Amos 4
1 Listen to this message, you well-fed cows of Bashan who live on Mount Samaria, who oppress the poor and crush the needy, and who order your husbands, “Bring us drinks!”
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: Watch out! For the time is coming when they will drag you away with hooks, each one of you will be like a fish on a hook.
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 leave through breaches in the city walls, thrown out in the direction of Mount Hermon.
And ye shall go out at the breaches, every one right forward, And ye shall be thrown into a castle, saith Jehovah.
4 Why don't you go to Bethel and sin? Go to Gilgal and add to your sins even more? Offer your sacrifices in the morning, bring your tithes after three days.
Go, now, to Bethel, and transgress; At Gilgal multiply transgression! Bring your sacrifices every morning, And your tithes every three years!
5 Burn a thank offering of bread made with yeast, and announce what you're giving as freewill offerings so everyone will know. This is what you love to do! declares the Lord God.
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 It was I who made sure you had nothing to eat in all your cities, and a lack of food wherever you lived, but still you wouldn't return to me, says the Lord.
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 It was I who kept the rain from falling when there was still three months before harvest. One city would have rain, while another would not. One field would have rain, another would dry up from lack of rain.
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 wandered from town to town looking for water, yet were still thirsty. But still you did not return to me, declares the Lord.
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 your many farms and vineyards with blight and mildew; locusts devoured your fig trees and olive trees. But still you did not return to me, declares the Lord.
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 a plague on you like I did in Egypt. I killed your young men in battle; I took away your horses; I made you smell the stench of dead bodies in your camps. But still you did not return to me, declares the Lord.
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 destroyed as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick pulled out of a fire. But still you did not return to me, declares the Lord.
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, this is what I am going to do to you, Israel. Because I am going to do this, Israel, prepare to meet your God!
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 Watch! The One who made the mountains, who created the winds, who reveals his thoughts to humankind, who turns the sunlight into darkness, who walks on the high places of the earth—the Lord God of power 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.
