Amos 9

1 I saw the Lord standing over an altar, and he said: “Strike the hinges, and let the lintels be shaken. For there is avarice at the head of them all, and I will execute the very last of them with the sword. There will be no escape for them. They will flee, and he who flees from among them will not be saved.

I saw the Lord towering above the altar, and he commanded: Strike the tops of the pillars so that the foundations may shake, bring them down on the heads of the people below. The rest of them I will slay with the sword: no one will get away, no one will escape.

2 If they descend even to the underworld, from there my hand will draw them out; and if they ascend even to the sky, from there will I pull them down. (Sheol h7585)

If they dig down to Sheol, there will my hand take them. If they climb up to the heavens, from there will I bring them down. (Sheol h7585)

3 And if they were hiding at the top of Carmel, when searching there, I would steal them away, and if they conceal themselves from my eyes in the depths of the sea, I will command the serpent there and he will bite them.

If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there will I search them out and take them. If they hide out of my sight at the bottom of the sea, there will I command the sea serpent to bite them.

4 And if they go into captivity in the sight of their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it will kill them. And I will set my eyes over them for harm and not for good.”

If they are taken into captivity by their enemies, there will I command the sword to slay them. I will keep my eye on them but for evil and not for good.

5 And the Lord God of hosts, he touches the earth and it will melt. And all who dwell in it will mourn. And everyone will rise up like a river, and will flow away like the river of Egypt.

It is the Lord the God of hosts, who touches the earth and it trembles, all who live on it mourn. The earth rises up like the Nile, and sinks like the Nile of Egypt.

6 He establishes his ascension into heaven, and he has founded his bundle on the earth. He calls the waters of the ocean, and pours them over the face of the earth. The Lord is his name.

The one who builds in the heavens, who sets the dome of the sky over the earth, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth: the Lord is his name.

7 Sons of Israel, are you not like the sons of the Ethiopians to me, says the Lord? Did I not cause Israel to rise up out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines out of Cappadocia, and the Syrians out of Cyrene?

To me, Israelites, you are just like the Cushites, says the Lord. Yes, I brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt, but also the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir!

8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinning kingdom, and I will wipe it from the face of the earth. Though truly, when destroying, I will not wipe away the house of Jacob, says the Lord.

Behold the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom: I will destroy it from the face of the earth! But I will not completely destroy the house of Jacob, says the Lord.

9 For behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, as wheat is sifted in a sieve. And not even one small stone will fall to the ground.

For behold I am about to give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations just as one shakes grain in a sieve, but not a pebble shall fall to the ground.

10 All the sinners of my people will die by the sword. They say, “Disaster will not come near us, and it will not overcome us.”

All the sinners of my people, who deny that disaster will touch or befall them, will die by the sword.

11 In that day, I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which is fallen. And I will repair the breaches in its walls, and I will restore that which collapsed. And I will rebuild it, just as in the days of antiquity,

On that day I will raise up the fallen house of David, I will wall up its gaps and raise up its ruins, I will rebuild it as it was long ago.

12 so that they may possess the remnant of Idumea and all the nations, for my name has been invoked over them, says the Lord who does this.

They will possess again the rest of Edom, and all the nations which once you ruled for me, says the Lord, who will do this.

13 Behold, the days pass, says the Lord, and the plower will overtake the harvester, and the treader of grapes will overtake the sower of seed. And the mountains will drip sweetness, and every hill will be cultivated.

Listen! The days are coming, says the Lord, when the harvest is too big to reap before it is time to plow, when the grapes cannot be all trod before it is time to sow, when the mountains will run with sweet wine, and every hill will flow with it.

14 And I will turn back the captivity of my people Israel. And they will rebuild the deserted cities and inhabit them. And they will plant vineyards and drink their wine. And they will create gardens and eat their fruits.

I will bring back my people Israel, they will rebuild waste cities and inhabit them, plant vineyards and drink their wine, make gardens and eat their fruit.

15 And I will plant them on their own soil. And I will no longer root them out of their own land, which I have given them, says the Lord your God.

I will plant them on their own soil, and they will never again be uprooted from their land which I have given them, says the Lord your God.