New King James Version (NKJV)

1 The words of Amos, who was among thesheepbreeders ofTekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days ofUzziah king of Judah, and in the days ofJeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before theearthquake.

2 And he said:

# “TheLordroars from Zion,

And utters His voice from Jerusalem;

The pastures of the shepherds mourn,

# And the top ofCarmel withers.”

Judgment on the Nations

3 Thus says theLord:

# “For three transgressions ofDamascus, and for four,

I will not turn away itspunishment,

# Because they havethreshed Gilead with implements of iron.

4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael,

# Which shall devour the palaces ofBen-Hadad.

5 I will also break thegatebar of Damascus,

And cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven,

And the one who holds the scepter from Beth Eden.

The people of Syria shall go captive to Kir,”

Says theLord.

6 Thus says theLord:

# “For three transgressions ofGaza, and for four,

I will not turn away itspunishment,

Because they took captive the whole captivity

To deliverthemup to Edom.

7 But I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza,

Which shall devour its palaces.

8 I will cut off the inhabitantfrom Ashdod,

And the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;

# I willturn My hand against Ekron,

# Andthe remnant of the Philistines shall perish,”

Says the LordGod.

9 Thus says theLord:

# “For three transgressions ofTyre, and for four,

I will not turn away itspunishment,

Because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom,

And did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.

10 But I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre,

Which shall devour its palaces.”

11 Thus says theLord:

# “For three transgressions ofEdom, and for four,

I will not turn away itspunishment,

# Because he pursued hisbrother with the sword,

And cast off all pity;

His anger tore perpetually,

And he kept his wrath forever.

12 ButI will send a fire upon Teman,

Which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.”

13 Thus says theLord:

# “For three transgressions ofthe people of Ammon, and for four,

I will not turn away itspunishment,

Because they ripped open the women with child in Gilead,

That they might enlarge their territory.

14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall ofRabbah,

And it shall devour its palaces,

# Amid shouting in the day of battle,

And a tempest in the day of the whirlwind.

15 Their king shall go into captivity,

He and his princes together,”

Says theLord.

1 Thus says theLord:

# “For three transgressions of Moab, and for four,

I will not turn away itspunishment,

# Because heburned the bones of the king of Edom to lime.

2 But I will send a fire upon Moab,

# And it shall devour the palaces ofKerioth;

Moab shall die with tumult,

With shoutingandtrumpet sound.

3 And I will cut offthe judge from its midst,

And slay all its princes with him,”

Says theLord.

Judgment on Judah

4 Thus says theLord:

# “For three transgressions ofJudah, and for four,

I will not turn away itspunishment,

# Because they have despised the law of theLord,

And have not kept His commandments.

# Their lies lead them astray,

# Lieswhich their fathers followed.

5 But I will send a fire upon Judah,

And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”

Judgment on Israel

6 Thus says theLord:

# “For three transgressions ofIsrael, and for four,

I will not turn away itspunishment,

# Becausethey sell the righteous for silver,

# And thepoor for a pair of sandals.

7 They pant after the dust of the earthwhichison the head of the poor,

# Andpervert the way of the humble.

# A man and his father go in to thesamegirl,

# To defile My holy name.

8 They lie downby every altar on clothestaken in pledge,

And drink the wine of the condemnedinthe house of their god.

9 “YetitwasIwhodestroyed theAmorite before them,

# Whose heightwaslike theheight of the cedars,

And hewasasstrong as the oaks;

# Yet Idestroyed his fruit above

And his roots beneath.

10 AlsoitwasIwhobrought you up from the land of Egypt,

# Andled you forty years through the wilderness,

To possess the land of the Amorite.

11 I raised up some of your sons asprophets,

# And some of your young men asNazirites.

Isitnot so, O you children of Israel?”

Says theLord.

12 “But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink,

# And commanded the prophetssaying,

‘Do not prophesy!’

13 “Behold,I am weighed down by you,

As a cart full of sheaves is weighed down.

14 Therefore flight shall perish from the swift,

The strong shall not strengthen his power,

# Nor shall the mighty deliver himself;

15 He shall not stand who handles the bow,

The swift of foot shall not escape,

Nor shall he who rides a horse deliver himself.

