Amos 9

1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Topple them on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the rest with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape.

I saw My Lord stationed by the altar, and he said—Smite the capital—that the sills, may tremble, Yea break them off on the head of them all, and, the last of them, with the sword, will I slay, —He that fleeth of them, shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them, shall not make good his escape.

2 Though they dig down to Sheol, from there My hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, from there I will pull them down. (Sheol h7585)

Though they break through into hades, from thence, shall my hand fetch them, —and, though they ascend the heavens, from thence, will I bring them down; (Sheol h7585)

3 Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.

And, though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, from thence, will I search for them and take them, —and, though they conceal themselves from before mine eyes at the bottom of the sea, from thence, will I command the serpent and he shall bite them;

4 Though they are driven by their enemies into captivity, there I will command the sword to slay them. I will fix My eyes upon them for harm and not for good.”

And, though they go into captivity before their enemies, from thence, will I command the sword, and it shall slay them, —So will I set mine eyes upon them for calamity, and not for blessing.

5 The Lord GOD of Hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, and all its dwellers mourn— all the land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt—

Now, My Lord, Yahweh of hosts, is he—who toucheth the earth, and it melteth, and all that dwell therein, mourn; and it cometh up like the Nile, all of it, and subsideth like the river of Egypt:

6 He builds His upper rooms in the heavens and founds His vault upon the earth. He summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth. The LORD is His name.

Who buildeth, in the heavens, his upper rooms, and, as for his vault, upon the earth, hath he founded it, —who calleth to the waters of the sea, and poureth them out over the face of the land, Yahweh, is his name.

7 “Are you not like the Cushites to Me, O children of Israel?” declares the LORD. “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir?

Like the sons of the Ethiopians, are not ye, unto me, O sons of Israel? Demandeth Yahweh: Was it not, Israel, I brought up out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines out of Caphtor, and the Syrians out of Kir?

8 Surely the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”

Lo! the eyes of My Lord, Yahweh, are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the ground, —save only that I will not, utterly destroy, the house of Jacob, Declareth Yahweh.

9 “For surely I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is sifted in a sieve; but not a pebble will reach the ground.

For lo! I am giving command, and will sift, throughout all the nations, the house of Israel, —as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet shall there not fall a kernel, to the earth.

10 All the sinners among My people will die by the sword— all those who say, ‘Disaster will never draw near or confront us.’”

By the sword, shall die all the sinners of my people, —who say, The calamity, shall not overtake and close in before us.

11 “In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,

In that day, will I raise up the pavilion of David, that is lying prostrate, —and wall up the breaches of them, and, his ruins, will I raise up, and will build it, as in the days of age-past times:

12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear My name,”

That they on whom my name hath been called, may take possession, of the residue of Edom and of all the nations, Declareth Yahweh, who executeth this.

13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, with which all the hills will flow.

Lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, that, the plowman, shall overtake, the reaper, and, he that treadeth out the grapes, him that traileth the seed, —so shall, the mountains, drip sweet wine, and, all the hills, shall melt;

14 I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.

And I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build waste cities, and inhabit [them], and plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof, and lay out gardens, and eat the fruit thereof:

15 I will firmly plant them in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land that I have given them,”

So will I plant them upon their own soil, —and will not uproot them any more from off their own soil, which I have given to them, saith Yahweh thy God.