5Listen, you people of Israel! Listen to this funeral song I am singing.H8085H1697H5375H7015H1004H3478 2“The virgin Israel has fallen, never to rise again! She lies abandoned on the ground, with no one to help her up.”H1330H3478H5307H3254H6965H5203H127H6965 3The Sovereign Lord says. “When a city sends a thousand men to battle, only a hundred will return. When a town sends a hundred, only ten will come back alive.”H559H136H3069H5892H3318H505H7604H3967H3318H3967H7604H6235H1004H3478 4Now this is what the Lord says to the family of Israel. “Come back to me and live!H559H3068H1004H3478H1875H2421 5Don’t worship at the pagan altars at Bethel; don’t go to the shrines at Gilgal or Beersheba. For the people of Gilgal will be dragged off into exile, and the people of Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”H1875H1008H935H1537H5674H884H1537H1540H1540H1008H205 6Come back to the Lord and live! Otherwise, he will roar through Israel like a fire, devouring you completely. Your gods in Bethel won’t be able to quench the flames.H1875H3068H2421H6743H784H1004H3130H398H3518H1008 7You twist justice, making it a bitter pill for the oppressed. You treat the righteous like dirt.H2015H4941H3939H3240H6666H776 8It is the Lord who created the stars, the Pleiades and Orion. He turns darkness into morning and day into night. He draws up water from the oceans and pours it down as rain on the land. The Lord is his name!H6213H3598H3685H2015H6757H1242H3117H2821H3915H7121H4325H3220H8210H6440H776H3068H8034 9With blinding speed and power he destroys the strong, crushing all their defenses.H1082H7701H5794H7701H935H4013 10How you hate honest judges! How you despise people who tell the truth!H8130H3198H8179H8581H1696H8549 11You trample the poor, stealing their grain through taxes and unfair rent. Therefore, though you build beautiful stone houses, you will never live in them. Though you plant lush vineyards, you will never drink wine from them.H3282H1318H1800H3947H4864H1250H1129H1004H1496H3427H5193H2531H3754H8354H3196 12For I know the vast number of your sins and the depth of your rebellions. You oppress good people by taking bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.H3045H7227H6588H6099H2403H6887H6662H3947H3724H5186H34H8179 13So those who are smart keep their mouths shut, for it is an evil time.H7919H1826H6256H7451H6256 14Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed.H1875H2896H7451H2421H3068H430H6635H559 15Hate evil and love what is good; turn your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy on the remnant of his people.H8130H7451H157H2896H3322H4941H8179H3068H430H6635H2603H7611H3130 16Therefore, this is what the Lord, the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, says. “There will be crying in all the public squares and mourning in every street. Call for the farmers to weep with you, and summon professional mourners to wail.H3068H430H6635H136H559H4553H7339H559H2351H1930H1930H7121H406H60H3045H5092H4553 17There will be wailing in every vineyard, for I will destroy them all,” says the Lord.H3754H4553H5674H7130H559H3068 18What sorrow awaits you who say, “If only the day of the Lord were here!” You have no idea what you are wishing for. That day will bring darkness, not light.H1945H183H3117H3068H4100H3117H3068H2822H216 19In that day you will be like a man who runs from a lion—only to meet a bear. Escaping from the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house—and he’s bitten by a snake.H376H5127H6440H738H1677H6293H935H1004H5564H3027H7023H5175H5391 20Yes, the day of the Lord will be dark and hopeless, without a ray of joy or hope.H3117H3068H2822H216H651H5051 21“I hate all your show and pretense—the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.H8130H3988H2282H7306H6116 22I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings.H5927H5930H4503H7521H5027H8002H4806 23Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps.H5493H1995H7892H8085H2172H5035 24Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.H4941H1556H4325H6666H386H5158 25“Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, Israel?H5066H2077H4503H4057H705H8141H1004H3478 26No, you served your pagan gods—Sakkuth your king god and Kaiwan your star god—the images you made for yourselves.H5375H5522H4428H3594H6754H3556H430H6213 27So I will send you into exile, to a land east of Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of Heaven’s Armies.H1540H1973H1834H559H3068H8034H430H6635
