Category: Amos

1 The words of Amos, who was one of the sheep breedersfrom Tekoa— what he saw regarding Israel in the days of Uzziah,king of Judah, and Jeroboamson of Jehoash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

2 He said:

TheLordroarsfrom Zion

and raises His voice from Jerusalem;

the pastures of the shepherds mourn,

and the summit of Carmelwithers.

Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors

3 TheLordsays:

I will not relent from punishing Damascus

for three crimes, even four,

because they threshed Gilead with iron sledges.

4 Therefore, I will send fire against Hazael’s palace,

and it will consume Ben-hadad’scitadels.

5 I will break down the gatesof Damascus.

I will cut off the ruler from the Valley of Aven,

and the one who wields the scepter from Beth-eden.

The people of Aram will be exiled to Kir.

TheLordhas spoken.

6 TheLordsays:

I will not relent from punishing Gaza

for three crimes, even four,

because they exiled a whole community,

handing them over to Edom.

7 Therefore, I will send fire against the walls of Gaza,

and it will consume its citadels.

8 I will cut off the ruler from Ashdod,

and the one who wields the scepter from Ashkelon.

I will also turn My hand against Ekron,

and the remainder of the Philistineswill perish.

The LordGodhas spoken.

9 TheLordsays:

I will not relent from punishing Tyre

for three crimes, even four,

because they handed over

a whole community of exiles to Edom

and brokea treaty of brotherhood.

10 Therefore, I will send fireagainst the walls of Tyre,

and it will consume its citadels.

11 TheLordsays:

I will not relent from punishing Edom

for three crimes, even four,

because he pursued his brother with the sword.

He stifled his compassion,

his anger tore at themcontinually,

and he harbored his rage incessantly.

12 Therefore, I will send fire against Teman,

and it will consume the citadels of Bozrah.

13 TheLordsays:

I will not relent from punishing the Ammonites

for three crimes, even four,

because they ripped open

the pregnant women of Gilead

in order to enlarge their territory.

14 Therefore, I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah,

and it will consume its citadels.

There will be shouting on the day of battle

and a violent wind on the day of the storm.

15 Their king and his princes

will go into exile together.

TheLordhas spoken.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/AMO/1-ac8a79af1b4f62b78066f18852511a18.mp3?version_id=72—

1 TheLordsays:

I will not relent from punishing Moab

for three crimes, even four,

because he burned the bones

of the king of Edom to lime.

2 Therefore, I will send fire against Moab,

and it will consume the citadels of Kerioth.

Moab will die with a tumult,

with shouting and the sound of the ram’s horn.

3 I will cut off the judgefrom the land

and kill all its officialswith him.

TheLordhas spoken.

Judgment on Judah

4 TheLordsays:

I will not relent from punishing Judah

for three crimes, even four,

because they have rejected the instruction of theLord

and have not kept His statutes.

The liesthat their ancestors followed

have led them astray.

5 Therefore, I will send fireagainst Judah,

and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem.

Judgment on Israel

6 TheLordsays:

I will not relent from punishing Israel

for three crimes, even four,

because they sell a righteous person for silver

and a needy person for a pair of sandals.

7 They trample the heads of the poor

on the dust of the ground

and block the path of the needy.

A man and his father have sexual relations

with the same girl,

profaning My holy name.

8 They stretch out beside every altar

on garments taken as collateral,

and in the house of their God,

they drink wine obtained through fines.

9 Yet I destroyed the Amoriteas Israel advanced;

his heightwas like the cedars,

and he was as sturdy as the oaks;

I destroyed his fruitabove and his roots beneath.

10 And I brought you from the land of Egypt

and led you 40 years in the wilderness

in order to possess the land of the Amorite.

11 I raised up some of your sons as prophets

and some of your young men as Nazirites.

Is this not the case, Israelites?

This is theLord’s declaration.

12 But you made the Nazirites drink wine

and commanded the prophets,

“Do not prophesy.”

13 Look, I am about to crushyou in your place

as a wagon full of sheaves crushes grain.

14 Escape will fail the swift,

the strong one will not prevail by his strength,

and the brave will not save his life.

15 The archer will not stand his ground,

the one who is swift of foot

will not save himself,

and the one riding a horse will not save his life.

16 Even the most courageous of the warriors

will flee naked on that day—

this is theLord’s declaration.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/AMO/2-f3e231209b03fae8764515ba5387c268.mp3?version_id=72—

God’s Reasons for Punishing Israel

1 Listen to this message that theLordhas spoken against you, Israelites, against the entire clan that I brought from the land of Egypt:

2 I have known only you

out of all the clans of the earth;

therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities.

3 Can two walk together

without agreeing to meet?

4 Does a lion roarin the forest

when it has no prey?

Does a young lion growl from its lair

unless it has captured something?

5 Does a bird land in a trap on the ground

if there is no bait for it?

