Amos 9

1 I saw the Lord standing on the altar: and he said, Strike the mercy-seat, and the porch shall be shaken: and cut through into the heads of all; and I will kill the remnant of them with the sword: no one of them fleeing shall escape, and no one of them, striving to save himself shall be delivered.

Then I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: Strike the tops of the Temple pillars so that the foundations shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people below. Those who survive I will kill by the sword. None of them will escape, not a single one.

2 Though they hid themselves in hell, thence shall my hand drag them forth; and though they go up to heaven, thence will I bring them down. (Sheol h7585)

Even if they dig down into Sheol, I will catch them and pull them up. Even if they climb up to heaven, I will bring them down. (Sheol h7585)

3 If they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, thence will I search [them] out and take them; and if they should go down from my presence into the depths of the sea, there will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them.

Even if they hide themselves at the top of Mount Carmel, I will search for them and catch them. Even if they hide from me at the bottom of the sea, I will command the sea serpent to bite them.

4 And if they should go into captivity before the face of their enemies, there will I command the sword, and it shall kill them: and I will set mine eyes against them for evil, and not for good.

Even if they are driven into exile by their enemies, I will order them put to death by the sword. I will watch them carefully—and for evil, not for good.

5 And the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, [is he] that takes hold of the land, and causes it to shake, and all that inhabit it shall mourn; and its destruction shall go up as a river, and shall descend as the river of Egypt.

The Lord God of power touches the earth and it melts, and all who live there mourn. The earth rises up like the Nile river in flood, and then falls again.

6 [It is he] that builds his ascent up to the sky, and establishes his promise on the earth; who calls the water of the sea, and pours it out on the face of the earth; the Lord Almighty is his name.

The Lord builds his upper rooms in heaven, and places the foundations on the earth. He calls for the water of the seas, and pours it down as rain upon the earth—the Lord is his name!

7 Are not you to me as the sons of the Ethiopians, O children of Israel? says the Lord. Did I not bring Israel up out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Cappadocia, and the Syrians out of the deep?

Aren't the Ethiopians as important to me as you, people of Israel? asks the Lord. Yes, I brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir.

8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the kingdom of sinners, and I will cut it off from the face of the earth; only I will not utterly cut off the house of Jacob, says the Lord.

Watch out! I'm watching this sinful kingdom. I will eradicate it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not completely destroy the descendants of Jacob.

9 For I [will] give commandment, and sift the house of Israel amongst all the Gentiles, as [corn] is sifted in a sieve, and [yet] a fragment shall not in any wise fall upon the earth.

See what I'm doing! I will give the command, and the people of Israel will be shaken among the nations like flour through a sieve, and nothing will fall to the ground.

10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, Calamities shall certainly not draw near, nor come upon us.

All the sinners of my people will be killed by the sword—all those who say, “Nothing bad is going to happen; no disaster will fall on us.”

11 In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and will rebuild the ruins of it, and will set up the parts thereof that have been broken down, and will build it up as in the ancient days:

On that day I will restore the fallen kingdom of David; I will repair the broken walls, I will rebuild the ruins, and I will make it as it was in days of old.

12 that the remnant of men, and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called, may earnestly seek [me], says the Lord who does all these things.

And they will possess what is left of Edom and all the nations that were once mine, declares the Lord. He will make this happen.

13 Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when the harvest shall overtake the vintage, and the grapes shall ripen at seed time; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall be planted.

Look! The time is coming, says the Lord, when the reaper will overtake the plowman, and the one who treads the grapes will overtake the one who sows the seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, and flow from all the hills.

14 And I will turn the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities, and shall inhabit [them]; and they shall plant vineyards, and shall drink the wine from them; and they shall form gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

I will bring my people back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, and they shall live in them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will plant gardens and eat the fruit they produce.

15 And I will plant them on their land, and they shall no more be plucked up from the land which I have given them, says the Lord God Almighty.

I will plant them in their own land, and they shall never be uprooted again from the land I have given them, declares the Lord your God.