Amos 9

1 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.

I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Topple them on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the rest with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape.

2 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)

Though they dig down to Sheol, from there My hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, from there I will pull them down. (Sheol h7585)

3 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.

Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.

4 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.”

Though they are driven by their enemies into captivity, there I will command the sword to slay them. I will fix My eyes upon them for harm and not for good.”

5 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.

The Lord GOD of Hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, and all its dwellers mourn— all the land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt—

6 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.

He builds His upper rooms in the heavens and founds His vault upon the earth. He summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth. The LORD is His name.

7 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].

“Are you not like the Cushites to Me, O children of Israel?” declares the LORD. “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir?

8 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.

Surely the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”

9 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].

“For surely I will give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is sifted in a sieve; but not a pebble will reach the ground.

10 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.”

All the sinners among My people will die by the sword— all those who say, ‘Disaster will never draw near or confront us.’”

11 “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.

“In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,

12 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.

that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear My name,”

13 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].

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, with which all the hills will flow.

14 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].

I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.

15 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.”

I will firmly plant them in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land that I have given them,”