Amos 9

A Vision of God at the Altar

9Then I saw a vision of the Lord standing beside the altar. He said, “Strike the tops of the Temple columns, so that the foundation will shake. Bring down the roof on the heads of the people below. I will kill with the sword those who survive. No one will escape!H7200H136H5324H4196H559H5221H3730H5592H7493H1214H7218H2026H319H2719H5127H5127H6412H44222“Even if they dig down to the place of the dead

, I will reach down and pull them up. Even if they climb up into the heavens, I will bring them down.H2864H7585H3027H3947H5927H8064H33813Even if they hide at the very top of Mount Carmel, I will search them out and capture them. Even if they hide at the bottom of the ocean, I will send the sea serpent after them to bite them.H2244H7218H3760H2664H3947H5641H5869H7172H3220H6680H5175H53914Even if their enemies drive them into exile, I will command the sword to kill them there. I am determined to bring disaster upon them and not to help them.”H3212H7628H6440H341H6680H2719H2026H7760H5869H7451H28965The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, touches the land and it melts, and all its people mourn. The ground rises like the Nile River at floodtime, and then it sinks again.H136H3069H6635H5060H776H4127H3427H56H5927H2975H8257H2975H47146The Lord’s home reaches up to the heavens, while its foundation is on the earth. He draws up water from the oceans and pours it down as rain on the land. The Lord is his name!H1129H4609H8064H3245H92H776H7121H4325H3220H8210H6440H776H3068H80347“Are you Israelites more important to me than the Ethiopians?

” asks the Lord. “I brought Israel out of Egypt, but I also brought the Philistines from Crete and led the Arameans out of Kir.H1121H3569H1121H3478H5002H3068H5927H3478H776H4714H6430H3731H758H70248“I, the Sovereign Lord, am watching this sinful nation of Israel. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. But I will never completely destroy the family of Israel

,” says the Lord.H5869H136H3069H2403H4467H8045H6440H127H657H8045H8045H1004H3290H5002H30689“For I will give the command and will shake Israel along with the other nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, yet not one true kernel will be lost.H6680H5128H1004H3478H1471H5128H3531H6872H5307H77610But all the sinners will die by the sword—all those who say, ‘Nothing bad will happen to us.’H2400H5971H4191H2719H559H7451H5066H6923

A Promise of Restoration

11“In that day I will restore the fallen house

of David. I will repair its damaged walls. From the ruins I will rebuild it and restore its former glory.H3117H6965H5521H1732H5307H1443H6556H6965H2034H1129H3117H576912And Israel will possess what is left of Edom and all the nations I have called to be mine

.” The Lord has spoken, and he will do these things.H3423H7611H123H1471H7121H8034H5002H3068H621313“The time will come,” says the Lord, “when the grain and grapes will grow faster than they can be harvested. Then the terraced vineyards on the hills of Israel will drip with sweet wine!H3117H935H5002H3068H2790H5066H7114H1869H6025H4900H2233H2022H5197H6071H1389H412714I will bring my exiled people of Israel back from distant lands, and they will rebuild their ruined cities and live in them again. They will plant vineyards and gardens; they will eat their crops and drink their wine.H7725H7622H5971H3478H1129H8074H5892H3427H5193H3754H8354H3196H6213H1593H398H652915I will firmly plant them there in their own land. They will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them,” says the Lord your God.H5193H127H5428H127H5414H559H3068H430