Amos 4:6

4:6 “But surely I gave ¹  you no food to eat in any of your cities;

you lacked food everywhere you live. ² 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 6:9

6:9 If ten men are left in one house, they too will die.

Amos 4:8

4:8 People from ³  two or three cities staggered into one city to get ⁴  water,

but remained thirsty. ⁵ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 4:11

4:11 “I overthrew some of you the way God ⁶  overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. ⁷ 

You were like a burning stick ⁸  snatched from the flames.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 4:9-10

4:9 “I destroyed your crops ⁹  with blight and disease.

Locusts kept ¹⁰  devouring your orchards, ¹¹  vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

4:10 “I sent against you a plague like one of the Egyptian plagues. ¹² 

I killed your young men with the sword,

along with the horses you had captured.

I made the stench from the corpses ¹³  rise up into your nostrils.

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 9:7

9:7 “You Israelites are just like the Ethiopians in my sight,” ¹⁴  says the Lord.

“Certainly I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt,

but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor ¹⁵  and the Arameans from Kir. ¹⁶ 

Amos 1:15

1:15 Ammon’s ¹⁷  king will be deported; ¹⁸ 

he and his officials ¹⁹  will be carried off ²⁰  together.”

The Lord has spoken!

Amos 9:12

9:12 As a result they ²¹  will conquer those left in Edom ²² 

and all the nations subject to my rule.” ²³ 

The Lord, who is about to do this, is speaking!

Amos 7:6

7:6 The Lord decided not to do this. ²⁴  The sovereign Lord said, “This will not happen either.”

Amos 3:14

3:14 “Certainly when ²⁵  I punish Israel for their ²⁶  covenant transgressions, ²⁷ 

I will destroy ²⁸  Bethel’s ²⁹  altars.

The horns ³⁰  of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.

Amos 6:7

6:7 Therefore they will now be the first to go into exile, ³¹ 

and the religious banquets ³²  where they sprawl on couches ³³  will end.

Amos 5:22

5:22 Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings, ³⁴  I will not be satisfied;

I will not look with favor on your peace offerings of fattened calves. ³⁵ 

Amos 9:2

9:2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, ³⁶ 

my hand would pull them up from there.

Even if they could climb up to heaven,

I would drag them down from there.

Amos 6:11

6:11 Indeed, look! The Lord is giving the command. ³⁷ 

He will smash the large house to bits,

and the small house into little pieces.

Amos 8:13

8:13 In that day your ³⁸  beautiful young women ³⁹  and your ⁴⁰  young men will faint from thirst. ⁴¹ 

Amos 2:16

2:16 Bravehearted ⁴²  warriors will run away naked in that day.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 3:2

3:2 “I have chosen ⁴³  you alone from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”

Amos 5:27

5:27 and I will drive you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord.

He is called the God who commands armies!

Amos 6:13

6:13 You are happy because you conquered Lo-Debar. ⁴⁴ 

You say, “Did we not conquer Karnaim ⁴⁵  by our own power?”

Amos 5:11

5:11 Therefore, because you make the poor pay taxes on their crops ⁴⁶ 

and exact a grain tax from them,

you will not live in the houses you built with chiseled stone,

nor will you drink the wine from the fine ⁴⁷  vineyards you planted. ⁴⁸ 

Amos 2:9-10

2:9 For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites. ⁴⁹ 

They were as tall as cedars ⁵⁰ 

and as strong as oaks,

but I destroyed the fruit on their branches ⁵¹ 

and their roots in the ground. ⁵² 

2:10 I brought you up from the land of Egypt;

I led you through the wilderness for forty years

so you could take the Amorites’ land as your own.

Amos 3:15

3:15 I will destroy both the winter and summer houses. ⁵³ 

The houses filled with ivory ⁵⁴  will be ruined,

the great ⁵⁵  houses will be swept away.” ⁵⁶ 

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 5:5

5:5 Do not seek Bethel! ⁵⁷ 

Do not visit Gilgal!