Does a trap spring from the ground

when it has caught nothing?

6 If a ram’s hornis blown in a city,

aren’t people afraid?

If a disasteroccurs in a city,

hasn’t theLorddone it?

7 Indeed, the LordGoddoes nothing

without revealing His counsel

to His servants the prophets.

8 A lion has roared;

who will not fear?

The LordGodhas spoken;

who will not prophesy?

9 Proclaim on the citadels in Ashdod

and on the citadels in the land of Egypt:

Assemble on the mountains of Samaria

and see the great turmoil in the city

and the acts of oppression within it.

10 The people are incapable of doing right—

this is theLord’s declaration —

those who store up violence and destruction

in their citadels.

11 Therefore, the LordGodsays:

An enemywill surround the land;

he will destroyyour strongholds

and plunder your citadels.

12 TheLordsays:

As the shepherd snatches two legs

or a piece of an ear

from the lion’s mouth,

so the Israelites who live in Samaria

will be rescued

with only the corner of a bed

or thecushionof a couch.

13 Listen and testifyagainst the house of Jacob —

this is the declaration of the LordGod,

the God of Hosts.

14 I will punish the altars of Bethel

on the day I punish Israel for its crimes;

the horns of the altarwill be cut off

and fall to the ground.

15 I will demolish the winter house

and the summer house;

the houses inlaid with ivorywill be destroyed,

and the great houseswill come to an end.

This is theLord’s declaration.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/AMO/3-1d66507533032dd9558f221d01bf3680.mp3?version_id=72—

Social and Spiritual Corruption

1 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan

who are on the hill of Samaria,

women who oppress the poor

and crush the needy,

who say to their husbands,

“Bring us something to drink.”

2 The LordGodhas swornby His holiness:

Look, the days are coming

when you will be taken away with hooks,

every last one of you with fishhooks.

3 You will go through breaches in the wall,

each woman straight ahead,

and you will be driven along toward Harmon.

This is theLord’s declaration.

4 Come to Bethel and rebel;

rebel even more at Gilgal!

Bring your sacrifices every morning,

your tenths every three days.

5 Offer leavened bread as a thank offering,

and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings,

for that is what you Israelites love to do!

This is theLord’s declaration.

God’s Discipline and Israel’s Apostasy

6 I gave you absolutely nothing to eat

in all your cities,

a shortage of food in all your communities,

yet you did not return to Me.

This is theLord’s declaration.

7 I also withheld the rain from you

while there were still three months until harvest.

I sent rain on one city

but no rain on another.

One field received rain

while a field with no rain withered.

8 Two or three cities staggered

to another city to drink water

but were not satisfied,

yet you did not returnto Me.

This is theLord’s declaration.

9 I struck you with blight and mildew;

the locust devoured

your many gardens and vineyards,

your fig trees and olive trees,

yet you did not return to Me.

This is theLord’s declaration.

10 I sent plagues like those of Egypt;

I killed your young men with the sword,

along with your captured horses.

I caused the stench of your camp

to fill your nostrils,

yet you did not return to Me.

This is theLord’s declaration.

11 I overthrew some of you

as Ioverthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,

and you were like a burning stick

snatched from a fire,

yet you did not return to Me—

this is theLord’s declaration.

12 Therefore, Israel, that is what I will do to you,

and since I will do that to you,

Israel, prepare to meet your God!

13 He is here:

the One who forms the mountains,

creates the wind,

and reveals Histhoughts to man,

the One who makes the dawn out of darkness

and strides on the heights of the earth.

Yahweh, the God of Hosts, is His name.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/AMO/4-68419b282cb368218f8324d7a59d1d1b.mp3?version_id=72—

Lamentation for Israel

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

2 She has fallen;

Virgin Israelwill never rise again.

She lies abandoned on her land,

with no one to raise her up.

3 For the LordGodsays:

The city that marches out a thousand strong

will have only a hundred left,

and the one that marches out a hundred strong

will have only ten leftin the house of Israel.

Seek God and Live

4 For theLordsays to the house of Israel:

Seek Me and live!

5 Do not seek Bethel

or go to Gilgal

or journey to Beer-sheba,

for Gilgal will certainly go into exile,

and Bethel will come to nothing.

6 Seek Yahwehand live,

or He will spread like fire

throughout the house of Joseph;

it will consume everything,

with no one at Bethel to extinguish it.

7 Those who turn justice into wormwood

throw righteousness to the ground.

8 The One who made the Pleiades and Orion,

who turns darknessinto dawn

and darkens day into night,

who summons the waters of the sea

and pours them out over the face of the earth—

Yahweh is His name.

9 He brings destructionon the strong,

and it falls on the stronghold.

10 They hate the one who convicts the guilty

at the city gate

and despisethe one who speaks with integrity.

