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The Lord Will Punish the Women of Samaria

Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan who live on Mount Samaria.

    You women oppress the poor and abuse the needy.
        You say to your husbands, “Get some wine! Let’s drink!”

Adonay Yahweh has taken an oath on his holiness:

    Surely, the time is going to come
    when you will be taken away on hooks,
        and the rest of you on fishhooks.
Each of you will leave the city
    through breaks in the wall, one woman ahead of another.
        You will be thrown into a garbage dump.

Yahweh declares this.

Go to Bethel and sin.
    Go to Gilgal and sin even more.
    Bring your sacrifices every morning.
    Bring a tenth of your income every three days.
Burn bread as a thank offering.
    Brag and boast about your freewill offerings.
    This is what you people of Israel love to do.

Adonay Yahweh declares this.

I left you with nothing to eat in any of your cities.
    I left you with no food in your entire land.
    And you still didn’t return to me, declares Yahweh.

I stopped the rain from falling
    three months before the harvest.
    I sent rain on one city and not on another.
    One field had rain.
    Another field had none and dried up.
        So people from two or three cities staggered
            as they walked to another city in order to get a drink of water.
                But they couldn’t get enough.
    And you still didn’t return to me, declares Yahweh.

I struck your crops with blight and mildew.
    Locusts repeatedly devoured your gardens, vineyards,
        fig trees, and olive trees.
    And you still didn’t return to me, declares Yahweh.

10 I sent plagues on you as I did to Egypt.
    With swords I killed your best young men along with your captured horses.
    I made the stench from your camps fill your noses.
    And you still didn’t return to me, declares Yahweh.

11 I destroyed some of you as Elohim destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
    You were like a burning log snatched from a fire.
    And you still didn’t return to me, declares Yahweh.

12 This is what I will do to you, Israel.
    Prepare to meet your Elohim.
        This is what I will do to you, Israel!

13 Elohim forms the mountains and creates the wind.
    He reveals his thoughts to humans.
    He makes dawn and dusk appear.
    He walks on the high places of the earth.
    His name is Yahweh Elohe Tsebaoth.

Israel Has Not Returned to God

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan(A) on Mount Samaria,(B)
    you women who oppress the poor(C) and crush the needy(D)
    and say to your husbands,(E) “Bring us some drinks!(F)
The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness:
    “The time(G) will surely come
when you will be taken away(H) with hooks,(I)
    the last of you with fishhooks.[a]
You will each go straight out
    through breaches in the wall,(J)
    and you will be cast out toward Harmon,[b]
declares the Lord.
“Go to Bethel(K) and sin;
    go to Gilgal(L) and sin yet more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,(M)
    your tithes(N) every three years.[c](O)
Burn leavened bread(P) as a thank offering
    and brag about your freewill offerings(Q)
boast about them, you Israelites,
    for this is what you love to do,”
declares the Sovereign Lord.

“I gave you empty stomachs in every city
    and lack of bread in every town,
    yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.(R)

“I also withheld(S) rain from you
    when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
    but withheld it from another.(T)
One field had rain;
    another had none and dried up.
People staggered from town to town for water(U)
    but did not get enough(V) to drink,
    yet you have not returned(W) to me,”
declares the Lord.(X)

“Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
    destroying them with blight and mildew.(Y)
Locusts(Z) devoured your fig and olive trees,(AA)
    yet you have not returned(AB) to me,”
declares the Lord.

10 “I sent plagues(AC) among you
    as I did to Egypt.(AD)
I killed your young men(AE) with the sword,
    along with your captured horses.
I filled your nostrils with the stench(AF) of your camps,
    yet you have not returned to me,”(AG)
declares the Lord.(AH)

11 “I overthrew some of you
    as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.(AI)
You were like a burning stick(AJ) snatched from the fire,
    yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.(AK)

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

13 He who forms the mountains,(AL)
    who creates the wind,(AM)
    and who reveals his thoughts(AN) to mankind,
who turns dawn to darkness,
    and treads on the heights of the earth(AO)
    the Lord God Almighty is his name.(AP)

Footnotes

  1. Amos 4:2 Or away in baskets, / the last of you in fish baskets
  2. Amos 4:3 Masoretic Text; with a different word division of the Hebrew (see Septuagint) out, you mountain of oppression
  3. Amos 4:4 Or days