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Amos

Chapters:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Chapter 1

1 The words of Amos, a shepherd from Tekoa, which he received in vision concerning Israel, in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake: 2 The LORD will roar from Zion, and from Jerusalem raise his voice: The pastures of the shepherds will languish, and the summit of Carmel wither. 3 Thus says the LORD: For three crimes of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke my word; Because they threshed Gilead with sledges of iron, 4 I will send fire upon the house of Hazael, to devour the castles of Ben-hadad. 5 I will break the bar of Damascus; I will root out those who live in the Valley of Aven, And the sceptered ruler of Beth-eden; the people of Aram shall be exiled to Kir, says the LORD. 6 Thus says the LORD: For three crimes of Gaza, and for four, I will not revoke my word; Because they took captive whole groups to hand over to Edom, 7 I will send fire upon the wall of Gaza, to devour her castles; 8 I will root out those who live in Ashdod, and the sceptered ruler of Ashkelon; I will turn my hand against Ekron, and the last of the Philistines shall perish, says the Lord God. 9 Thus says the LORD: For three crimes of Tyre, and for four I will not revoke my word; Because they delivered whole groups captive to Edom, and did not remember the pact of brotherhood, 10 I will send fire upon the wall of Tyre,to devour her castles. 11 Thus says the LORD: For three crimes of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke my word; Because he pursued his brother with the sword, choking up all pity; Because he persisted in his anger and kept his wrath to the end, 12 I will send fire upon Teman, and it will devour the castles of Bozrah. 13 Thus says the LORD: For three crimes of the Ammonites, and for four, I will not revoke my word; Because they ripped open expectant mothers in Gilead, while extending their territory, 14 I will kindle a fire upon the wall of Rabbah, and it will devour her castles Amid clamor on the day of battle and stormwind in a time of tempest. 15 Their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes with him, says the LORD.

Chapter 2

1 Thus says the LORD: For three crimes of Moab, and for four, I will not revoke my word; Because he burned to ashes the bones of Edom's king, 2 I will send fire upon Moab, to devour the castles of Kerioth; Moab shall meet death amid uproar and shouts and trumpet blasts. 3 I will root out the judge from her midst, and her princes I will slay with him, says the LORD. 4 Thus says the LORD: For three crimes of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke my word; Because they spurned the law of the LORD, and did not keep his statutes; Because the lies which their fathers followed have led them astray, 5 I will send fire upon Judah, to devour the castles of Jerusalem. 6 Thus says the LORD: For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke my word; Because they sell the just man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals. 7 They trample the heads of the weak into the dust of the earth, and force the lowly out of the way. Son and father go to the same prostitute, profaning my holy name. 8 Upon garments taken in pledge they recline beside any altar; And the wine of those who have been fined they drink in the house of their god. 9 Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorites before them, who were as tall as the cedars, and as strong as the oak trees. I destroyed their fruit above, and their roots beneath. 10 It was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt, and who led you through the desert for forty years, to occupy the land of the Amorites: 11 I who raised up prophets among your sons, and nazirites among your young men. Is this not so, O men of Israel? says the LORD.12 But you gave the nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets not to prophesy. 13 Beware, I will crush you into the ground as a wagon crushes when laden with sheaves. 14 Flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong man shall not retain his strength; The warrior shall not save his life, 15 nor the bowman stand his ground; The swift of foot shall not escape, nor the horseman save his life. 16 And the most stouthearted of warriors shall flee naked on that day, says the LORD.