16 The most courageous men of might

Shall flee naked in that day,”

Says theLord.

Authority of the Prophet’s Message

1 Hear this word that theLordhas spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:

2 “Youonly have I known of all the families of the earth;

# Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?

4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?

Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?

5 Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it?

Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?

6 If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?

# If there is calamity in a city, will not theLordhave doneit?

7 Surely the LordGoddoes nothing,

# UnlessHe reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

8 A lion has roared!

Who will not fear?

The LordGodhas spoken!

# Who can but prophesy?

Punishment of Israel’s Sins

9 “Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod,

And in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say:

‘Assemble on the mountains of Samaria;

See great tumults in her midst,

And the oppressed within her.

10 For theydo not know to do right,’

Says theLord,

‘Who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.’ ”

11 Therefore thus says the LordGod:

“An adversaryshallbeall around the land;

He shall sap your strength from you,

And your palaces shall be plundered.”

12 Thus says theLord:

“As a shepherd takes from the mouth of a lion

Two legs or a piece of an ear,

So shall the children of Israel be taken out

Who dwell in Samaria—

In the corner of a bed and on the edge of a couch!

13 Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,”

Says the LordGod, the God of hosts,

14 “That in the day I punish Israel for their transgressions,

# I will also visitdestructionon the altars ofBethel;

And the horns of the altar shall be cut off

And fall to the ground.

15 I will destroythe winter house along withthe summer house;

# Thehouses of ivory shall perish,

And the great houses shall have an end,”

Says theLord.

1 Hear this word, youcows of Bashan, whoareon the mountain of Samaria,

# Who oppress thepoor,

Who crush the needy,

# Who say to your husbands, “Bringwine,let usdrink!”

2 The LordGodhas sworn by His holiness:

“Behold, the days shall come upon you

# When He will take you awaywith fishhooks,

And your posterity with fishhooks.

3 You will go outthroughbrokenwalls,

Each one straight ahead of her,

And you will be cast into Harmon,”

Says theLord.

4 “Cometo Bethel and transgress,

# AtGilgal multiply transgression;

# Bring your sacrifices every morning,

# Your tithes every three days.

5 Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven,

# Proclaimandannouncethe freewill offerings;

For this you love,

Youchildren of Israel!”

Says the LordGod.

Israel Did Not Accept Correction

6 “Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,

And lack of bread in all your places;

# Yet you have not returned to Me,”

Says theLord.

7 “I also withheld rain from you,

Whentherewerestill three months to the harvest.

I made it rain on one city,

I withheld rain from another city.

One part was rained upon,

And where it did not rain the part withered.

8 So twoorthree cities wandered to another city to drink water,

But they were not satisfied;

Yet you have not returned to Me,”

Says theLord.

9 “Iblasted you with blight and mildew.

When your gardens increased,

Your vineyards,

Your fig trees,

And your olive trees,

# The locust devouredthem;

Yet you have not returned to Me,”

Says theLord.

10 “I sent among you a plagueafter the manner of Egypt;

Your young men I killed with a sword,

Along with your captive horses;

I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils;

Yet you have not returned to Me,”

Says theLord.

11 “I overthrewsomeof you,

# As God overthrewSodom and Gomorrah,

And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning;

Yet you have not returned to Me,”

Says theLord.

12 “Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel;

Because I will do this to you,

# Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

13 For behold,

He who forms mountains,

And creates the wind,

# Who declares to man what his thoughtis,

And makes the morning darkness,

# Who treads the high places of the earth—

# TheLordGod of hostsisHis name.

A Lament for Israel

1 Hear this word which Itake up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel:

2 The virgin of Israel has fallen;

She will rise no more.

She lies forsaken on her land;

Thereisno one to raise her up.

3 For thus says the LordGod:

“The city that goes out by a thousand

Shall have a hundred left,

And that which goes out by a hundred

Shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”

A Call to Repentance

4 For thus says theLordto the house of Israel:

# “Seek Meand live;

5 But do not seekBethel,

Nor enter Gilgal,

# Nor pass over toBeersheba;

For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,

# AndBethel shall come to nothing.

6 Seek theLordand live,

Lest He break out like fireinthe house of Joseph,

And devourit,

With no one to quenchitin Bethel—

7 You whoturn justice to wormwood,

And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!”