6What sorrow awaits you who lounge in luxury in Jerusalem, and you who feel secure in Samaria! You are famous and popular in Israel, and people go to you for help.H1945H7600H6726H982H2022H8111H5344H7225H1471H1004H3478H935 2But go over to Calneh and see what happened there. Then go to the great city of Hamath and down to the Philistine city of Gath. You are no better than they were, and look at how they were destroyed.H5674H3641H7200H3212H2574H7227H2579H3381H1661H6430H2896H4467H1366H7227H1366 3You push away every thought of coming disaster, but your actions only bring the day of judgment closer.H5077H7451H3117H7675H2555H5066 4How terrible for you who sprawl on ivory beds and lounge on your couches, eating the meat of tender lambs from the flock and of choice calves fattened in the stall.H7901H4296H8127H5628H6210H398H3733H6629H5695H8432H4770 5You sing trivial songs to the sound of the harp and fancy yourselves to be great musicians like David.H6527H6310H5035H2803H3627H7892H1732 6You drink wine by the bowlful and perfume yourselves with fragrant lotions. You care nothing about the ruin of your nation.H8354H3196H4219H4886H7225H8081H2470H7667H3130 7Therefore, you will be the first to be led away as captives. Suddenly, all your parties will end.H1540H7218H1540H4797H5628H5493 8The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his own name, and this is what he, the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, says: “I despise the arrogance of Israel, and I hate their fortresses. I will give this city and everything in it to their enemies.”H136H3069H7650H5315H5002H3068H430H6635H8374H1347H3290H8130H759H5462H5892H4393 9(If there are ten men left in one house, they will all die.H3498H6235H582H259H1004H4191 10And when a relative who is responsible to dispose of the dead goes into the house to carry out the bodies, he will ask the last survivor, “Is anyone else with you?” When the person begins to swear, “No, by . . .,” he will interrupt and say, “Stop! Don’t even mention the name of the Lord.”)H1730H5375H5635H3318H6106H1004H559H3411H1004H559H657H559H2013H2142H8034H3068 11When the Lord gives the command, homes both great and small will be smashed to pieces.H3068H6680H5221H1419H1004H7447H6996H1004H1233 12Can horses gallop over boulders? Can oxen be used to plow them? But that’s how foolish you are when you turn justice into poison and the sweet fruit of righteousness into bitterness.H5483H7323H5553H2790H1241H2015H4941H7219H6529H6666H3939 13And you brag about your conquest of Lo-debar. You boast, “Didn’t we take Karnaim by our own strength?”H8056H1697H3808H559H3947H7161H2392 14“O people of Israel, I am about to bring an enemy nation against you,” says the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. “They will oppress you throughout your land—from Lebo-hamath in the north to the Arabah Valley in the south.”H6965H1471H1004H3478H5002H3068H430H6635H3905H935H2574H5158H6160
7The Sovereign Lord showed me a vision. I saw him preparing to send a vast swarm of locusts over the land. This was after the king’s share had been harvested from the fields and as the main crop was coming up.H136H3069H7200H3335H1462H8462H5927H3954H3954H310H4428H1488 2In my vision the locusts ate every green plant in sight. Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, please forgive us or we will not survive, for Israel is so small.”H3615H398H6212H776H559H136H3069H5545H3290H6965H6996 3So the Lord relented from this plan. “I will not do it,” he said.H3068H5162H559H3068 4Then the Sovereign Lord showed me another vision. I saw him preparing to punish his people with a great fire. The fire had burned up the depths of the sea and was devouring the entire land.H136H3069H7200H136H3069H7121H7378H784H398H7227H8415H398H2506 5Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, please stop or we will not survive, for Israel is so small.”H559H136H3069H2308H3290H6965H6996 6Then the Lord relented from this plan, too. “I will not do that either,” said the Sovereign Lord.H3068H5162H559H136H3069 7Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight.H7200H136H5324H2346H594H594H3027 8And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” I answered, “A plumb line.” And the Lord replied, “I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins.H3068H559H5986H7200H559H594H559H136H7760H594H7130H5971H3478H3254H5674 9The pagan shrines of your ancestors will be ruined, and the temples of Israel will be destroyed; I will bring the dynasty of King Jeroboam to a sudden end.”H1116H3446H8074H4720H3478H2717H6965H1004H3379H2719 10Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam, king of Israel: “Amos is hatching a plot against you right here on your very