Amos 9

1 I saw the LORD standing upon the altar: and he said, Strike the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that flees of them shall not flee away, and he that escapes of them shall not be delivered.

Yahweh [showed me another vision. In the vision, ] I saw him standing next to the altar. He said, “Shake the tops of the pillars [of the temple], until they become loose and fall down, so that even the foundation will shake. Then cause the [pieces of the temple] to fall down on the people [who are inside]. I will kill with a sword anyone who [tries to] flee; no one will escape.

2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: (Sheol h7585)

If they dig deep pits in the ground, or if they try to climb up to the sky [in order to escape], I will reach out and grab them. (Sheol h7585)

3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:

If they go to the top of Carmel [Mountain] to escape, I will search for them and seize them. If they [try to] hide from me at the bottom of the sea, I will command the [huge] sea monster to bite them.

4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.

If their enemies [capture them and] force them to go to other countries, I will command that they be killed there with swords. I am determined [IDM] to get rid of them, not to help them.”

5 And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that touches the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.

When the Commander of the armies of angels touches the earth, it melts, and all over the earth [many people die, and the others] mourn for them. [It is as though] Yahweh causes the earth repeatedly to rise and fall like [SIM] the Nile [River] rises and falls.

6 It is he that builds his stories in the heaven, and has founded his troop in the earth; he that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name.

He builds his [beautiful] palace in heaven, and sets/causes the sky to be like a dome over the earth. He scoops up the water from the ocean and [puts it into clouds], and then empties [the clouds] onto the earth. His name is Yahweh.

7 Are all of you not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? says the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?

And Yahweh says, “You people of Israel, you are certainly [RHQ] [now no more important to me] than the people of Ethiopia. I brought your [ancestors] here from Egypt, but I also brought the people of Philistia from Crete [Island], and I brought the people of Syria from the Kir [region].

8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says the LORD.

I [SYN], Yahweh the Lord, have seen that you people in the kingdom [of Israel] are very sinful, so I will (destroy you/wipe you off the earth). But I will not get rid of all you descendants [MTY] of Jacob. [That is what will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, have said it.

9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.

When I command it, [it will be as though] I will shake you Israeli people [who are living] in various nations, like [MET] [a farmer] shakes a sieve [to separate] the stone pebbles [from the grain], in order that they do not fall on the ground [with the grain].

10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.

From among my people, all you sinful people who say, ‘We will not experience disasters; nothing evil will happen to us,’ will be killed by [your enemies’] swords.”

11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

“The kingdom [over which King] David [ruled has been destroyed, like] [MET] a house that collapsed and then became ruins. But some day I will cause it to be a kingdom again. I will cause it to prosper again just like it did previously.

12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, says the LORD that does this.

When that happens, your [armies] will seize/capture the remaining part of Edom [region] again, and they will also seize the land in other nations that previously belonged to me [MTY]. I, Yahweh, have said [that I will do these things], and I will certainly cause them to happen.

13 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that sows seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.

There will be a time [when your crops will grow very well]. Very soon after the crops are harvested, farmers will plow the ground [to plant more crops in it again], and soon after the vineyards are planted, [farmers will harvest] grapes and tread on them [to make wine]. [And because there will be a lot of] wine, [it will seem as though] wine is flowing down from the hills [DOU].

14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

I will cause you, my Israeli people, to prosper again. You will rebuild your towns and live in them. You will plant vineyards and then drink the wine [made from the grapes that grows in them].

15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, says the LORD your God.

I will enable you to live [MET] in your land again, the land that I gave to [your ancestors], and never again will you be forced to leave it. [That is what will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, have said it.”