Amos 3:5

3:5 Does a bird swoop down into a trap on the ground if there is no bait?

Does a trap spring up from the ground unless it has surely caught something?

Amos 3:11

3:11 Therefore,” says the sovereign Lord, “an enemy will encircle the land. ¹ 

He will take away your power; ² 

your fortresses will be looted.”

Amos 5:8

5:8 (But there is one who made the constellations Pleiades and Orion;

he can turn the darkness into morning

and daylight ³  into night.

He summons the water of the seas

and pours it out on the earth’s surface.

The Lord is his name!

Amos 7:2

7:2 When they had completely consumed the earth’s vegetation, I said,

“Sovereign Lord, forgive Israel! ⁴ 

How can Jacob survive? ⁵ 

He is too weak!” ⁶ 

Amos 8:8

8:8 Because of this the earth ⁷  will quake, ⁸ 

and all who live in it will mourn.

The whole earth ⁹  will rise like the River Nile, ¹⁰ 

it will surge upward ¹¹  and then grow calm, ¹²  like the Nile in Egypt. ¹³ 

Amos 9:6

9:6 He builds the upper rooms of his palace ¹⁴  in heaven

and sets its foundation supports ¹⁵  on the earth. ¹⁶ 

He summons the water of the sea

and pours it out on the earth’s surface.

The Lord is his name.

Amos 7:10

Amos Confronts a Priest

7:10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel ¹⁷  sent this message ¹⁸  to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is conspiring against you in the very heart of the kingdom of Israel! ¹⁹  The land cannot endure all his prophecies. ²⁰ 

[3:11]  ¹ tc The MT reads “an enemy and around the land.” It is also possible to take the MT as an exclamation (“an enemy, and all about the land!”; see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 118; NJPS; cf. NLT).Most scholars and versions emend the text to יְסוֹבֵב (yÿsovev, Polel imperfect), “will encircle.”

[3:11]  ² tn Heb “He will bring down your power from you.” Some emend the text to read “Your power will be brought down from you.” The shift, however, from an active to a passive sense also appears at 3:14 (“I will destroy Bethel’s altars. The horns of the altar will be cut off.”) The pronouns (“your…you”) are feminine singular, indicating that the personified city of Samaria is addressed here. Samaria’s “power” here is her defenses and/or wealth.

[5:8]  ³ tn Heb “darkens the day into night.”

[7:2]  ⁴ tn “Israel” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “stand” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[7:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “small.”

[8:8]  ⁷ tn Or “land” (also later in this verse).

[8:8]  ⁸ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[8:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “all of it.”

[8:8]  ¹⁰ tc The MT reads “like the light” (כָאֹר, kha’or; note this term also appears in v. 9), which is commonly understood to be an error for “like the Nile” (כִּיאוֹר, ki’or). See the parallel line and Amos 9:5. The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity. If this emendation is correct, in the Hebrew of Amos “Nile” is actually spelled three slightly different ways.

[8:8]  sn The movement of the quaking earth is here compared to the annual flooding and receding of the River Nile.

[8:8]  ¹¹ tn Or “churn.”

[8:8]  ¹² tn Or “sink back down.” The translation assumes the verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’), following the Qere.

[8:8]  ¹³ tn The entire verse is phrased in a series of rhetorical questions which anticipate the answer, “Of course!” (For example, the first line reads, “Because of this will the earth not quake?”). The rhetorical questions entrap the listener in the logic of the judgment of God (cf. 3:3-6; 9:7). The rhetorical questions have been converted to affirmative statements in the translation for clarity.

[9:6]  ¹⁴ tc The MT reads “his steps.” If this is correct, then the reference may be to the steps leading up to the heavenly temple or the throne of God (cf. 1 Kgs 10:19-20). The prefixed מ (mem) may be dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem). The translation assumes an emendation to עֲלִיָּתוֹ (’aliyyato, “his upper rooms”).

[9:6]  ¹⁵ tn Traditionally, “vault” (so ASV, NAB, NRSV). The precise meaning of this word in this context is unclear. Elsewhere it refers to objects grouped or held together. F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman (Amos [AB], 845-46) suggest the foundational structure of a building is in view.

[9:6]  ¹⁶ sn Verse 6a pictures the entire universe as a divine palace founded on the earth and extending into the heavens.

[7:10]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[7:10]  ¹⁸ tn The direct object of the verb translated “sent” is elided in the Hebrew text. The words “this message” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[7:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in the middle of the house of Israel.”

[7:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “words.”