Do not journey down ⁵⁸  to Beer Sheba!

For the people of Gilgal ⁵⁹  will certainly be carried into exile; ⁶⁰ 

and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds.” ⁶¹ 

Amos 5:19

5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, ⁶² 

as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,

then escaped ⁶³  into a house,

leaned his hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

Amos 7:14

7:14 Amos replied ⁶⁴  to Amaziah, “I was not a prophet by profession. ⁶⁵  No, ⁶⁶  I was a herdsman who also took care of ⁶⁷  sycamore fig trees. ⁶⁸ 

Amos 8:9

8:9 In that day,” says the sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon,

and make the earth dark in the middle of the day. ⁶⁹ 

Amos 9:4-5

9:4 Even when their enemies drive them into captivity, ⁷⁰ 

from there ⁷¹  I will command the sword to kill them.

I will not let them out of my sight;

they will experience disaster, not prosperity.” ⁷² 

9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. ⁷³ 

He touches the earth and it dissolves; ⁷⁴ 

all who live on it mourn.

The whole earth ⁷⁵  rises like the River Nile, ⁷⁶ 

and then grows calm ⁷⁷  like the Nile in Egypt. ⁷⁸ 

Amos 3:12

3:12 This is what the Lord says:

“Just as a shepherd salvages from the lion’s mouth a couple of leg bones or a piece of an ear,

so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be salvaged. ⁷⁹ 

They will be left with just a corner of a bed, ⁸⁰ 

and a part ⁸¹  of a couch.”

Amos 8:10

8:10 I will turn your festivals into funerals, ⁸² 

and all your songs into funeral dirges.

I will make everyone wear funeral clothes ⁸³ 

and cause every head to be shaved bald. ⁸⁴ 

I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; ⁸⁵ 

when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day. ⁸⁶ 

Amos 9:3

9:3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,

I would hunt them down and take them from there.

Even if they tried to hide from me ⁸⁷  at the bottom of the sea,

from there ⁸⁸  I would command the Sea Serpent ⁸⁹  to bite them.

[4:6]  ¹ tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic (pronoun + verb). It underscores the stark contrast between the judgments that the Lord had been sending with the God of blessing Israel was celebrating in its worship (4:4-5).

[4:6]  ² tn Heb “But I gave to you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of food in all your places.” The phrase “cleanness of teeth” is a vivid way of picturing the famine Israel experienced.

[4:8]  ³ tn The words “people from” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[4:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “to drink.”

[4:8]  ⁵ tn Or “were not satisfied.”

[4:11]  ⁶ tn Several English versions substitute the first person pronoun (“I”) here for stylistic reasons (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[4:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “like God’s overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah.” The divine name may be used in an idiomatic superlative sense here, in which case one might translate, “like the great [or “disastrous”] overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah.”

[4:11]  sn The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is described in Gen 19:1-29.

[4:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “like that which is burning.”

[4:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “you.” By metonymy the crops belonging to these people are meant. See the remainder of this verse, which describes the agricultural devastation caused by locusts.

[4:9]  ¹⁰ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct is taken adverbially (“kept”) and connected to the activity of the locusts (NJPS). It also could be taken with the preceding sentence and related to the Lord’s interventions (“I kept destroying,” cf. NEB, NJB, NIV, NRSV), or it could be understood substantivally in construct with the following nouns (“Locusts devoured your many orchards,” cf. NASB; cf. also KJV, NKJV).

[4:9]  ¹¹ tn Or “gardens.”

[4:10]  ¹² tn Heb “in the manner [or “way”] of Egypt.”

[4:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “of your camps [or “armies”].”

[9:7]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text has a rhetorical question, “Are you children of Israel not like the Cushites to me?” The rhetorical question has been converted to an affirmative statement in the translation for clarity. See the comment at 8:8.

[9:7]  sn Though Israel was God’s special covenant people (see 3:2a), the Lord emphasizes they are not inherently superior to the other nations subject to his sovereign rule.

