Amos 4
1 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy, who say to your husbands, “Bring us more to drink.”
Hear these words, O ye kine of Bashan, That are on the mountain of Samaria; That oppress the poor; that crush the needy; That say to your master, Bring, and let us drink!
2 The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness: “Behold, the days are coming when you will be taken away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.
The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by his holiness; Behold, the days shall come upon you When ye shall be taken away with hooks, And your residue with fishing-hooks.
3 You will go out through broken walls, each one straight ahead of her, and you will be cast out toward Harmon,”
And ye shall go out at the breaches, every one right forward, And ye shall be thrown into a castle, saith Jehovah.
4 “Go to Bethel and transgress; rebel even more at Gilgal! Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days.
Go, now, to Bethel, and transgress; At Gilgal multiply transgression! Bring your sacrifices every morning, And your tithes every three years!
5 Offer leavened bread as a thank offering, and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings. For that is what you children of Israel love to do,”
Burn a thank-offering from your extortions, And proclaim the free-will offerings; publish them abroad! For this is your delight, ye sons of Israel, Saith the Lord, Jehovah.
6 “I beset all your cities with cleanness of teeth and all your towns with lack of bread, yet you did not return to Me,”
I also have caused cleanness of teeth in all your cities, And want of bread in all your places; And yet ye have not returned to me, saith Jehovah.
7 “I also withheld the rain from you when the harvest was three months away. I sent rain on one city but withheld it from another. One field received rain; another without rain withered.
I also have withholden from you the rain three months before the harvest; I have caused it to rain upon one city, And upon another city have I not caused it to rain; One piece of ground hath been rained upon, And another, upon which I have not caused it to rain, hath withered.
8 People staggered from city to city for water to drink, but they were not satisfied; yet you did not return to Me,”
Two or three cities have gone to one city, To drink water, and have not been satisfied; And yet ye have not returned to me, saith Jehovah.
9 “I struck you with blight and mildew in your growing gardens and vineyards; the locust devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you did not return to Me,”
I have smitten you with blasting and mildew; The locust hath devoured your many gardens, Your vineyards, your fig-trees, and your olive-trees; Yet have ye not returned to me, saith Jehovah.
10 “I sent plagues among you like those of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp, yet you did not return to Me,”
I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt; I have slain your young men with the sword, And your horses have I led into captivity; I have made the smell of your camps to come up into your nostrils; And yet ye have not returned to me, saith Jehovah.
11 “Some of you I overthrew as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze, yet you did not return to Me,”
I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah; And ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning; And yet ye have not returned to me, saith Jehovah.
12 “Therefore, that is what I will do to you, O Israel, and since I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!
Therefore thus will I deal with thee, O Israel! Yet since I will thus deal with thee, Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel!
13 For behold, He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind and reveals His thoughts to man, who turns the dawn to darkness and strides on the heights of the earth— the LORD, the God of Hosts, is His name.”
For behold, he formed the mountains, and created the wind; He declareth to man what is his thought; He maketh the morning darkness, And walketh upon the high places of the earth; Jehovah, God of hosts, is his name.
