Amos

Hear this word, you cows of BashanOn the hill of Samaria—Who defraud the poor,Who rob the needy;Who say to yourayour Heb. “their.” husbands,“Bring, and let’s carouse!”

My Sovereign GOD swears irrevocably:birrevocably Lit. “by His holiness.” Behold, days are coming upon youWhen you will be carried off in baskets,And, to the last one, in fish baskets,

And taken out [of the city]—Each one through a breach straight ahead—And flung on the refuse heapcWhen you will be carried off … on the refuse heap Meaning of Heb. uncertain. —declares GOD.

Come to Bethel and transgress;To Gilgal, and transgress even more:Present your sacrifices the next morningAnd your tithes on the third day;

And burn a thank offering of leavened bread;dthank offering of leavened bread Cf. Lev. 7.12–14; where, however, the bread is not to be burned. And proclaim freewill offerings loudly.For you love that sort of thing, O Israelites—declares the Sovereign GOD.

I, on My part, have given youCleanness of teeth in all your towns,And lack of food in all your settlements.Yet you did not turn back to Me—declares GOD.

I therefore withheld the rain from youThree months before harvesttime:I would make it rain on one townAnd not on another;One field would be rained uponWhile another on which it did not rainWould wither.

So two or three towns would wanderTo a single town to drink water,But their thirst would not be slaked.Yet you did not turn back to Me—declares GOD.

I scourged you with blight and mildew;RepeatedlyeRepeatedly Meaning of Heb. uncertain. your gardens and vineyards,Your fig trees and olive treesWere devoured by locusts.Yet you did not turn back to Me—declares GOD.

I sent against you pestilenceIn the manner of Egypt;fpestilence / In the manner of Egypt Alluding to the plagues at the time of the Exodus. I slew your young men with the sword,Together with your captured horses,And I made the stench of your armiesRise in your very nostrils.Yet you did not turn back to Me—declares GOD.

I have wrought destruction among youAs when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah;You have become like a brand plucked from burning.Yet you have not turned back to Me—declares GOD.

Assuredly,Because I am doing that to you,gBecause I am doing that to you Emendation yields “Because you are acting thus toward Me.” Even so will I act toward you, O Israel—Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!

Behold the One who formed the mountains,And created the wind,And whose wisheshwishes Meaning of Heb. uncertain. have been made known to mortals,Who turns blacknessiblackness Cf. Joel 2.2. Emendation yields “darkness”; cf. 5.8. into daybreak,And treads upon the high places of the earth,Whose name is GOD—the God of Hosts.