Amos 1:15

1:15 Ammon’s ¹  king will be deported; ² 

he and his officials ³  will be carried off ⁴  together.”

The Lord has spoken!

Amos 5:26

5:26 You will pick up your images ⁵  of Sikkuth, ⁶  your king, ⁷ 

and Kiyyun, ⁸  your star god, which you made for yourselves,

Amos 6:11

6:11 Indeed, look! The Lord is giving the command. ⁹ 

He will smash the large house to bits,

and the small house into little pieces.

Amos 3:2

3:2 “I have chosen ¹⁰  you alone from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”

Amos 3:8

3:8 A lion has roared! ¹¹  Who is not afraid?

The sovereign Lord has spoken! Who can refuse to prophesy? ¹² 

Amos 1:5

1:5 I will break the bar ¹³  on the gate of Damascus.

I will remove ¹⁴  the ruler ¹⁵  from Wicked Valley, ¹⁶ 

the one who holds the royal scepter from Beth Eden. ¹⁷ 

The people of Aram will be deported to Kir.” ¹⁸ 

The Lord has spoken!

Amos 4:13

4:13 For here he is!

He ¹⁹  formed the mountains and created the wind.

He reveals ²⁰  his plans ²¹  to men.

He turns the dawn into darkness ²² 

and marches on the heights of the earth.

The Lord, the God who commands armies, ²³  is his name!”

[1:15]  ¹ tn Heb “their”; the referent (Ammon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:15]  ² tn Heb “will go into exile.”

[1:15]  ³ tn Or “princes” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NLT); TEV “officers”; CEV “leaders.”

[1:15]  ⁴ tn The words “will be carried off” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:26]  ⁵ tn This word appears in an awkward position in the Hebrew, following “Kiyyun.” It is placed here for better sense.

[5:26]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term סִכּוּת (sikkut) apparently refers to Sakkuth, a Mesopotamian star god identified with Ninurta in an Ugaritic god list. The name is vocalized in the Hebrew text after the pattern of שִׁקוּץ (shiqquts, “detestable thing”). See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 195-96. Some English versions, following the LXX, translate as “tent” or “shrine” (NEB, NIV), pointing the term as סֻכַּת (sukkat; cf. 9:11).

[5:26]  ⁷ tc LXX, Vulgate, and Acts 7:43 read “Moloch” (cf. KJV). The Hebrew consonants are the same for both “king” and “Moloch” (מֹלֶךְ; molekh).

[5:26]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term כִּיּוּן (kiyyun) apparently refers to the Mesopotamian god Kayamanu, or Saturn. The name, like “Sikkuth” in the previous line, is vocalized in the Hebrew text after the pattern of שִׁקוּץ (shiqquts, “detestable thing”). See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 195-96. Some versions translate as “pedestal” (NEB, NIV), relating the term to the root כּוּן (kun).

[6:11]  ⁹ tn Or “is issuing the decree.”

[3:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “You only have I known.” The Hebrew verb יָדַע (yada’) is used here in its covenantal sense of “recognize in a special way.”

[3:8]  ¹¹ sn The roar of the lion is here a metaphor for impending judgment (see 1:2; cf. 3:4, 12). Verses 7-8 justify Amos’ prophetic ministry and message of warning and judgment. The people should expect a prophetic message prior to divine action.

[3:8]  ¹² sn Who can refuse to prophesy? When a message is revealed, the prophet must speak, and the news of impending judgment should cause people to fear.

[1:5]  ¹³ sn The bar on the city gate symbolizes the city’s defenses and security.

[1:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “cut off.”

[1:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the one who sits.” Some English versions take the Hebrew term in a collective sense as “inhabitants” (e.g., KJV, NKJV, NASB, NRSV). The context and the parallel in the next clause (“the one who holds the royal scepter”), however, suggest that the royal house is in view. For this term (יוֹשֵׁב, yoshev), see N. K. Gottwald, The Tribes of Yahweh, 512-30.

[1:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “valley of wickedness.” Though many English versions take the Hebrew phrase בִקְעַת־אָוֶן (biq’-at ’aven) as a literal geographical place name (“Valley of Aven,” so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), it appears to be a derogatory epithet for Damascus and the kingdom of Aram.

[1:5]  ¹⁷ tn Many associate the name “Beth Eden” with Bit Adini, an Aramean state located near the Euphrates River, but it may be a sarcastic epithet meaning “house of pleasure.”

[1:5]  ¹⁸ sn According to Amos 9:7, the Arameans originally came from Kir. The Lord threatens to reverse their history and send them back there.

[4:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “For look, the one who.” This verse is considered to be the first hymnic passage in the book. The others appear at 5:8-9 and 9:5-6. Scholars debate whether these verses were originally part of a single hymn or three distinct pieces deliberately placed in each context for particular effect.

[4:13]  ²⁰ tn Or “declares” (NAB, NASB).

[4:13]  ²¹ tn Or “his thoughts.” The translation assumes that the pronominal suffix refers to God and that divine self-revelation is in view (see 3:7). If the suffix refers to the following term אָדַם (’adam, “men”), then the expression refers to God’s ability to read men’s minds.

[4:13]  ²² tn Heb “he who makes dawn, darkness.” The meaning of the statement is unclear. The present translation assumes that allusion is made to God’s approaching judgment, when the light of day will be turned to darkness (see 5:20). Other options include: (1) “He makes the dawn [and] the darkness.” A few Hebrew mss, as well as the LXX, add the conjunction (“and”) between the two nouns. (2) “He turns darkness into glimmering dawn” (NJPS). See S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 154), who takes שָׁחַר (shakhar) as “blackness” rather than “dawn” and עֵיפָה (’efah) as “glimmering dawn” rather than “darkness.”

[4:13]  ²³ tn Traditionally, “God of hosts.”