Amos 9

1 I saw the Lord standing upon the altar, and he said: Strike the hinges, and let the lintels be shook: for there is covetousness in the head of them all, and I will slay the last of them with the sword: there shall be no flight for them: they shall flee, and he that shall flee of them shall not 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 go down even to hell, thence shall my hand bring them out: and though they climb 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 And though they be hid in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them away from thence: and though they hide themselves from my eyes in the depth 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 go into captivity before their enemies, there will I command the sword, and it shall kill them. And I will set my eyes upon 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 God of hosts is he who toucheth the earth, and it shall melt: and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up as a river, and shall run down 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 He that buildeth his ascension in heaven, and hath founded his bundle upon the earth: who calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth, the Lord 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 as the children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel, saith the Lord? did not I bring up Israel, out of the land of Egypt: and the Philistines out of Cappadocia, and the Syrians out of Cyrene?

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 sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth: but yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith 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 behold I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, as corn is sifted in a sieve: and there shall not a little stone fall to the ground.

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 fall by the sword: who say: The evils shall not approach, and shall not 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 I will close up the breaches of the walls thereof, and repair what was fallen: and I will rebuild it as in the days of old.

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 they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all nations, because my name is invoked upon them: saith the Lord that doth 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, saith the Lord, when the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed: and the mountains shall drop sweetness, and every hill shall be tilled.

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 bring back the captivity of my people Israel: and they shall build the abandoned cities, and inhabit them: and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine of them: and shall make gardens, and eat the fruits 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 upon their own land: and I will no more pluck them out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.

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.