Chapter 3

1 Hear this word, O men of Israel, that the LORD pronounces over you, over the whole family that I brought up from the land of Egypt: 2 You alone have I favored, more than all the families of the earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your crimes. 3 Do two walk together unless they have agreed? 4 Does a lion roar in the forest when it has no prey? Does a young lion cry out from its den unless it has seized something? 5 Is a bird brought to earth by a snare when there is no lure for it? Does a snare spring up from the ground without catching anything? 6 If the trumpet sounds in a city, will the people not be frightened? If evil befalls a city, has not the LORD caused it? 7 Indeed, the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants, the prophets. 8 The lion roars -  who will not be afraid! The Lord GOD speaks -  who will not prophesy! 9 Proclaim this in the castles of Ashdod, in the castles of the land of Egypt: "Gather about the mountain of Samaria, and see the great disorders within her, the oppression in her midst." 10 For they know not how to do what is right, says the LORD, Storing up in their castles what they have extorted and robbed. 11 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: An enemy shall surround the land, and strip you of your strength, and pillage your castles, 12 Thus says the LORD: As the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion a pair of legs or the tip of an ear of his sheep, So the Israelites who dwell in Samaria shall escape with the corner of a couch or a piece of a cot. 13 Hear and bear witness against the house of Jacob, says the Lord GOD, the God of hosts: 14 On the day when I punish Israel for his crimes, I will visit also the altars of Bethel: The horns of the altar shall be broken off and fall to the ground. 15 Then will I strike the winter house and the summer house; The ivory apartments shall be ruined, and their many rooms shall be no more, says the LORD.

Chapter 4

1 Hear this word, women of the mountain of Samaria, you cows of Bashan, You who oppress the weak and abuse the needy; Who say to your lords, "Bring drink for us!" 2 The Lord GOD has sworn by his holiness: Truly the days are coming upon you When they shall drag you away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks; 3 You shall go out through the breached walls each by the most direct way, And you shall be cast into the mire, says the LORD. 4 Come to Bethel and sin, to Gilgal, and sin the more; Each morning bring your sacrifices, every third day, your tithes; 5 Burn leavened food as a thanksgiving sacrifice, proclaim publicly your freewill offerings, For so you love to do, O men of Israel, says the Lord GOD. 6 Though I have made your teeth clean of food in all your cities, and have made bread scarce in all your dwellings, Yet you returned not to me, says the LORD. 7 Though I also withheld the rain from you when the harvest was still three months away; I sent rain upon one city but not upon another; One field was watered by rain, but another without rain dried up; 8 Though two or three cities staggered to one city for water that did not quench their thirst; Yet you returned not to me, says the LORD. 9 I struck you with blight and searing wind; your many gardens and vineyards, your fig trees and olive trees the locust devoured; Yet you returned not to me, says the LORD. 10 I sent upon you a pestilence like that of Egypt, and with the sword I slew your young men; Your horses I let be captured, to your nostrils I brought the stench of your camps; Yet you returned not to me, says the LORD. 11 I brought upon you such upheaval as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah: you were like a brand plucked from the fire; Yet you returned not to me, says the LORD. 12 So now I will deal with you in my own way, O Israel! and since I will deal thus with you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel: 13 Him who formed the mountains, and created the wind, and declares to man his thoughts; Who made the dawn and the darkness, and strides upon the heights of the earth: The LORD, the God of hosts by name.

Chapter 5

1 Hear this word which I utter over you, a lament, O house of Israel: 2 She is fallen, to rise no more, the virgin Israel; She lies abandoned upon her land, with no one to raise her up. 3 For thus says the Lord GOD: The city that marched out with a thousand shall be left without a hundred, Another that marched out with a hundred shall be left with ten, of the house of Israel. 4 For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: Seek me, that you may live, 5 but do not seek Bethel; Do not come to Gilgal, and do not cross to Beer-sheba. For Gilgal shall be led into exile, and Bethel shall become nought. 6 Seek the LORD, that you may live, lest he come upon the house of Joseph like a fire That shall consume, with none to quench it for the house of Israel: 8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn, and darkens day into night; Who summons the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the surface of the earth; 9 Who flashes destruction upon the strong, and brings ruin upon the fortress; whose name is LORD. 7 Woe to those who turn judgment to wormwood and cast justice to the ground! 10 They hate him who reproves at the gate and abhor him who speaks the truth. 11 Therefore, because you have trampled upon the weak and exacted of them levies of grain, Though you have built houses of hewn stone, you shall not live in them! Though you have planted choice vineyards, you shall not drink their wine! 12 Yes, I know how many are your crimes, how grievous your sins: Oppressing the just, accepting bribes, repelling the needy at the gate! 13 Therefore the prudent man is silent at this time, for it is an evil time. 14 Seek good and not evil, that you may live; Then truly will the LORD, the God of hosts, be with you as you claim! 15 Hate evil and love good, and let justice prevail at the gate; Then it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will have pity on the remnant of Joseph. 16 Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord: In every square there shall be lamentation, and in every street they shall cry, Alas! Alas! They shall summon the farmers to wail and professional mourners to lament, 17 And in every vineyard there shall be lamentation when I pass through your midst, says the LORD. 18 Woe to those who yearn for the day of the LORD! What will this day of the LORD mean for you? Darkness and not light! 19 As if a man went to flee from a lion, and a bear should meet him; Or as if on entering his house he were to rest his hand against the wall, and a snake should bite him. 20 Will not the day of the LORD be darkness and not light, gloom without any brightness? 21 I hate, I spurn your feasts, I take no pleasure in your solemnities; 22 Your cereal offerings I will not accept, nor consider your stall-fed peace offerings. 23 Away with your noisy songs! I will not listen to the melodies of your harps. But if you would offer me holocausts, 24 then let justice surge like water, and goodness like an unfailing stream. 25 Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings for forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? 26 You will carry away Sakkuth, your king, and Kaiwan, your star god, the images that you have made for yourselves; 27 For I will exile you beyond Damascus, say I, the LORD, the God of hosts by name.