8 He made thePleiades and Orion;

He turns the shadow of death into morning

# And makes the day dark as night;

# Hecalls for the waters of the sea

And pours them out on the face of the earth;

# TheLordisHis name.

9 He rains ruin upon the strong,

So that fury comes upon the fortress.

10 They hate the one who rebukes in the gate,

# And theyabhor the one who speaks uprightly.

11 Therefore, because you tread down the poor

And take grain taxes from him,

# Thoughyou have built houses of hewn stone,

Yet you shall not dwell in them;

You have planted pleasant vineyards,

But you shall not drink wine from them.

12 For Iknow your manifold transgressions

And your mighty sins:

# Afflicting the justandtaking bribes;

# Diverting the poorfromjusticeat the gate.

13 Thereforethe prudent keep silent at that time,

For itisan evil time.

14 Seek good and not evil,

That you may live;

So theLordGod of hosts will be with you,

# As you have spoken.

15 Hate evil, love good;

Establish justice in the gate.

# It may be that theLordGod of hosts

Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

The Day of the Lord

16 Therefore theLordGod of hosts, the Lord, says this:

“Thereshallbewailing in all streets,

And they shall say in all the highways,

‘Alas! Alas!’

They shall call the farmer to mourning,

# And skillful lamenters to wailing.

17 In all vineyardsthereshallbewailing,

# ForI will pass through you,”

Says theLord.

18 Woe to you who desire the day of theLord!

# For what goodisthe day of theLordto you?

Itwillbedarkness, and not light.

19 Itwillbeas though a man fled from a lion,

And a bear met him!

Orasthoughhe went into the house,

Leaned his hand on the wall,

And a serpent bit him!

20 Isnot the day of theLorddarkness, and not light?

Isitnotvery dark, with no brightness in it?

21 “Ihate, I despise your feast days,

# AndI do not savor your sacred assemblies.

22 Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,

I will not acceptthem,

Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.

23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs,

For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.

24 But let justice run down like water,

And righteousness like a mighty stream.

25 “Didyou offer Me sacrifices and offerings

In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?

26 You also carried Sikkuthyour king

And Chiun, your idols,

The star of your gods,

Which you made for yourselves.

27 Therefore I will send you into captivitybeyond Damascus,”

# Says theLord,whose nameisthe God of hosts.

Warnings to Zion and Samaria

1 Woeto youwhoareatease in Zion,

# Andtrust in Mount Samaria,

# Notable persons in thechief nation,

To whom the house of Israel comes!

2 Go over toCalneh and see;

# And from there go toHamath the great;

Then go down to Gath of the Philistines.

# Areyoubetter than these kingdoms?

Or is their territory greater than your territory?

3 Woetoyou whoput far off the day ofdoom,

# Who causethe seat of violence to come near;

4 Who lie on beds of ivory,

Stretch out on your couches,

Eat lambs from the flock

And calves from the midst of the stall;

5 Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments,

# Andinvent for yourselvesmusical instrumentslike David;

6 Whodrink wine from bowls,

And anoint yourselves with the best ointments,

# But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

7 Therefore they shall now gocaptive as the first of the captives,

And those who recline at banquets shall be removed.

8 The LordGodhas sworn by Himself,

TheLordGod of hosts says:

# “I abhorthe pride of Jacob,

And hate his palaces;

Therefore I will deliver upthecity

And all that is in it.”

9 Then it shall come to pass, that if ten men remain in one house, they shall die.

10 And when a relativeofthedead,with one who will burnthebodies,picks up the bodies to take them out of the house, he will say to one inside the house, “Arethereany more with you?”

Then someone will say, “None.”

# And he will say,“Hold your tongue!For we dare not mention the name of theLord.”

11 For behold,theLordgives a command:

# He will break the great house into bits,

And the little house into pieces.

12 Do horses run on rocks?

Doesoneplowtherewith oxen?

# Yetyou have turned justice into gall,

And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,

13 You who rejoice over Lo Debar,

Who say, “Have we not taken Karnaim for ourselves

By our own strength?”

