< Amos 4 >
1 Hear this word, ye cows of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
Hear you this word, you heifers of the land of Basan that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, and trample on the needy, which say to their masters, Give us that we may drink.
2 The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.
The Lord swears by his holiness, that, behold, the days come upon you, when they shall take you with weapons, and fiery destroyers shall cast those with you into boiling cauldrons.
3 And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD.
And you shall be brought forth naked in the presence of each other; and you shall be cast forth on the mountain Romman, says the Lord.
4 Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:
You went into Bethel, and sinned, and you multiplied sin at Galgala; and you brought your meat-offerings in the morning, [and] your tithes every third day.
5 And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and declare the free offerings: for this pleaseth you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
And they read the law without, and called for public professions: proclaim aloud that the children of Israel have loved these things, says the Lord.
6 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 to me, saith the LORD.
And I will give you dullness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places: yet you returned not to me, says the Lord.
7 And also I have withheld 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 on which it rained not withered.
Also I withheld from you the rain three months before the harvest: and I will rain upon one city, and on another city I will not rain: one part shall be rained upon, and the part on which I shall not rain shall be dried up.
8 So two or three cities wandered to one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned to me, saith the LORD.
And [the inhabitants of] two or three cities shall be gathered to one city to drink water, and they shall not be satisfied: yet you have not returned to me, says the Lord.
9 I have smitten you with blighting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned to me, saith the LORD.
I struck you with parching, and with blight: you multiplied your gardens, your vineyards, and your fig-grounds, and the cankerworm devoured your olive yards: yet not [even] thus did you return to me, says the Lord.
10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up to your nostrils: yet have ye not returned to me, saith the LORD.
I sent pestilence amongst you by the way of Egypt, and killed your young men with the sword, together with your horses that were taken captive; and in my wrath against you I set fire to your camps: yet not even thus did you return to me, says the Lord.
11 I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned to me, saith the LORD.
I overthrew you, as God overthrew Sodoma and Gomorrha, and you became as a brand plucked out of the fire: yet not even thus did you return to me, says the Lord.
12 Therefore thus will I do to thee, O Israel: and because I will do this to thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel: nay because I will do thus to you, prepare to call on your God, O Israel.
13 For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth to 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.
For, behold, I am he that strengthens the thunder, and creates the wind, and proclaims to men his Christ, forming the morning and the darkness, and mounting on the high places of the earth, The Lord God Almighty is his name.