Chapter 6

1 Woe to the complacent in Zion, to the overconfident on the mount of Samaria, Leaders of a nation favored from the first, to whom the people of Israel have recourse! 2 Pass over to Calneh and see, go from there to Hamath the great, and down to Gath of the Philistines! Are you better than these kingdoms, or is your territory wider than theirs? 3 You would put off the evil day, yet you hasten the reign of violence! 4 Lying upon beds of ivory, stretched comfortably on their couches, They eat lambs taken from the flock, and calves from the stall! 5 Improvising to the music of the harp, like David, they devise their own accompaniment. 6 They drink wine from bowls and anoint themselves with the best oils; yet they are not made ill by the collapse of Joseph! 7 Therefore, now they shall be the first to go into exile, and their wanton revelry shall be done away with. 8 The Lord GOD has sworn by his very self, say I, the LORD, the God of hosts: I abhor the pride of Jacob, I hate his castles, and I give over the city with everything in it; 9 Should there remain ten men in a single house, these shall die. 10 Only a few shall be left to carry the dead out of the houses; If one says to a man inside a house, "Is anyone with you?" and he answers, "No one," Then he shall say, "Silence!" for no one must mention the name of the LORD. 11 Indeed, the LORD has given the command to shatter the great house to bits, and reduce the small house to rubble. 12 Can horses run across a cliff? or can one plow the sea with oxen? Yet you have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of justice into wormwood. 13 You rejoice in Lodebar, and say, "Have we not, by our own strength, seized for ourselves Karnaim?" 14 Beware, I am raising up against you, O house of Israel, say I, the LORD, the God of hosts, A nation that shall oppress you from Labo of Hamath even to the Wadi Arabah.

Chapter 7

1 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: He was forming a locust swarm when the late growth began to come up (the late growth after the king's mowing). 2 While they were eating all the grass in the land, I said: Forgive, O Lord GOD! How can Jacob stand? He is so small! 3 And the LORD repented of this. "It shall not be," said the Lord GOD. 4 Then the Lord GOD showed me this: he called for a judgment by fire. It had devoured the great abyss, and was consuming the land, 5 when I said: Cease, O Lord GOD! How can Jacob stand? He is so small! 6 The LORD repented of this. "This also shall not be," said the Lord GOD. 7 Then the Lord GOD showed me this: he was standing by a wall, plummet in hand. 8 The LORD asked me, "What do you see, Amos?" And when I answered, "A plummet," the Lord said: See, I will lay the plummet in the midst of my people Israel; I will forgive them no longer. 9 The high places of Isaac shall be laid waste, and the sanctuaries of Israel made desolate; I will attack the house of Jeroboam with the sword. 10 Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam, king of Israel: "Amos has conspired against you here within Israel; the country cannot endure all his words. 11 For this is what Amos says: Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be exiled from its land." 12 To Amos, Amaziah said: "Off with you, visionary, flee to the land of Judah! There earn your bread by prophesying, 13 but never again prophesy in Bethel; for it is the king's sanctuary and a royal temple." 14 Amos answered Amaziah, "I was no prophet, nor have I belonged to a company of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. 15 The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel. 16 Now hear the word of the LORD!" You say: prophesy not against Israel, preach not against the house of Isaac. 17 Now thus says the LORD: Your wife shall be made a harlot in the city, and your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword; Your land shall be divided by measuring line, and you yourself shall die in an unclean land; Israel shall be exiled far from its land.

