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I. Editorial Introduction

Chapter 1

The words of Amos, who was one of the sheepbreeders from Tekoa,(A) which he received in a vision concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 1:1 The earthquake: a major earthquake during the reign of Uzziah (ca. 783–742 B.C.), so devastating that it was remembered long afterwards (cf. Zec 14:5). See the description of an earthquake in Amos’s final vision (9:1).

The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa(A)—the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake,(B) when Uzziah(C) was king of Judah and Jeroboam(D) son of Jehoash[a] was king of Israel.(E)

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 1:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant of Jehoash

Chapter 9

Fifth Vision: The Destruction of the Sanctuary

I saw the Lord standing beside the altar. And he said:

Strike the capitals
    so that the threshold shakes!
    Break them off on the heads of them all!
Those who are left I will slay with the sword.
Not one shall get away,
    no survivor shall escape.[a](A)

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Footnotes

  1. 9:1 This vision may describe the destruction of the temple at Bethel and the fulfillment of the oracle in 3:14, linking God’s judgment upon Israel with the “punishment” of the altars of Bethel. This dramatic event (perhaps to be identified with the earthquake mentioned in 1:1) symbolizes the end of the Northern Kingdom as the Lord’s people, the consequence of their steadfast refusal to heed the prophetic word and return to the God of Israel.

Israel to Be Destroyed

I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:

“Strike the tops of the pillars
    so that the thresholds shake.
Bring them down on the heads(A) of all the people;
    those who are left I will kill with the sword.
Not one will get away,
    none will escape.(B)

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The Lord God of hosts,
Who melts the earth with his touch,
    so that all who dwell on it mourn,
So that it will all rise up like the Nile,
    and subside like the river of Egypt;(A)

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The Lord, the Lord Almighty—
he touches the earth and it melts,(A)
    and all who live in it mourn;
the whole land rises like the Nile,
    then sinks like the river of Egypt;(B)

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