Sep 29 - Amos 1-5
Amos
1The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw about Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake2And he said: The Lord will roar from Zion, and from Jerusalem he will utter his voice. And the beautiful pastures have mourned, and the top of Carmel has become dry3Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Damascus, and for four, I will not convert it, in so far as they have threshed Gilead into iron wagons4And I will send fire onto the house of Hazael, and it will devour the houses of Ben-hadad5And I will shatter the crowbar of Damascus, and I will destroy the inhabitants of the camp of the idol and the holder of the scepter of the house of pleasure; and the people of Syria will be transferred to Cyrene, says the Lord6Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Gaza, and for four, I will not convert it, in so far as they have carried out an excellent captivity, so as to enclose them in Idumea7And I will send a fire onto the wall of Gaza, and it will devour its buildings8And I will destroy the inhabitant from Ashdod, and the holder of the scepter of Ashkelon. And I will turn my hand against Ekron, and the remainder of the Philistines will perish, says the Lord God9Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Tyre, and for four, I will not convert it, in so far as they have completed an excellent captivity in Idumea and have not considered the bond among brothers10And I will send a fire onto the wall of Tyre, and it will devour its buildings11Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Edom, and for four, I will not convert him, in so far as he has been pursuing his brother with the sword and has outraged his brother’s compassion, and he has gone beyond his anger and has held onto his indignation until the end12I will send a fire onto Teman, and it will devour the buildings of Bozrah13Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of the sons of Ammon, and for four, I will not convert him, in so far as he has cut up the pregnant women of Gilead, so as to expand his limits14And I will ignite a fire on the wall of Rabbah. And it will devour its buildings, with wailing on the day of war, and with a whirlwind on the day of commotion15And Melchom will go into captivity, he and his leaders together, says the Lord
1Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Moab, and for four, I will not convert him, in so far as he has burned the bones of the king of Idumea, all the way to ashes2And I will send a fire onto Moab, and it will devour the buildings of Kerioth. And Moab will die with a noise, with the blare of a trumpet3And I will destroy the judge in their midst, and I will execute all his leaders with him, says the Lord4Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Judah, and for four, I will not convert him, in so far as he has rejected the law of the Lord and has not kept his commandments. For their idols, which their fathers followed, have deceived them5And I will send a fire onto Judah, and it will devour the buildings of Jerusalem6Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Israel, and for four, I will not convert him, in so far as he has sold the just for silver and the poor for shoes7They grind the heads of the poor into the dust of the earth, and they divert the way of the humble. And the son, as well as his father, have gone to the same girl, so that they outrage my holy name8And they have lain on garments taken in pledge next to every altar. And they drank the wine of the damned in the house of their God9Yet I exterminated the Amorites before their face, whose height was like the height of cedars, and whose strength was like the oak. And I crushed his fruit from above and his roots below10It is I who caused you to ascend from the land of Egypt, and I led you in the wilderness for forty years, so that you might possess the land of the Amorite11And I stirred up prophets from your sons, and Nazirites from your young men. Is it not so, sons of Israel, says the Lord12Yet you would offer wine to the Nazirites, and you would command the prophets, saying: "Do not prophesy.13Behold, I will creak under you, just as a wagon creaks that is laden with hay14And flight will perish from the swift, and the strong will not maintain his strength, and the healthy will not save his life15And one holding the bow will not stand firm, and the swift of foot will not be saved, and the rider on the horse will not save his life16And the stout of heart among the strong will flee away naked in that day, says the Lord
1Listen to the word which the Lord has spoken about you, sons of Israel, concerning the whole family that I led out of the land of Egypt, saying2I have known only you in such a way, out of all the families of the earth. For this reason, I will visit upon you all your iniquities3Will two walk together, unless they have agreed to do so4Will a lion roar in the forest, unless he has prey? Will the lion’s young cry out from his den, unless he has taken something5Will a bird fall into a snare on the ground, if there is no bird-catcher? Will a snare be taken away from the ground, before it has caught something6Will the trumpet sound in a city, and the people not become frightened? Will there be disaster in a city, which the Lord has not done7For the Lord God does not fulfill his word, unless he has revealed his secret to his servants the prophets8The lion will roar, who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken, who will not prophesy9Let it be heard in the buildings of Ashdod and in the buildings of the land of Egypt, and say: Gather together across the mountains of Samaria, and see the many absurdities in its midst, and those who are suffering false accusations in its inner most places10And they do not know how to make it right, says the Lord, storing up iniquity and plunder in their buildings11Because of these things, thus says the Lord God: The land will be encircled and squeezed together. And your strength will be drawn away from you, and your buildings will be torn apart12Thus says the Lord: Just as if a shepherd had rescued two legs from the mouth of a lion, or the tip of an ear, so also will the sons of Israel be rescued, who dwell in the sick bed of Samaria, and in the cot of Damascus13Listen and give testimony in the house of Jacob, says the Lord God of hosts14that in the day, when I will begin to visit the betrayals of Israel, I will visit upon him and upon the altars of Bethel. And the horns of the altars will be cut off and will fall to the ground15And I will strike the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory will perish, and many buildings will be torn apart, says the Lord
