Amos 3-4 (NIV84)

Amos 3

Witnesses Summoned Against Israel

¹Hear this word the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:

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

³ Do two walk together
unless they have agreed to do so?

⁴ Does a lion roar in the thicket
when he has no prey?
Does he growl in his den
when he has caught nothing?

⁵ Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground
where no snare has been set?
Does a trap spring up from the earth
when there is nothing to catch?

⁶ When a trumpet sounds in a city,
do not the people tremble?
When disaster comes to a city,
has not the LORD caused it?

⁷ Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants the prophets.

⁸ The lion has roared—
who will not fear?
The Sovereign LORD has spoken—
who can but prophesy?

⁹ Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod
and to the fortresses of Egypt:
“Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria;
see the great unrest within her
and the oppression among her people.”

¹⁰ “They do not know how to do right,” declares the LORD,
“who hoard plunder and loot in their fortresses.”

¹¹ Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
“An enemy will overrun the land;
he will pull down your strongholds
and plunder your fortresses.”

¹² This is what the LORD says:
“As a shepherd saves from the lion’s mouth
only two leg bones or a piece of an ear,
so will the Israelites be saved,
those who sit in Samaria
on the edge of their beds
and in Damascus on their couches. ^[a]”

¹³“Hear this and testify against the house of Jacob,” declares the Lord, the LORD God Almighty.

¹⁴ “On the day I punish Israel for her sins,
I will destroy the altars of Bethel;
the horns of the altar will be cut off
and fall to the ground.

¹⁵ I will tear down the winter house
along with the summer house;
the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed
and the mansions will be demolished,”
declares the LORD.

Amos 4

Israel Has Not Returned to God

¹ Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,
you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy
and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!”

² The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his holiness:
“The time will surely come
when you will be taken away with hooks,
the last of you with fishhooks.

³ You will each go straight out
through breaks in the wall,
and you will be cast out toward Harmon, ^[b] ”
declares the LORD.

⁴ “Go to Bethel and sin;
go to Gilgal and sin yet more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three years. ^[c]

⁵ Burn leavened bread as a thank offering
and brag about your freewill offerings—
boast about them, you Israelites,
for this is what you love to do,”
declares the Sovereign LORD.

⁶ “I gave you empty stomachs ^[d] in every city
and lack of bread in every town,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the LORD.

⁷ “I also withheld rain from you
when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
but withheld it from another.
One field had rain;
another had none and dried up.

⁸ People staggered from town to town for water
but did not get enough to drink,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the LORD.

⁹ “Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
I struck them with blight and mildew.
Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the LORD.

¹⁰ “I sent plagues among you
as I did to Egypt.
I killed your young men with the sword,
along with your captured horses.
I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the LORD.

¹¹ “I overthrew some of you
as I ^[e] overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the LORD.

¹² “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,
and because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel.”

¹³ He who forms the mountains,
creates the wind,
and reveals his thoughts to man,
he who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads the high places of the earth—
the LORD God Almighty is his name.

Footnotes:

1. Amos 3:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
2. Amos 4:3 Masoretic Text; with a different word division of the Hebrew (see Septuagint) out, O mountain of oppression
3. Amos 4:4 Or tithes on the third day
4. Amos 4:6 Hebrew you cleanness of teeth
5. Amos 4:11 Hebrew God