[9:7]  ¹⁵ sn Caphtor may refer to the island of Crete.

[9:7]  ¹⁶ tn The second half of v. 7 is also phrased as a rhetorical question in the Hebrew text, “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir?” The translation converts the rhetorical question into an affirmation for clarity.

[1:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “their”; the referent (Ammon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “will go into exile.”

[1:15]  ¹⁹ tn Or “princes” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NLT); TEV “officers”; CEV “leaders.”

[1:15]  ²⁰ tn The words “will be carried off” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:12]  ²¹ sn They probably refers to the Israelites or to the Davidic rulers of the future.

[9:12]  ²² tn Heb “take possession of the remnant of Edom”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “possess the remnant of Edom.”

[9:12]  ²³ tn Heb “nations over whom my name is proclaimed.” The Hebrew idiom indicates ownership, sometimes as a result of conquest. See 2 Sam 12:28.

[9:12]  sn This verse envisions a new era of Israelite rule, perhaps patterned after David’s imperialistic successes (see 2 Sam 8-10). At the same time, however, the verse does not specify how this rule is to be accomplished. Note that the book ends with a description of peace and abundance, and its final reference to God (v. 15) does not include the epithet “the Lord who commands armies,” which has militaristic overtones. This is quite a different scene than what the book began with: nations at war and standing under the judgment of God.

[7:6]  ²⁴ tn Or “changed his mind about this.”

[3:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “in the day.”

[3:14]  ²⁶ tn Heb “his.” With the referent “Israel” here, this amounts to a collective singular.

[3:14]  ²⁷ tn Traditionally, “transgressions, sins,” but see the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3.

[3:14]  ²⁸ tn Heb “punish” (so NASB, NRSV).

[3:14]  ²⁹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[3:14]  ³⁰ sn The horns of an ancient altar projected upwards from the four corners and resembled an animal’s horns in appearance. Fugitives could seek asylum by grabbing hold of these corners (see Exod 21:14; 1 Kgs 1:50; 2:28). When the altar’s horns were cut off, there would be no place of asylum left for the Lord’s enemies.

[6:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “they will go into exile at the head of the exiles.”

[6:7]  ³² sn Religious banquets. This refers to the מַרְזֵחַ (marzeakh), a type of pagan religious banquet popular among the upper class of Israel at this time and apparently associated with mourning. See P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 137-61; J. L. McLaughlin, The “Marzeah” in the Prophetic Literature (VTSup). Scholars debate whether at this banquet the dead were simply remembered or actually venerated in a formal, cultic sense.

[6:7]  ³³ tn Heb “of the sprawled out.” See v. 4.

[5:22]  ³⁴ tn Heb “burnt offerings and your grain offerings.”

[5:22]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Peace offering[s], your fattened calves, I will not look at.”

[9:2]  ³⁶ tn Heb “into Sheol” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV), that is, the land of the dead localized in Hebrew thought in the earth’s core or the grave. Cf. KJV “hell”; NCV, NLT “the place of the dead”; NIV “the depths of the grave.”

[6:11]  ³⁷ tn Or “is issuing the decree.”

[8:13]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the.”

[8:13]  ³⁹ tn Or “virgins.”

[8:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the.”

[8:13]  ⁴¹ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[2:16]  ⁴² tn Or “the most stouthearted” (NAB); NRSV “those who are stout of heart.”

[3:2]  ⁴³ 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.”

[6:13]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “those who rejoice over Lo-Debar.”

[6:13]  sn Lo-Debar was located across the Jordan River in Gilead, which the Israelite army had conquered. However, there is stinging irony here, for in Hebrew the name Lo-Debar means “nothing.” In reality Israel was happy over nothing of lasting consequence.

[6:13]  ⁴⁵ sn Karnaim was also located across the Jordan River. The name in Hebrew means “double horned.” Since an animal’s horn was a symbol of strength (see Deut 33:17), the Israelites boasted in this victory over a town whose very name symbolized military power.