1Listen to this word, you fat cows that are on the mountain of Samaria, you who make false accusations against the destitute and crush the poor, who say to your nobles, "Bring, and we will drink.2The Lord God has sworn in his holiness: behold, the days that will overcome you and that will impale you on poles, and that will place what remains of you in boiling pots3And you will go out through the breaches, one over another, and you will be cast out into Harmon, says the Lord4Come to Bethel and behave impiously, to Gilgal and increase betrayals. And bring daybreak to your victims, your tithes in three days5And offer a sacrifice of praise with leaven. And call for voluntary oblations, and announce it. For such is your will, sons of Israel, says the Lord God6Therefore, because of this, I have given you dull teeth in every one of your cities, and a lack of bread in all your places. And you have not been turned back towards me, says the Lord7Therefore, I have withheld the rains from you, when there were still three months left until the harvest. And I rained on one city, and I did not rain on another city; one part was rained on, and the part on which I did not rain, dried out8And two and three cities went to one city, in order to drink water, and they were not satisfied. And you did not return to me, says the Lord9I struck you with a burning wind and with yellowing; the caterpillar has consumed your many gardens and your vineyards, your olive groves and your fig groves. And you did not return to me, says the Lord10I sent death to you by way of Egypt; I struck your youths with the sword, even bringing captivity to your horses. And I made the stench of your camp ascend into your nostrils. And you did not return to me, says the Lord11I overturned you, just as God overturned Sodom and Gomorrah, and you became like an ember seized from the fire. And you did not return to me, says the Lord12Because of this, I will do these things to you, Israel. But after I have done these things to you, Israel, be prepared to meet your God13For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind and announces his speech to man, who makes the morning mist and steps over the heights of the earth: the Lord God of hosts is his name
1Listen to this word, which I lift over you in lamentation. The house of Israel has fallen, and it will no longer rise again2The virgin of Israel has been thrown onto her land, there is no one who can raise her up3For thus says the Lord God: In the city from which a thousand departed, a hundred will remain, and in that from which a hundred departed, ten will remain, in the house of Israel4For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: Seek me and you will live5But do not be willing to seek Bethel, and do not be willing to enter Gilgal, and you will not cross into Beer-sheba. For Gilgal will be led into captivity, and Bethel will be useless6Seek the Lord and live. Otherwise, the house of Joseph may be destroyed with fire, and it will devour, and there will be no one who can extinguish Bethel7You turn judgment into wormwood, and you abandon justice on earth8The Maker of Arcturus and Orion, who turns darkness into daybreak and who changes day into night; who calls forth the waters of the sea and who pours them out over the face of the earth: The Lord is his name9It is he who smiles destruction on the healthy, and who brings pillaging upon the powerful10They held hatred for the one who corrects at the gate, and they have abhorred the one who speaks perfectly11Therefore, on his behalf, because you have torn apart the poor and stolen choice prey from him: you will build houses with square stones and you will not dwell in them; you will plant the most delightful vineyards, and you will not drink wine from them12For I know your many wicked deeds and the strength of your sins, you enemies of the just, accepting bribes, and depriving the poor at the gate13Therefore, the prudent will be silent at that time, for it is an evil time14Seek good and not evil, so that you may live. And the Lord God of hosts will be with you, just as you have asked15Hate evil and love good, and establish judgment at the gate. Perhaps then the Lord God of hosts may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph16Therefore, thus says the Lord God of hosts, the Sovereign: In all the streets, there will be wailing. And in every place where they are outdoors, they will say, "Woe, woe!" And they will call the farmer to mourn, and those who know mourning to lamentation17And in all the vineyards there will be wailing. For I will cross through your midst, says the Lord18Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord. What is it to you? The day of the Lord is this: darkness and not light19It is as if a man flees from the face of a lion, only to have a bear meet him; or, he enters a house and leans with his hand against the wall, only to have a snake bite him20Will not the day of the Lord be darkness and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it21I hate and have rejected your feasts; and I will not accept the odor from your gatherings22For if you offer me holocausts and your gifts, I will not receive them; and I will not look upon the vows of your fatness23Take away from me the tumult of your songs, and I will not listen to the canticles of your lyre24And judgment will be revealed like water, and justice like a mighty torrent25Was it you who offered victims and sacrifices to me in the desert for forty years, house of Israel26And you carried a tabernacle for your Moloch and the image of your idols: the star of your god, which you made for yourselves27And I will cause you to go into captivity across Damascus, says the Lord. The God of hosts is his name