Amos

I observed my Sovereign standing by the altar and saying: Strike the capitals so that the thresholds quake, and make an end of the first of them all.aStrike the capitals … first of them all Meaning of Heb. uncertain. And I will slay the last of them with the sword; not one of them shall escape, and not one of them shall survive.

If they burrow down to Sheol,From there My hand shall take them;And if they ascend to heaven,From there I will bring them down.

If they hide on the top of Carmel,There I will search them out and seize them;And if they conceal themselves from My sightAt the bottom of the sea,There I will commandThe serpent to bite them.

And if they go into captivityBefore their enemies,There I will commandThe sword to slay them.I will fix My eye on them for evilAnd not for good.

It is the Sovereign GOD of Hosts—At whose touch the earth tremblesAnd all who dwell on it mourn,And all of it swells like the NileAnd subsides like the Nile of Egypt;

Who built the chambers in heavenAnd founded the vault on the earth,Who summons the waters of the seaAnd pours them over the land—Whose name is GOD.

To Me, O Israelites, you areJust like the CushitesbCushites People of Cush, the region south of Egypt. —declares GOD.True, I brought Israel upFrom the land of Egypt,But also the Philistines from CaphtorAnd the Arameans from Kir.

Behold, my Sovereign GOD is keeping an eyeOn the sinful kingdom:I will wipe it offThe face of the earth!But, I will not wholly wipe outThe House of Jacob—declares GOD.

For I will give the orderAnd shake the House of Israel—Through all the nations—As one shakes [sand] in a sieve,csieve A coarse sieve used for cleansing grain of straw and stones, or sand of pebbles and shells. And not a pebble falls to the ground.

All the sinners of My peopleShall perish by the sword,Who boast,“Never shall the evilOvertake us or come near us.”

In that day,I will set up again the fallen booth of David:I will mend its breaches and set up its ruins anew.I will build it firm as in the days of old,

So that they shall possess the rest of EdomAnd all the nations once attached to My namedSo that they shall possess the rest of Edom / And all the nations once attached to My name I.e., the House of David shall reestablish its authority over the nations that were ruled by David.—declares GOD who will bring this to pass.

A time is coming—declares GOD—When the plower shall meet the reaper,ethe plower shall meet the reaper Cf. Lev. 26.5. And the treader of grapesThe one who holds the [bag of] seed;When the mountains shall drip wineAnd all the hills shall wave [with grain].

I will restore My people Israel.They shall rebuild ruined cities and inhabit them;They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine;They shall till gardens and eat their fruits.

And I will plant them upon their soil,Nevermore to be uprootedFrom the soil I have given them—said the ETERNAL your God.