< 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 My Lord stationed by the altar, and he said—Smite the capital—that the sills, may tremble, Yea break them off on the head of them all, and, the last of them, with the sword, will I slay, —He that fleeth of them, shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them, shall not make good his 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 )
Though they break through into hades, from thence, shall my hand fetch them, —and, though they ascend the heavens, from thence, will I bring them down; (Sheol )
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.
And, though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, from thence, will I search for them and take them, —and, though they conceal themselves from before mine eyes at the bottom of the sea, from thence, will I command the serpent and he shall 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.”
And, though they go into captivity before their enemies, from thence, will I command the sword, and it shall slay them, —So will I set mine eyes upon them for calamity, and not for blessing.
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.
Now, My Lord, Yahweh of hosts, is he—who toucheth the earth, and it melteth, and all that dwell therein, mourn; and it cometh up like the Nile, all of it, and subsideth 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.
Who buildeth, in the heavens, his upper rooms, and, as for his vault, upon the earth, hath he founded it, —who calleth to the waters of the sea, and poureth them out over the face of the land, Yahweh, 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].
Like the sons of the Ethiopians, are not ye, unto me, O sons of Israel? Demandeth Yahweh: Was it not, Israel, I brought up out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines out of Caphtor, and the Syrians out of 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.
Lo! the eyes of My Lord, Yahweh, are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the ground, —save only that I will not, utterly destroy, the house of Jacob, Declareth Yahweh.
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 lo! I am giving command, and will sift, throughout all the nations, the house of Israel, —as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet shall there not fall a kernel, to the earth.
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.”
By the sword, shall die all the sinners of my people, —who say, The calamity, shall not overtake and close in before 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, will I raise up the pavilion of David, that is lying prostrate, —and wall up the breaches of them, and, his ruins, will I raise up, and will build it, as in the days of age-past times:
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 on whom my name hath been called, may take possession, of the residue of Edom and of all the nations, Declareth Yahweh, who executeth this.
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].
Lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, that, the plowman, shall overtake, the reaper, and, he that treadeth out the grapes, him that traileth the seed, —so shall, the mountains, drip sweet wine, and, all the hills, shall melt;
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].
And I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build waste cities, and inhabit [them], and plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof, and lay out gardens, and eat the fruit thereof:
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.”
So will I plant them upon their own soil, —and will not uproot them any more from off their own soil, which I have given to them, saith Yahweh thy God.