11 Therefore, because you trample on the poor

and exact a grain tax from him,

you will never live in the houses of cut stone

you have built;

you will never drink the wine

from the lush vineyards

you have planted.

12 For I know your crimes are many

and your sins innumerable.

They oppress the righteous,take a bribe,

and deprive the poor of justiceat the gates.

13 Therefore, the wise person will keep silent

at such a time,

for the days are evil.

14 Seek good and not evil

so that you may live,

and theLord, the God of Hosts,

will be with you,

as you have claimed.

15 Hate evil and love good;

establish justice in the gate.

Perhaps theLord, the God of Hosts, will be gracious

to the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore Yahweh, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says:

There will be wailing in all the public squares;

they will cry out in anguishin all the streets.

The farmer will be called on to mourn,

and professional mournersto wail.

17 There will be wailing in all the vineyards,

for I will pass among you.

TheLordhas spoken.

The Day of the Lord

18 Woe to you who long for the Day of theLord!

What will the Day of theLordbe for you?

It will be darkness and not light.

19 It will be like a man who flees from a lion

only to have a bear confront him.

He goes home and rests his hand against the wall

only to have a snake bite him.

20 Won’t the Day of theLord

be darkness rather than light,

even gloom without any brightness in it?

21 I hate, I despise your feasts!

I can’t stand the stench

of your solemn assemblies.

22 Even if you offer Me

your burnt offerings and grain offerings,

I will not accept them;

I will have no regard

for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle.

23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs!

I will not listen to the music of your harps.

24 But let justice flow like water,

and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.

25 “House of Israel, was it sacrifices and grain offerings that you presented to Me during the 40 years in the wilderness?

26 But you have taken upSakkuthyour kingand Kaiwanyour star god, images you have made for yourselves.

27 So I will send you into exile beyond Damascus.”Yahweh, the God of Hosts, is His name.He has spoken.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/AMO/5-a966083ef96a1c1b914832dd8d95ed9c.mp3?version_id=72—

Woe to the Complacent

1 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion

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.

2 Cross over to Calnehand see;

go from there to great Hamath;

then go down to Gathof the Philistines.

Are you better than these kingdoms?

Is their territory larger than yours?

3 You dismiss any thought of the evil day

and bring in a reign of violence.

4 They lie on beds inlaid with ivory,

sprawled out on their couches,

and dine on lambs from the flock

and calves from the stall.

5 They improvise songsto the sound of the harp

and inventtheir own musical instruments like David.

6 They drink wine by the bowlful

and anoint themselves with the finest oils

but do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.

7 Therefore, they will now go into exile

as the first of the captives,

and the feastingof those who sprawl out

will come to an end.

Israel’s Pride Judged

8 The LordGodhas sworn by Himself— this is the declaration of Yahweh, the God of Hosts:

I loathe Jacob’s pride

and hate his citadels,

so I will hand over the cityand everything in it.

9 And if there are 10 men left in one house, they will die.

10 A close relativeand burnerwill remove his corpsefrom 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.”

11 For theLordcommands:

The large house will be smashed to pieces,

and the small house to rubble.

12 Do horses gallop on the cliffs;

does anyone plow there with oxen?

Yet you have turned justice into poison

and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—

13 you who rejoice over Lo-debar

and say, “Didn’t we capture Karnaim

for ourselves by our own strength? ”

14 But look, I am raising up a nation

against you, house of Israel—

this is the declaration of the Lord,

theGodof Hosts —

and they will oppress you

from the entrance of Hamath

to the Brook of the Arabah.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/AMO/6-92df95bd65cb9c0db354d4d901192a2a.mp3?version_id=72—

First Vision: Locusts

1 The LordGodshowed me this: He was forming a swarm of locustsat the time the spring crop first began to sprout — after the cutting of the king’s hay.

2 When the locusts finished eating the vegetation of the land,I said, “LordGod, please forgive!How will Jacob survive since he is so small? ”

3 TheLordrelented concerning this.“It will not happen,” He said.

Second Vision: Fire

4 The LordGodshowed me this: The LordGodwas calling for a judgment by fire.It consumed the great deep and devoured the land.

5 Then I said, “LordGod, please stop!How will Jacob survive since he is so small? ”

6 TheLordrelented concerning this.“This will not happen either,” said the LordGod.

Third Vision: A Plumb Line

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

8 TheLordasked me, “What do you see, Amos? ”

I replied, “A plumb line.”

Then the Lord said, “I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel;I will no longer spare them:

9 Isaac’s high placeswill be deserted,

and Israel’s sanctuaries will be in ruins;

I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam

with a sword.”

Amaziah’s Opposition

10 Amaziah the priestof Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against youright here in the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words,

11 for Amos has said this: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will certainly go into exile from its homeland.’ ”

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Go away, you seer!Flee to the land of Judah. Earn your livingand give your prophecies there,

13 but don’t ever prophesyat Bethel again, for it is the king’s sanctuaryand a royal temple.”

