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Description of Israel’s fate

    I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and the Lord said:
    Strike the pillars until the foundations shake,
        shatter them on the heads of all the people.
    With the sword, I will kill the last of them;
        not one of them will flee,
        not one of them will escape.
    If they dig through into the underworld,[a]
        from there my hand will take them.
    If they climb up to the heavens,
        from there I will bring them down.
    If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
        I will search for them there and remove them.
    If they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
        I will give an order to the sea serpent, and it will bite them.
    If they are forced from their homes before their enemies,
        there I will give an order to the sword, and it will kill them.
    I will fix my eyes on them
        for harm and not for good.

A divine confession

    The Lord, God of heavenly forces,
        touches the earth and it melts,
        and all who live in it are sick to death.
    All of it[b] rises up like the Nile
        and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt.
    It is the Lord who builds his upper rooms in the heavens
        and establishes his residence upon the earth;
    who summons the waters of the sea,
        and pours them out upon the face of the earth—
            the Lord is his name.

Divine address to the Israelites

    Aren’t you like the Cushites to me,
        people of Israel?
says the Lord.
    Haven’t I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt,
        and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?
    Look, the Lord God is eyeing the sinful kingdom,
        and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.
    However, I won’t destroy fully the house of Jacob,
says the Lord.

Warning to the house of Israel

    Look, I am giving orders,
        and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations
    as one sifts dirt with a screen,
        but no pebble will fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners of my people will die by the sword,
        those who say,
    “Evil won’t overtake or meet us.”

Divine promise of restoration

11 On that day I will raise up
        the meeting tent of David that has fallen,
    and repair its broken places.
        I will raise up its ruins,
    and I will rebuild it like a long time ago;
12 so that they may possess what is left of Edom,
        as well as all the nations who are called by my name,
says the Lord who will do this.
13 The days are surely coming, says the Lord,
        when the one who plows
        will overtake the one who gathers,
        when the one who crushes grapes
        will overtake the one who sows the seed.
    The mountains will drip wine,
        and all the hills will flow with it.
14 I will improve the circumstances of my people Israel;
        they will rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them.
    They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;
    and they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will plant them upon their land,
        and they will never again be plucked up
    out of the land that I have given them,
says the Lord your God.

Footnotes

  1. Amos 9:2 Heb Sheol
  2. Amos 9:5 Or the earth

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)
Though they dig down to the depths below,(C)
    from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens above,(D)
    from there I will bring them down.(E)
Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,(F)
    there I will hunt them down and seize them.(G)
Though they hide from my eyes at the bottom of the sea,(H)
    there I will command the serpent(I) to bite them.(J)
Though they are driven into exile by their enemies,
    there I will command the sword(K) to slay them.

“I will keep my eye on them
    for harm(L) and not for good.(M)(N)

The Lord, the Lord Almighty—
he touches the earth and it melts,(O)
    and all who live in it mourn;
the whole land rises like the Nile,
    then sinks like the river of Egypt;(P)
he builds his lofty palace[a](Q) in the heavens
    and sets its foundation[b] on the earth;
he calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.(R)

“Are not you Israelites
    the same to me as the Cushites[c]?”(S)
declares the Lord.
“Did I not bring Israel up from Egypt,
    the Philistines(T) from Caphtor[d](U)
    and the Arameans from Kir?(V)

“Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord
    are on the sinful kingdom.
I will destroy(W) it
    from the face of the earth.
Yet I will not totally destroy
    the descendants of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.(X)
“For I will give the command,
    and I will shake the people of Israel
    among all the nations
as grain(Y) is shaken in a sieve,(Z)
    and not a pebble will reach the ground.(AA)
10 All the sinners among my people
    will die by the sword,(AB)
all those who say,
    ‘Disaster will not overtake or meet us.’(AC)

Israel’s Restoration

11 “In that day

“I will restore David’s(AD) fallen shelter(AE)
    I will repair its broken walls
    and restore its ruins(AF)
    and will rebuild it as it used to be,(AG)
12 so that they may possess the remnant of Edom(AH)
    and all the nations that bear my name,[e](AI)
declares the Lord, who will do these things.(AJ)

13 “The days are coming,”(AK) declares the Lord,

“when the reaper(AL) will be overtaken by the plowman(AM)
    and the planter by the one treading(AN) grapes.
New wine(AO) will drip from the mountains
    and flow from all the hills,(AP)
14     and I will bring(AQ) my people Israel back from exile.[f](AR)

“They will rebuild the ruined cities(AS) and live in them.
    They will plant vineyards(AT) and drink their wine;
    they will make gardens and eat their fruit.(AU)
15 I will plant(AV) Israel in their own land,(AW)
    never again to be uprooted(AX)
    from the land I have given them,”(AY)

says the Lord your God.(AZ)

Footnotes

  1. Amos 9:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  2. Amos 9:6 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  3. Amos 9:7 That is, people from the upper Nile region
  4. Amos 9:7 That is, Crete
  5. Amos 9:12 Hebrew; Septuagint so that the remnant of people / and all the nations that bear my name may seek me
  6. Amos 9:14 Or will restore the fortunes of my people Israel