Chapter 8

1 This is what the Lord GOD showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. 2 "What do you see, Amos?" he asked. I answered, "A basket of ripe fruit." Then the LORD said to me: The time is ripe to have done with my people Israel; I will forgive them no longer.3 The temple songs shall become wailings on that day, says the Lord GOD. Many shall be the corpses, strewn everywhere. - Silence! 4 Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land! 5 "When will the new moon be over," you ask, "that we may sell our grain, and the sabbath, that we may display the wheat? We will diminish the ephah, add to the shekel, and fix our scales for cheating! 6 We will buy the lowly man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals; even the refuse of the wheat we will sell!" 7 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Never will I forget a thing they have done! 8 Shall not the land tremble because of this, and all who dwell in it mourn, While it rises up and tosses like the Nile, and settles back like the river of Egypt? 9 On that day, says the Lord GOD, I will make the sun set at midday and cover the earth with darkness in broad daylight. 10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentations. I will cover the loins of all with sackcloth and make every head bald. I will make them mourn as for an only son, and bring their day to a bitter end. 11 Yes, days are coming, says the Lord GOD, when I will send famine upon the land: Not a famine of bread, or thirst for water, but for hearing the word of the LORD. 12 Then shall they wander from sea to sea and rove from the north to the east In search of the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it. 13 On that day, fair virgins and young men shall faint from thirst; 14 Those who swear by the shameful idol of Samaria, "By the life of your god, O Dan!" "By the life of your love, O Beersheba!" those shall fall, never to rise again.

Chapter 9

1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: Strike the bases, so that the doorjambs totter till you break them off on the heads of them all! Those who are left I will slay with the sword; not one shall flee, no survivor shall escape. 2 Though they break through to the nether world, even from there my hand shall bring them out; Though they climb to the heavens, I will bring them down; 3 Though they hide on the summit of Carmel, there too I will hunt them out and take them away; Though they hide from my gaze in the bottom of the sea, I will command the serpent there to bite them; 4 Though they are led into captivity by their enemies, there will I command the sword to slay them. I will fix my gaze upon them for evil, and not for good, 5 I, the Lord GOD of hosts. I melt the earth with my touch, so that all who dwell on it mourn, While it all rises up like the Nile, and settles back like the river of Egypt; 6 I have built heaven, my upper chamber, and established my vault over the earth; I summon the waters of the sea and pour them upon the surface of the earth, I, the LORD by name. 7 Are you not like the Ethiopians to me, O men of Israel, says the LORD? Did I not bring the Israelites from the land of Egypt As I brought the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir? 8 The eyes of the Lord GOD are on this sinful kingdom; I will destroy it from off the face of the earth. But I will not destroy the house of Jacob completely, says the LORD. 9 For see, I have given the command to sift the house of Israel among all the nations, As one sifts with a sieve, letting no pebble fall to the ground. 10 By the sword shall all sinners among my people die, those who say, "Evil will not reach or overtake us." 11 On that day I will raise up the fallen hut of David; I will wall up its breaches, raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old, 12 That they may conquer what is left of Edom and all the nations that shall bear my name, say I, the LORD, who will do this. 13 Yes, days are coming, says the LORD, When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the vintager, him who sows the seed; The juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains, and all the hills shall run with it. 14 I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel; they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities, Plant vineyards and drink the wine, set out gardens and eat the fruits. 15 I will plant them upon their own ground; never again shall they be plucked From the land I have given them, say I, the LORD, your God.

New American Bible © Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

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