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 Hazael,
which shall devour
the palaces
of Benhadad.
I will break
also the bar
of Damascus,
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
shall go
into captivity
unto Kir,
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 sceptre
from Ashkelon,
and
I will turn mine hand
against Ekron:
and the remnant
of the Philistines
shall perish,
saith the Lord GOD.
Thus saith 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 did cast
off all pity,
and his anger
did tear perpetually,
and he
kept
his wrath
for ever:
But I
will send
a fire
upon Teman,
which shall devour
the palaces
of Bozrah.
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 Rabbah,
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.
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 Kirioth:
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
caused 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 ye
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.
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 gin
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 GOD
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.
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 fishhooks.
And
ye shall go out
at the breaches,
every cow at that
which is before her;
and
ye 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:
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.
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 mildew:
when your gardens
and your vineyards
and your fig trees
and your olive trees increased,
the palmerworm
devoured them:
yet have
ye not returned unto me,
saith the LORD.
I have sent
among you
the pestilence
after the manner
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
unto 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
ye 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.
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
an hundred,
and that
which went forth
by an 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
he 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
and 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
ye shall not dwell in them;
ye have planted
pleasant vineyards,
but
ye 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,
and 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 skilful
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 viols.
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 Chiun
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.
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
ye unto Calneh,
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 viol,
and invent
to themselves instruments
of musick,
like David;
That 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
stretched themselves
shall be removed.
The Lord GOD
hath sworn
by himself,
saith the LORD
the 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 house
with breaches,
and the little house
with clefts.
Shall
horses
run
upon the rock?
will
one plow 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 us 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 in
of Hemath
unto the river
of the wilderness.
Thus
hath
the Lord GOD
shewed 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
shewed unto me:
and,
behold,
the Lord GOD
called
to contend
by fire,
and it
devoured the great deep,
and did 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 shewed me:
and,
behold,
the LORD
stood
upon a wall made
by a plumbline,
with a plumbline
in his hand.
And the LORD
said unto me,
Amos,
what seest thou?
And I said,
A plumbline.
Then said
the LORD, Behold,
I will set
a plumbline
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 sycomore 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
an 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.
Thus
hath
the Lord GOD
shewed 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 any more.
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
wholly 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 manner
of Beersheba liveth;
even
they shall fall,
and never rise
up again.
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
mine 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 wholly 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 Caphtor,
and the Syrians
from Kir?
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 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.
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.