14 So Amos answered Amaziah, “I wasnot a prophet or the son of a prophet;rather, I wasa herdsman,and I took care of sycamore figs.

15 But theLordtook me from following the flockand said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’ ”

16 Now hear the word of theLord. You say:

Do not prophesyagainst Israel;

do not preachagainst the house of Isaac.

17 Therefore, this is what theLordsays:

Your wife will be a prostitute in the city,

your sons and daughters will fall by the sword,

and your land will be divided up

with a measuring line.

You yourself will die on pagansoil,

and Israel will certainly go into exile

from its homeland.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/AMO/7-8f2abffa745de2dfa8fc2ad5f24afc64.mp3?version_id=72—

Fourth Vision: A Basket of Summer Fruit

1 The LordGodshowed me this: A basket of summer fruit.

2 He asked me, “What do you see, Amos? ”

I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.”

TheLordsaid to me, “The end has come for My people Israel;I will no longer spare them.

3 In that day the templesongswill become wailing”— this is the LordGod’s declaration. “Many dead bodies, thrown everywhere!Silence! ”

4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy

and do away with the poor of the land,

5 asking, “When will the New Moon be over

so we may sell grain,

and the Sabbath,

so we may market wheat?

We can reduce the measure

while increasing the price

and cheat with dishonest scales.

6 We can buy the poor with silver

and the needy for a pair of sandals

and even sell the chaff! ”

7 TheLordhas swornby the Pride of Jacob:

I will never forget all their deeds.

8 Because of this, won’t the land quake

and all who dwell in it mourn?

All of it will rise like the Nile;

it will surge and then subside

like the Nile in Egypt.

9 And in that day —

this is the declaration of the LordGod—

I will make the sun go down at noon;

I will darken the land in the daytime.

10 I will turn your feasts into mourning

and all your songs into lamentation;

I will cause everyoneto wear sackcloth

and every head to be shaved.

I will make that grief

like mourning for an only son

and its outcome like a bitter day.

11 Hear this! The days are coming —

this is the declaration of the LordGod—

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 theLord.

12 People will stagger from sea to sea

and roam from north to east,

seeking the word of theLord,

but they will not find it.

13 In that day the beautiful young women,

the young men also, will faint from thirst.

14 Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria

and say, “As your god lives, Dan,”

or “As the wayof Beer-sheba lives”—

they will fall, never to rise again.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/AMO/8-647040c606bbc34dfe7e6cb5860813cf.mp3?version_id=72—

Fifth Vision: The Lord beside the Altar

1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar,and He said:

Strike the capitals of the pillars

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.

None of those who flee will get away;

none of the fugitives will escape.

2 If they dig down to Sheol,

from there My hand will take them;

if they climb up to heaven,

from there I will bring them down.

3 If they hide themselves

on the top of Carmel,

from there I will track them down

and seize them;

if they conceal themselves

from My sight on the sea floor,

from there I will command

the sea serpent to bite them.

4 And if they are driven

by their enemies into captivity,

from there I will command

the sword to kill them.

I will fix My eyes on them

for harm and not for good.

5 The Lord, theGodof Hosts —

He touches the earth;

it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn;

all of it rises like the Nile

and subsides like the Nile of Egypt.

6 He builds His upper chambers

in the heavens

and lays the foundation of His vault

on the earth.

He summons the waters of the sea

and pours them out on the face of the earth.

Yahweh is His name.

Announcement of Judgment

7 Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to Me?

This is theLord’s declaration.

Didn’t I bring Israel from the land of Egypt,

the Philistines from Caphtor,

and the Arameans from Kir?

8 Look, the eyes of the LordGod

are on the sinful kingdom,

and I will destroy it

from the face of the earth.

However, I will not totally destroy

the house of Jacob—

this is theLord’s declaration —

9 for I am about to give the command,

and I will shake the house of Israel

among all the nations,

as one shakes a sieve,

but not a pebble will fall to the ground.

10 All the sinners among My people

who say: “Disaster will never overtake

or confront us,”

will die by the sword.

Announcement of Restoration

11 In that day

I will restore the fallen boothof David:

I will repair its gaps,

restore its ruins,

and rebuild it as in the days of old,

12 so that they may possess

the remnant of Edom

and all the nations

that are called by My name—

this is theLord’s declaration —

He will do this.

13 Hear this! The days are coming —

this is theLord’s declaration —

when the plowman will overtake the reaper

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.

14 I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel.

They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities,

plant vineyards and drink their wine,

make gardens and eat their produce.

15 I will plant them on their land,

and they will never again be uprooted

from the land I have given them.

Yahweh your God has spoken.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/AMO/9-13bb830141225c708419056b0e8dfdf3.mp3?version_id=72—