[5:11]  ⁴⁶ tn Traditionally, “because you trample on the poor” (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). The traditional view derives the verb from בּוּס (bus, “to trample”; cf. Isa. 14:25), but more likely it is cognate to an Akkadian verb meaning “to exact an agricultural tax” (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 49; S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 172-73).

[5:11]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “lovely”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “pleasant”; NAB “choice”; NIV “lush.”

[5:11]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “Houses of chiseled stone you built, but you will not live in them. Fine vineyards you planted, but you will not drink their wine.”

[2:9]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “I destroyed the Amorites from before them.” The translation takes מִפְּנֵי (mippÿney) in the sense of “for the sake of.” See BDB 818 s.v. פָּנֻה II.6.a and H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos (Hermeneia), 134. Another option is to take the phrase in a spatial sense, “I destroyed the Amorites, [clearing them out] from before them [i.e., Israel]” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[2:9]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “whose height was like the height of cedars.”

[2:9]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “his fruit from above.”

[2:9]  ⁵² tn Heb “and his roots from below.”

[3:15]  ⁵³ tn Heb “the winter house along with the summer house.”

[3:15]  sn Like kings, many in Israel’s wealthy class owned both winter and summer houses (cf. 1 Kgs 21:1,18; Jer 36:22). For a discussion of archaeological evidence relating to these structures, see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 64-65.

[3:15]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “houses of ivory.” These houses were not made of ivory, but they had ivory panels and furniture decorated with ivory inlays. See P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 139-48.

[3:15]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “many,” cf. NAB “their many rooms.”

[3:15]  ⁵⁶ tn The translation assumes the form is from the Hebrew verb סָפָה (safah, “to sweep away”) rather than סוּף (suf, “to come to an end”), which is the choice of most versions. Either option effectively communicates the destruction of the structures.

[5:5]  ⁵⁷ sn Ironically, Israel was to seek after the Lord, but not at Bethel (the name Bethel means “the house of God” in Hebrew).

[5:5]  map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[5:5]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “cross over.”

[5:5]  sn To worship at Beer Sheba, northern worshipers had to journey down (i.e., cross the border) between Israel and Judah. Apparently, the popular religion of Israel for some included pilgrimage to holy sites in the South.

[5:5]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “For Gilgal.” By metonymy the place name “Gilgal” is used instead of referring directly to the inhabitants. The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:5]  ⁶⁰ tn In the Hebrew text the statement is emphasized by sound play. The name “Gilgal” sounds like the verb גָּלָה (galah, “to go into exile”), which occurs here in the infinitival + finite verb construction (גָּלֹה יִגְלֶה, galoh yigleh). The repetition of the “ג” (g) and “ל” (l) sounds draws attention to the announcement and suggests that Gilgal’s destiny is inherent in its very name.

[5:5]  sn That the people of Gilgal would be taken into exile is ironic, for Gilgal was Israel’s first campsite when the people entered the land under Joshua and the city became a symbol of Israel’s possession of the promised land.

[5:5]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “disaster,” or “nothing”; NIV “Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”

[5:5]  sn Again there is irony. The name Bethel means “house of God” in Hebrew. How surprising and tragic that Bethel, the “house of God” where Jacob received the inheritance given to Abraham, would be overrun by disaster.

[5:19]  ⁶² tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:19]  ⁶³ tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).

[7:14]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “replied and said.” The phrase “and said” is pleonastic (redundant) and has not been included in the translation.

[7:14]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “I was not a prophet nor was I the son of a prophet.” The phrase “son of a prophet” refers to one who was trained in a prophetic guild. Since there is no equative verb present in the Hebrew text, another option is to translate with the present tense, “I am not a prophet by profession.” In this case Amos, though now carrying out a prophetic ministry (v. 15), denies any official or professional prophetic status. Modern English versions are divided about whether to understand the past (JB, NIV, NKJV) or present tense (NASB, NEB, NRSV, NJPS) here.

