Amos 9
9
Description of Israel’s fate
1I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and the Lord said:
Strike the pillars until the foundations shake,
shatter them on the heads of all the people.
With the sword, I will kill the last of them;
not one of them will flee,
not one of them will escape.
2If they dig through into the underworld,#9.2 Heb Sheol
from there my hand will take them.
If they climb up to the heavens,
from there I will bring them down.
3If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
I will search for them there and remove them.
If they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
I will give an order to the sea serpent, and it will bite them.
4If they are forced from their homes before their enemies,
there I will give an order to the sword, and it will kill them.
I will fix my eyes on them
for harm and not for good.
A divine confession
5The LORD, God of heavenly forces,
touches the earth and it melts,
and all who live in it are sick to death.
All of it#9.5 Or the earth rises up like the Nile
and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt.
6It is the LORD who builds his upper rooms in the heavens
and establishes his residence upon the earth;
who summons the waters of the sea,
and pours them out upon the face of the earth—
the LORD is his name.
Divine address to the Israelites
7Aren’t you like the Cushites to me,
people of Israel?
says the LORD.
Haven’t I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt,
and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?
8Look, the LORD God is eyeing the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.
However, I won’t destroy fully the house of Jacob,
says the LORD.
Warning to the house of Israel
9Look, I am giving orders,
and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one sifts dirt with a screen,
but no pebble will fall to the ground.
10All the sinners of my people will die by the sword,
those who say,
“Evil won’t overtake or meet us.”
Divine promise of restoration
11On that day I will raise up
the meeting tent of David that has fallen,
and repair its broken places.
I will raise up its ruins,
and I will rebuild it like a long time ago;
12so that they may possess what is left of Edom,
as well as all the nations who are called by my name,
says the LORD who will do this.
13The days are surely coming, says the LORD,
when the one who plows
will overtake the one who gathers,
when the one who crushes grapes
will overtake the one who sows the seed.
The mountains will drip wine,
and all the hills will flow with it.
14I will improve the circumstances of my people Israel;
they will rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them.
They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;
and they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
15I will plant them upon their land,
and they will never again be plucked up
out of the land that I have given them,
says the LORD your God.
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Amos 9: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Amos 9
9
Vision of the Lord Standing by the Altar
1I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said,
“Hit the top of the columns,
and shake them to the ground.
Push them and they will fall
on everyone’s head.
As for those who survive,
I will kill them with a sword.
None of them will run away.
None of them will escape.
2If they dig deep into the ground,#9:2 ground Literally, “Sheol, the place of the dead.”
I will pull them from there.
If they go up into the skies,#9:2 skies Or “heaven.”
I will bring them down from there.
3If they hide at the top of Mount Carmel,#9:3 Mount Carmel A mountain in northern Israel. This name means “God’s vineyard.” This shows that it was a very fertile hill.
I will find them there and take them from that place.
If they try to hide from me at the bottom of the sea,
I will command the snake, and it will bite them.
4If they are captured and taken away by their enemies,
I will command the sword,
and it will kill them there.
Yes, I will watch over them,
but I will watch for ways to give them troubles,
not for ways to do good things.”
Punishment Will Destroy the People
5The Lord GOD All-Powerful will touch the land,
and the land will melt.
Then all the people who live in the land will cry for the dead.
The land will rise and fall
like the Nile River in Egypt.
6He built his upper rooms above the skies.
He put his skies#9:6 skies Literally, “dome” or “vault.” over the earth.
He calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out as rain on the land.
YAHWEH is his name.
The Lord Promises Destruction for Israel
7This is what the Lord says:
“Israel, you are like the Ethiopians to me.
I brought Israel out of the land of Egypt,
the Philistines from Caphtor,#9:7 Caphtor An island west of Israel, probably Crete or Cyprus.
and the Arameans from Kir.#9:7 Kir Where the Arameans came from and where the Assyrians sent them in exile. There are several places with this name.”
8The Lord GOD is watching this sinful kingdom.
The Lord says,
“I will wipe Israel off the face of the earth,
but I will never completely destroy Jacob’s family.
9I am giving the command
to scatter the people of Israel among all nations.
But it will be like someone sifting flour.
A person shakes flour through a sifter.#9:9 sifter Something like a cup with a screen on its bottom. A sifter is used for removing large lumps from the good flour.
The good flour falls through, but the bad lumps are caught.
10“Sinners among my people say,
‘Nothing bad will happen to us.’
But all of them will be killed with swords.”
God Promises to Restore the Kingdom
11“David’s tent#9:11 David’s tent This probably means the city of Jerusalem or the country of Judah. has fallen,
but at that time I will set it up again.
I will fix its holes and repair its ruined parts.
I will set it up as it was before.
12Then the people left alive in Edom,
and all the people called by my name, will look to me for help.”
This is what the Lord said,
and he will make it happen.
13The Lord says, “A time of great blessing is coming.
Workers will still be harvesting
when it is time to plow the fields again.
They will still be trampling the grapes
when it is time for a new crop.
Sweet wine will drip from the mountains
and pour from the hills.
14I will bring my people, Israel,
back from captivity.
They will rebuild the ruined cities,
and they will live in them.
They will plant vineyards
and drink the wine they produce.
They will plant gardens
and eat the crops they produce.
15I will plant my people on their land,
and never again will they be pulled up out of the land that I gave them.”
This is what the Lord your God said.
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