Amos 4

1 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, Who [are] on the mountain of Samaria, Who are oppressing the poor, Who are bruising the needy, Who are saying to their lords: “Bring in, and we drink.”

Give ear to this word, you cows of Bashan, who are in the hill of Samaria, by whom the poor are kept down, and those in need are crushed; who say to their lords, Get out the wine and give us drink.

2 Lord YHWH has sworn by His holiness, “Behold, days are coming on you, And He has taken you away with hooks, And your posterity with fish-hooks.

The Lord God has taken an oath by his holy name, that the days are coming when they will take you away with hooks, and the rest of you with fish-hooks.

3 And [by] breaches you go forth, A woman before her, And you have cast down the high place,” A declaration of YHWH.

And you will go out through the broken places, every one going straight before her, and you will be sent into Harmon, says the Lord.

4 “Enter Beth-El, and transgress, At Gilgal multiply transgression, And bring in your sacrifices every morning, Your tithes every third year.

Come to Beth-el and do evil; to Gilgal, increasing the number of your sins; come with your offerings every morning and your tenths every three days:

5 And burn a thank-offering with leaven as incense, And proclaim willing gifts, sound! For so you have loved, O sons of Israel,” A declaration of Lord YHWH.

Let that which is leavened be burned as a praise-offering, let the news of your free offerings be given out publicly; for this is pleasing to you, O children of Israel, says the Lord.

6 “And I also—I have given to you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, And lack of bread in all your places, And you have not turned back to Me,” A declaration of YHWH.

But in all your towns I have kept food from your teeth, and in all your places there has been need of bread: and still you have not come back to me, says the Lord.

7 “And I also—I have withheld from you the rain, While yet three months to harvest, And I have sent rain on one city, And on another city I do not send rain, One portion is rained on, And the portion on which it does not rain withers.

And I have kept back the rain from you, when it was still three months before the grain-cutting: I sent rain on one town and kept it back from another: one part was rained on, and the part where there was no rain became a waste.

8 And two or three cities have wandered, To the same city to drink water, And they are not satisfied, And you have not turned back to Me,” A declaration of YHWH.

So two or three towns went wandering to one town looking for water, and did not get enough: and still you have not come back to me, says the Lord.

9 “I have struck you with blasting and with mildew, The abundance of your gardens and of your vineyards, And of your figs, and of your olives, The palmer-worm eats, And you have not turned back to Me,” A declaration of YHWH.

I have sent destruction on your fields by burning and disease: the increase of your gardens and your vine-gardens, your fig-trees and your olive-trees, has been food for worms: and still you have not come back to me, says the Lord.

10 “I have sent among you pestilence by the way of Egypt, I have slain your choice ones by sword, With your captive horses, And I cause the stink of your camps to come up—Even into your nostrils, And you have not turned back to Me,” A declaration of YHWH.

I have sent disease among you, as it was in Egypt: I have put your young men to the sword, and have taken away your horses; I have made the evil smell from your tents come up to your noses: and still you have not come back to me, says the Lord.

11 “I have overturned among you, Like the overturn by God of Sodom and Gomorrah, And you are as a brand delivered from a burning, And you have not turned back to Me,” A declaration of YHWH.

And I have sent destruction among you, as when God sent destruction on Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a burning stick pulled out of the fire: and still you have not come back to me, says the Lord.

12 “Therefore, thus I do to you, O Israel, at last, Because this I do to you, Prepare to meet your God, O Israel.”

So this is what I will do to you, O Israel: and because I will do this to you, be ready for a meeting with your God, O Israel.

13 For behold, the Former of mountains, and Creator of wind, And the Declarer to man what [is] His thought, He is making dawn obscurity, And is treading on high places of earth, YHWH, God of Hosts, [is] His Name!

For see, he who gave form to the mountains and made the wind, giving knowledge of his purpose to man, who makes the morning dark, and is walking on the high places of the earth: the Lord, the God of armies, is his name.