Amos 4

1 You [wealthy women] of Samaria [have grown fat like] [MET] the fat cows of the Bashan [region]. You oppress poor people and you cause needy people to suffer. And you say to your husbands, “Bring us [more wine] to drink!”

Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say unto their lords: 'Bring, that we may feast.'

2 But Yahweh [our] God has said this: “Because I am holy, I solemnly promise this: It will [soon] be the time when you all will be taken [to another country]; [your enemies will take you away as though they are] using sharp hooks [DOU] [to grab you].

The Lord GOD hath sworn by His holiness: Lo, surely the days shall come upon you, that ye shall be taken away with hooks, and your residue with fish-hooks.

3 [Your enemies] will drag you out through breaks/holes [in your city walls], and they will throw you outside the city. [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it!

And ye shall go out at the breaches, every one straight before her; and ye shall be cast into Harmon, saith the LORD.

4 Go to Bethel and Gilgal [towns where many people worship me] and sin more and more [SAR]! [I say that not because I want you to do it], [but because it is what you have always been doing]! Offer sacrifices on the morning [after you arrive], [and bring me] (a tithe/one tenth) of your crops the next day.

Come to Beth-el, and transgress, to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices in the morning, and your tithes after three days;

5 Bring offerings of bread to thank me, and [other] offerings that are not required/commanded, and boast about [these offerings that you bring], because that is what you like to do, [but you do it to impress others, not to please me]. [That is certainly true, because I], Yahweh, have said it.

And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim freewill-offerings and publish them; for so ye love to do, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

6 I [am the one who] caused there to be no food in any of your cities and towns [DOU], but you rejected me in spite of that.

And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the LORD.

7 When it was still three months before [the time of] harvesting [crops], [at the time when your crops needed rain the most], I prevented rain from falling. [Sometimes] I allowed rain to fall on some towns and prevented it from falling on other towns. Rain fell on some fields, but it did not fall on other fields, with the result that [the soil in] those fields [where it did not rain] dried up.

And I also have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city; one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.

8 People would stagger from one town to another town to find water, but they could not even get enough water to drink, but in spite of that, you have not returned to me. [That is certainly true because I], Yahweh, have said it!

So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, and were not satisfied; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the LORD.

9 I caused your grain fields to dry up; I caused your gardens and vineyards to be struck/destroyed by (blight/hot winds) and mildew. [I sent] locusts to eat [the leaves on] your fig trees and olive trees, but in spite of that, you rejected me. [That is certainly true because I], Yahweh, have said it!

I have smitten you with blasting and mildew; the multitude of your gardens and your vineyards and your fig-trees and your olive-trees hath the palmer-worm devoured; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the LORD.

10 I caused you to experience (plagues/severe sicknesses) like the plagues [that I sent to the people] of Egypt. I caused [many of] your young men to die in battles. I allowed [your enemies] to capture your horses. [Many of your soldiers were killed, ] and I caused your camps to be filled with the smell/stink of their [decaying] corpses. But in spite of that, you rejected me. [That is certainly true, because] I, Yahweh, have said it!

I have sent among you the pestilence in the way of Egypt; your young men have I slain with the sword, and have carried away your horses; and I have made the stench of your camp to come up even into your nostrils; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the LORD.

11 I got rid of many of you, like I got rid of [the people in] Sodom and Gomorrah. [Those of] you who [did not die] were like [SIM] a burning stick that was snatched from a fire [so that it would not burn completely]. But in spite of that, you rejected me. [That is certainly true, because I], Yahweh, have said it!

I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the LORD.

12 So [now], you [people of] Israel, I am going to punish you. Prepare to stand in front of me, your God, [when I judge you]!

Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel; because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

13 I created the mountains, and [I] created winds. I reveal to humans what I am thinking. I [sometimes] cause the daylight to become dark [like the night]. I [rule over everything]; I [even] walk on the highest mountains on the earth! I am the Commander of the armies of angels!”

For, lo, He that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth; the LORD, the God of hosts, is His name.