doorstep! What he is saying is intolerable.H558H3548H1008H7971H3379H4428H3478H559H5986H7194H7130H1004H3478H776H3201H3557H1697 11He is saying, ‘Jeroboam will soon be killed, and the people of Israel will be sent away into exile.’”H5986H559H3379H4191H2719H3478H1540H1540H127 12Then Amaziah sent orders to Amos: “Get out of here, you prophet! Go on back to the land of Judah, and earn your living by prophesying there!H558H559H5986H2374H3212H1272H776H3063H398H3899H5012 13Don’t bother us with your prophecies here in Bethel. This is the king’s sanctuary and the national place of worship!”H5012H3254H1008H4428H4720H4467H1004 14But Amos replied, “I’m not a professional prophet, and I was never trained to be one. I’m just a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore-fig trees.H6030H5986H559H558H5030H5030H1121H951H1103H8256 15But the Lord called me away from my flock and told me, ‘Go and prophesy to my people in Israel.’H3068H3947H310H6629H3068H559H3212H5012H5971H3478 16Now then, listen to this message from the Lord. “You say, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel. Stop preaching against my people.’H8085H1697H3068H559H5012H3478H5197H1004H3446 17But this is what the Lord says. ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in this city, and your sons and daughters will be killed. Your land will be divided up, and you yourself will die in a foreign land. And the people of Israel will certainly become captives in exile, far from their homeland.’”H559H3068H802H2181H5892H1121H1323H5307H2719H127H2505H2256H4191H5921H2931H127H3478H1540H1540H127
8Then the Sovereign Lord showed me another vision. In it I saw a basket filled with ripe fruit.H136H3069H7200H3619H7019 2“What do you see, Amos?” he asked. I replied, “A basket full of ripe fruit.” Then the Lord said, “Like this fruit, Israel is ripe for punishment! I will not delay their punishment again.H559H5986H7200H559H3619H7019H559H3068H7093H935H5971H3478H3254H5674 3In that day the singing in the Temple will turn to wailing. Dead bodies will be scattered everywhere. They will be carried out of the city in silence. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”H7892H1964H3213H3117H5002H136H3069H7227H6297H4725H7993H2013 4Listen to this, you who rob the poor and trample down the needy!H8085H7602H34H7673H6041H6035H776H7673 5You can’t wait for the Sabbath day to be over and the religious festivals to end so you can get back to cheating the helpless. You measure out grain with dishonest measures and cheat the buyer with dishonest scales.H559H2320H5674H7666H7668H7676H6605H1250H374H6994H8255H1431H5791H3976H4820 6And you mix the grain you sell with chaff swept from the floor. Then you enslave poor people for one piece of silver or a pair of sandals.H7069H1800H3701H34H5275H7666H4651H1250 7Now the Lord has sworn this oath by his own name, the Pride of Israel. “I will never forget the wicked things you have done!H3068H7650H1347H3290H5331H7911H4639 8The earth will tremble for your deeds, and everyone will mourn. The ground will rise like the Nile River at floodtime; it will heave up, then sink again.H776H7264H56H3427H5927H2975H1644H8257H8248H216H4714 9“In that day,” says the Sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth while it is still day.H3117H5002H136H3069H8121H935H6672H2821H776H216H3117 10I will turn your celebrations into times of mourning and your singing into weeping. You will wear funeral clothes and shave your heads to show your sorrow—as if your only son had died. How very bitter that day will be!H2015H2282H60H7892H7015H5927H8242H4975H7144H7218H7760H60H3173H319H4751H3117 11“The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the Lord.H3117H935H5002H136H3069H7971H7458H776H7458H3899H6772H4325H8085H1697H3068 12People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from border to border searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.H5128H3220H3220H6828H4217H7751H1245H1697H3068H4672 13Beautiful girls and strong young men will grow faint in that day, thirsting for the Lord’s word.H3117H3303H1330H970H5968H6772 14And those who swear by the shameful idols of Samaria—who take oaths in the name of the god of Dan and make vows in the name of the god of Beersheba—they will all fall down, never to rise again.”H7650H819H8111H559H430H1835H2416H1870H884H2416H5307H6965
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.’H2400H5971H4191H2719H559H7451H5066H692311“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
Dublin, OH
like a fire, devouring you completely. Your gods in Bethel won’t be able to quench the flames.H1875
