Amos 9
9
Israel Will Be Destroyed
1I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:
“Smash the top of the pillars
so that even the bottom of the doors will shake.
Make the pillars fall on the people’s heads;
anyone left alive I will kill with a sword.
Not one person will get away;
no one will escape.
2If they dig down as deep as the place of the dead,
I will pull them up from there.
If they climb up into heaven,
I will bring them down from there.
3If they hide at the top of Mount Carmel,
I will find them and take them away.
If they try to hide from me at the bottom of the sea,
I will command a snake to bite them.
4If they are captured and taken away by their enemies,
I will command the sword to kill them.
I will keep watch over them,
but I will keep watch to give them trouble, not to do them good.”
5The Lord God All-Powerful touches the land,
and the land shakes.
Then everyone who lives in the land cries for the dead.
The whole land rises like the Nile River
and falls like the river of Egypt.
6The Lord builds his upper rooms above the skies;
he sets their foundations on the earth.
He calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out on the land.
The Lord is his name.
7The Lord says,
“Israel, you are no different to me than the people of Cush.
I brought Israel out of the land of Egypt,
and the Philistines from Crete,
and the Arameans from Kir.
8I, the Lord God, am watching the sinful kingdom Israel.
I will destroy it
from off the earth,
but I will not completely destroy
Jacob’s descendants,” says the Lord.
9“I am giving the command
to scatter the nation of Israel among all nations.
It will be like someone shaking grain through a strainer,
but not even a tiny stone falls through.
10All the sinners among my people
will die by the sword—
those who say,
‘Nothing bad will happen to us.’
The Lord Promises to Restore Israel
11“The kingdom of David is like a fallen tent,
but in that day I will set it up again
and mend its broken places.
I will rebuild its ruins
as it was before.
12Then Israel will take over what is left of Edom
and the other nations that belong to me,”
says the Lord,
who will make it happen.
13The Lord says, “The time is coming when there will be all kinds of food.
People will still be harvesting crops
when it’s time to plow again.
People will still be taking the juice from grapes
when it’s time to plant again.
Wine will drip from the mountains
and pour from the hills.
14I will bring my people Israel back from captivity;
they will build the ruined cities again,
and they will live in them.
They will plant vineyards and drink the wine from them;
they will plant gardens and eat their fruit.
15I will plant my people on their land,
and they will not be pulled out again
from the land which I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.
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Amos 9: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Amos 9
9
Israel Thrown into a Sieve
1-4I saw my Master standing beside the altar at the shrine. He said:
“Hit the tops of the shrine’s pillars,
make the floor shake.
The roof’s about to fall on the heads of the people,
and whoever’s still alive, I’ll kill.
No one will get away,
no runaways will make it.
If they dig their way down into the underworld,
I’ll find them and bring them up.
If they climb to the stars,
I’ll find them and bring them down.
If they hide out at the top of Mount Carmel,
I’ll find them and bring them back.
If they dive to the bottom of the ocean,
I’ll send Dragon to swallow them up.
If they’re captured alive by their enemies,
I’ll send Sword to kill them.
I’ve made up my mind
to hurt them, not help them.”
5-6My Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
touches the earth, a mere touch, and it trembles.
The whole world goes into mourning.
Earth swells like the Nile at flood stage;
then the water subsides, like the great Nile of Egypt.
God builds his palace—towers soaring high in the skies,
foundations set on the rock-firm earth.
He calls ocean waters and they come,
then he ladles them out on the earth.
God, your God, does all this.
* * *
7-8“Do you Israelites think you’re any better than the far-off Cushites?” God’s Decree.
“Am I not involved with all nations? Didn’t I bring Israel up from Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, the Arameans from Qir? But you can be sure that I, God, the Master, have my eye on the Kingdom of Sin. I’m going to wipe it off the face of the earth. Still, I won’t totally destroy the family of Jacob.” God’s Decree.
9-10“I’m still giving the orders around here. I’m throwing Israel into a sieve among all the nations and shaking them good, shaking out all the sin, all the sinners. No real grain will be lost, but all the sinners will be sifted out and thrown away, the people who say, ‘Nothing bad will ever happen in our lifetime. It won’t even come close.’
Blessings Like Wine Pouring off the Mountains
11-12“But also on that Judgment Day I will restore David’s house that has fallen to pieces. I’ll repair the holes in the roof, replace the broken windows, fix it up like new. David’s people will be strong again and seize what’s left of enemy Edom, plus everyone else under my sovereign judgment.” God’s Decree. He will do this.
13-15“Yes indeed, it won’t be long now.” God’s Decree.
“Things are going to happen so fast your head will swim, one thing fast on the heels of the other. You won’t be able to keep up. Everything will be happening at once—and everywhere you look, blessings! Blessings like wine pouring off the mountains and hills. I’ll make everything right again for my people Israel:
“They’ll rebuild their ruined cities.
They’ll plant vineyards and drink good wine.
They’ll work their gardens and eat fresh vegetables.
And I’ll plant them, plant them on their own land.
They’ll never again be uprooted from the land I’ve given them.”
God, your God, says so.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.