Amos 4
1 Hear ye this word, ye heifers of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, —who say to their lords, Bring in, and let us drink!
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!”
2 Sworn hath My Lord, Yahweh, by his own holiness, That lo! days, are coming upon you, —when he will take you away with hooks, and your followers with fishhooks;
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.
3 And, through fissures, shall ye go out, every woman, straight before her, —and ye shall be thrust forth towards the castle, Declareth Yahweh.
You will leave through breaches in the city walls, thrown out in the direction of Mount Hermon.
4 Enter ye Bethel, and transgress, At Gilgal, cause transgression, to abound, —Yea, carry in, every morning, your sacrifices, every three days, your tithes;
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.
5 Yea, burn thou incense, of that which is leavened, as a thank-offering, and proclaim ye freewill-offerings, let them be known, —for, so, ye love [to have it], ye sons of Israel, Declareth My Lord, Yahweh.
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.
6 Moreover also, I, have given you cleanness of teeth throughout all your cities, and want of bread throughout all your dwelling-places, —Yet have ye not returned unto me, Declareth Yahweh.
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.
7 Moreover also, I, have withholden from you the abundant rain, when yet there were only three mouths to the harvest, Or I might rain upon one city, and, on another city, might not rain, —One portion, would be rained upon, and, the portion whereupon it should not rain, would be dried up;
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.
8 Then would two or three cities totter to one city to drink water, without being satisfied, —Yet have ye not returned unto me, Declareth Yahweh.
People wandered from town to town looking for water, yet were still thirsty. But still you did not return to me, declares the Lord.
9 I have smitten you with blight and with mildew, When your gardens and your vineyards and your fig-trees and your olive-trees have increased, the creeping locust would devour them, —Yet have ye not returned unto me, Declareth Yahweh.
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.
10 I have sent among you pestilence, in the manner of Egypt, I have slain, with the sword, your young men, and therewith have been taken captive your horses, And I have caused to ascend—the stench of your camps, even into your own nostrils, Yet ye have not returned unto me, Declareth Yahweh.
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.
11 I have made an overthrew among you, like the divine overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye have become like a brand snatched out of the burning, —Yet hate ye not returned unto me, Declareth Yahweh.
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.
12 Therefore, thus, will I do unto thee, O Israel, —Because this thing I will do unto thee, Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
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!
13 For lo! He that fashioned the mountains, and created the wind, and who telleth the son of earth what is his thought, who turneth dawn into darkness, and marcheth upon the high places of the earth, Yahweh, God of hosts, is his name!
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!