14 “But, behold,I will raise up a nation against you,

O house of Israel,”

Says theLordGod of hosts;

# “And they will afflict you from theentrance of Hamath

To the Valley of the Arabah.”

Vision of the Locusts

1 Thus the LordGodshowed me: Behold, He formed locust swarms at the beginning of the late crop; indeeditwasthe late crop after the king’s mowings.

2 And so it was, when they had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said:

“O LordGod, forgive, I pray!

# Oh, that Jacob may stand,

For heissmall!”

3 SotheLordrelented concerning this.

“It shall not be,” said theLord.

Vision of the Fire

4 Thus the LordGodshowed me: Behold, the LordGodcalled for conflict by fire, and it consumed the great deep and devoured the territory.

5 Then I said:

“O LordGod, cease, I pray!

# Oh, that Jacob may stand,

For heissmall!”

6 SotheLordrelented concerning this.

“This also shall not be,” said the LordGod.

Vision of the Plumb Line

7 Thus He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wallmadewith a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand.

8 And theLordsaid to me, “Amos, what do you see?”

And I said, “A plumb line.”

Then the Lord said:

# “Behold,I am setting a plumb line

In the midst of My people Israel;

# I will not pass by them anymore.

9 The high places of Isaac shall be desolate,

And the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste.

# I will rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam.”

Amaziah’s Complaint

10 Then Amaziah thepriest ofBethel sent toJeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.

11 For thus Amos has said:

‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,

# And Israel shall surely be led awaycaptive

From their own land.’ ”

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos:

“Go, you seer!

Flee to the land of Judah.

There eat bread,

And there prophesy.

13 Butnever again prophesy at Bethel,

# For itisthe king’s sanctuary,

And itisthe royal residence.”

14 Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah:

“Iwasno prophet,

# NorwasIa son of a prophet,

# But Iwasasheepbreeder

And a tender of sycamore fruit.

15 Then theLordtook me as I followed the flock,

And theLordsaid to me,

# ‘Go,prophesy to My people Israel.’

16 Now therefore, hear the word of theLord:

You say, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel,

# Anddo not spout against the house of Isaac.’

17 “Thereforethus says theLord:

# ‘Your wife shall be a harlot in the city;

Your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword;

Your land shall be divided bysurveyline;

# You shall die in adefiled land;

And Israel shall surely be led away captive

From his own land.’ ”

Vision of the Summer Fruit

1 Thus the LordGodshowed me: Behold, a basket of summer fruit.

2 And He said, “Amos, what do you see?”

So I said, “A basket of summer fruit.”

Then theLordsaid to me:

# “The end has come upon My people Israel;

# I will not pass by them anymore.

3 Andthe songs of the temple

Shall be wailing in that day,”

Says the LordGod—

“Many dead bodies everywhere,

# They shall be thrown out in silence.”

4 Hear this, you who swallow up the needy,

And make the poor of the land fail,

5 Saying:

“When will the New Moon be past,

That we may sell grain?

# Andthe Sabbath,

That we may trade wheat?

# Making the ephah small and the shekel large,

# Falsifying the scales bydeceit,

6 That we may buy the poor forsilver,

And the needy for a pair of sandals—

Even sell the bad wheat?”

7 TheLordhas sworn bythe pride of Jacob:

# “SurelyI will never forget any of their works.

8 Shall the land not tremble for this,

And everyone mourn who dwells in it?

All of it shall swell like the River,

Heave and subside

# Like the River of Egypt.

9 “And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the LordGod,

# “That I will make the sun go down at noon,

And I will darken the earth in broad daylight;

10 I will turn your feasts intomourning,

# And all your songs into lamentation;

# I will bring sackcloth on every waist,

And baldness on every head;

I will make it like mourning for an onlyson,

And its end like a bitter day.

11 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LordGod,

“That I will send a famine on the land,

Not a famine of bread,

Nor a thirst for water,

# Butof hearing the words of theLord.

12 They shall wander from sea to sea,

And from north to east;

They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of theLord,

# But shallnot findit.

13 “In that day the fair virgins

And strong young men

Shall faint from thirst.

14 Those whoswear bythe sin of Samaria,

Who say,

‘As your god lives, O Dan!’

# And, ‘As the way ofBeersheba lives!’

They shall fall and never rise again.”