction overwhelms 106 the fortified places.)
5:10 The Israelites 107 hate anyone who arbitrates at the city gate; 108
they despise anyone who speaks honestly.
5:11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops 109
and exact a grain tax from them,
you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone,
nor will you drink the wine from the fine 110 vineyards you planted. 111
5:12 Certainly 112 I am aware of 113 your many rebellious acts 114
and your numerous sins.
You 115 torment the innocent, you take bribes,
and you deny justice to 116 the needy at the city gate. 117
5:13 For this reason whoever is smart 118 keeps quiet 119 in such a time,
for it is an evil 120 time.
5:14 Seek good and not evil so you can live!
Then the
as you claim he is.
5:15 Hate what is wrong, love what is right!
Promote 121 justice at the city gate! 122
Maybe the
5:16 Because of Israel’s sins 126 this is what the
“In all the squares there will be wailing,
in all the streets they will mourn the dead. 128
They will tell the field workers 129 to lament
and the professional mourners 130 to wail.
5:17 In all the vineyards there will be wailing,
for I will pass through 131 your midst,” says the
The Lord Demands Justice
5:18 Woe 132 to those who wish for the day of the
Why do you want the
It will bring darkness, not light.
5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, 133
as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,
then escaped 134 into a house,
leaned his hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a poisonous snake.
5:20 Don’t you realize the
gloomy blackness, not bright light?
5:21 “I absolutely despise 136 your festivals!
I get no pleasure 137 from your religious assemblies!
5:22 Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings, 138 I will not be satisfied;
I will not look with favor on your peace offerings of fattened calves. 139
5:23 Take away from me your 140 noisy songs;
I don’t want to hear the music of your stringed instruments. 141
5:24 Justice must flow like torrents of water,
righteous actions 142 like a stream that never dries up.
5:25 You did not bring me 143 sacrifices and grain offerings during the forty years you spent in the wilderness, family 144 of Israel.
5:26 You will pick up your images 145 of Sikkuth, 146 your king, 147
and Kiyyun, 148 your star god, which you made for yourselves,
5:27 and I will drive you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the
He is called the God who commands armies!
The Party is over for the Rich
6:1 Woe 149 to those who live in ease in Zion, 150
to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria.
They think of themselves as 151 the elite class of the best nation.
The family 152 of Israel looks to them for leadership. 153
6:2 They say to the people: 154
“Journey over to Calneh and look at it!
Then go from there to Hamath-Rabbah! 155
Then go down to Gath of the Philistines!
Are they superior to our two 156 kingdoms?
Is their territory larger than yours?” 157
6:3 You refuse to believe a day of disaster will come, 158
but you establish a reign of violence. 159
6:4 They lie around on beds decorated with ivory, 160
and sprawl out on their couches.
They eat lambs from the flock,
and calves from the middle of the pen.
6:5 They sing 161 to the tune of 162 stringed instruments; 163
like David they invent 164 musical instruments.
6:6 They drink wine from sacrificial bowls, 165
and pour the very best oils on themselves. 166
Yet they are not concerned over 167 the ruin 168 of Joseph.
6:7 Therefore they will now be the first to go into exile, 169
and the religious banquets 170 where they sprawl on couches 171 will end.
6:8 The sovereign
The
“I despise Jacob’s arrogance;
I hate their 173 fortresses.
I will hand over to their enemies 174 the city of Samaria 175 and everything in it.”
6:9 If ten men are left in one house, they too will die. 6:10 When their close relatives, the ones who will burn the corpses, 176 pick up their bodies to remove the bones from the house, they will say to anyone who is in the inner rooms of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” He will respond, “Be quiet! Don’t invoke the
6:11 Indeed, look! The
He will smash the large house to bits,
and the small house into little pieces.
6:12 Can horses run on rocky cliffs?
Can one plow the sea with oxen? 179
Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant,
and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant. 180
6:13 You are happy because you conquered Lo-Debar. 181
You say, “Did we not conquer Karnaim 182 by our own power?”
6:14 “Look! I am about to bring 183 a nation against you, family 184 of Israel.”
The
“They will oppress 185 you all the way from Lebo-Hamath 186 to the Stream of the Arabah.” 187