[7:14]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “for.”

[7:14]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “gashed”; or “pierced.”

[7:14]  sn For a discussion of the agricultural background, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 128-29.

[7:14]  ⁶⁸ sn It is possible that herdsmen agreed to care for sycamore fig trees in exchange for grazing rights. See P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 116-17. Since these trees do not grow around Tekoa but rather in the lowlands, another option is that Amos owned other property outside his hometown. In this case, this verse demonstrates his relative wealth and is his response to Amaziah; he did not depend on prophecy as a profession (v. 13).

[8:9]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “in a day of light.”

[9:4]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “Even if they go into captivity before their enemies.”

[9:4]  ⁷¹ tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

[9:4]  ⁷² tn Heb “I will set my eye on them for disaster, not good.”

[9:5]  ⁷³ tn The words “will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:5]  ⁷⁴ tn Or “melts.” The verb probably depicts earthquakes and landslides. See v. 5b.

[9:5]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “all of it.”

[9:5]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ⁷⁷ tn Or “sinks back down.”

[9:5]  ⁷⁸ sn See Amos 8:8, which is very similar to this verse.

[3:12]  ⁷⁹ sn The verb translated salvaged, though often used in a positive sense of deliverance from harm, is here employed in a sarcastic manner. A shepherd would attempt to salvage part of an animal to prove that a predator had indeed killed it. In this way he could prove that he had not stolen the missing animal and absolve himself from any responsibility to repay the owner (see Exod 22:12-13).

[3:12]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “with a corner of a bed.”

[3:12]  ⁸¹ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word דְּמֶשֶׁק (dÿmesheq), which occurs only here, is uncertain. If not emended, it is usually related to the term ַדּמֶּשֶׂק (dammeseq) and translated as the “Damask linens” of the bed (cf. NASB “the cover”) or as “in Damascus” (so KJV, NJB, NIV). The differences in spelling (Damascus is spelled correctly in 5:27), historical considerations, and the word order make both of these derivations unlikely. Many emendations have been proposed (e.g., “a part from the foot [of a bed],” based on a different division of the Hebrew letters (cf. NEB, NRSV); “on the edge,” based on a Hebrew term not attested in the Bible (NKJV). Some suggest a resemblance to an Akkadian term which means “sideboard [of a bed],” which is sometimes incorrectly rendered “headboard” (NJPS; see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 121-22). Most likely another part of a bed or couch is in view, but it is difficult to be more specific.

[8:10]  ⁸² tn Heb “mourning.”

[8:10]  ⁸³ tn Heb “I will place sackcloth on all waists.”

[8:10]  sn Mourners wore sackcloth (funeral clothes) as an outward expression of grief.

[8:10]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “and make every head bald.” This could be understood in a variety of ways, while the ritual act of mourning typically involved shaving the head (although occasionally the hair could be torn out as a sign of mourning).

[8:10]  sn Shaving the head or tearing out one’s hair was a ritual act of mourning. See Lev 21:5; Deut 14:1; Isa 3:24; 15:2; Jer 47:5; 48:37; Ezek 7:18; 27:31; Mic 1:16.

[8:10]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “I will make it like the mourning for an only son.”

[8:10]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “and its end will be like a bitter day.” The Hebrew preposition כְּ (kaf) sometimes carries the force of “in every respect,” indicating identity rather than mere comparison.

[9:3]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “from before my eyes.”

[9:3]  ⁸⁸ tn Or perhaps simply, “there,” if the מ (mem) prefixed to the adverb is dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem).

[9:3]  ⁸⁹ sn If the article indicates a definite serpent, then the mythological Sea Serpent, symbolic of the world’s chaotic forces, is probably in view. See Job 26:13 and Isa 27:1 (where it is also called Leviathan). Elsewhere in the OT this serpent is depicted as opposing the Lord, but this text implies that even this powerful enemy of God is ultimately subject to his sovereign will.