HarperCollins Study Bible, page 329
2.13–16 The Lord announces judgment against Israel in the form of a military catastrophe in which the army is routed and even the most courageous flee away naked.
2.16 That day, the day of the LORD (see 5.18–20).
AMOS 2
1Thus says the LORD:
For three transgressions of Moab,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;a
because he burned to lime
the bones of the king of Edom.
2So I will send a fire on Moab,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth,
and Moab shall die
amid uproar, amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;
3I will cut off the ruler from its midst,
and will kill all its officials with him,
says the LORD.
Judgment on Judah
4Thus says the LORD:
For three transgressions of Judah,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;b
because they have rejected the law of the LORD,
and have not kept his statutes,
but they have been led astray by the same lies
after which their ancestors walked.
5So I will send a fire on Judah,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.
Judgment on Israel
6Thus says the LORD:
For three transgressions of Israel,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;c
because they sell the righteous for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals—
7they who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth,
and push the afflicted out of the way;
father and son go in to the same girl,
so that my holy name is profaned;
8they lay themselves down beside every altar
on garments taken in pledge;
and in the house of their God they drink
wine bought with fines they imposed.
9Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them,
whose height was like the height of cedars,
and who was as strong as oaks;
I destroyed his fruit above,
and his roots beneath.
10Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt,
and led you forty years in the wilderness,
to possess the land of the Amorite.
11And I raised up some of your children to be prophets
and some of your youths to be nazirites.d
Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?
says the LORD.
12But you made the naziritese drink wine,
and commanded the prophets,
saying, “You shall not prophesy.”
13So, I will press you down in your place,
just as a cart presses down
when it is full of sheaves.f
14Flight shall perish from the swift,
and the strong shall not retain their strength,
nor shall the mighty save their lives;
15those who handle the bow shall not stand,
and those who are swift of foot shall not save themselves,
nor shall those who ride horses save their lives;
16and those who are stout of heart among the mighty
shall flee away naked in that day,
says the LORD.
AMOS 3
Israel’s Guilt and Punishment
1Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
2You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.
3Do two walk together
unless they have made an appointment?
4Does a lion roar in the forest,
when it has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from its den,
if it has caught nothing?
5Does a bird fall into a snare on the earth,
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
when it has taken nothing?
6Is a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
Does disaster befall a city,
unless the LORD has done it?
7Surely the Lord GOD does nothing,
without revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
8The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord GOD has spoken;
who can but prophesy?
9Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod,
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on Mountg Samaria,
and see what great tumults are within it,
and what oppressions are in its midst.”
10They do not know how to do right, says the LORD,
those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.
11Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
An adversary shall surround the land,
and strip you of your defense;
and your strongholds shall be plundered.
12Thus says the LORD: As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who live in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and parth of a bed.
13Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,
says the Lord GOD, the God of hosts:
14On the day I punish Israel for its transgressions,
I will punish the altars of Bethel,
and the horns of the altar shall be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15I will tear down the winter house as well as the summer house;
and the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great housesi shall come to an end,
says the LORD.
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a Heb cause it to return
b Heb cause it to return
c Heb cause it to return
d That is, those separated or those consecrated
e That is, those separated or those consecrated
f Meaning of Heb uncertain
g Gk Syr: Heb the mountains of
h Meaning of Heb uncertain
i Or many houses
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3.1–6.14 A collection of oracles against Israel.
3.1–2 Ironically, because the people of Israel were the Lord’s elect, saved from Egypt, they will be held particularly accountable for their actions.
3.2 Therefore…iniquities, lit. “therefore I will visit your sins upon you.”
3.3–8 A series of sayings in the form of rhetorical questions (vv. 3–6) establishes the principle that every effect has its cause, arguing in support of the conclusion that the Lord GOD (Lord Yahweh) is the one who causes someone to prophesy (v. 8; see 7.10–17).
3.7 A later addition from the point of view of Deuteronomy, asserting far more than the original prophetic saying, namely, that Yahweh does not act at all without confiding in the prophets.
3.9–15 Sayings concerning Samaria, the capital of Israel.
3.9 The prophetic voice calls for the Philistines (Ashdod) and the Egyptians to serve as witnesses to Samaria’s corruption.
3.11 Yahweh addresses Samaria directly, announcing a military defeat.
3.12 A simile of disaster. When the day of trouble comes, all that will be left of Israel will be broken fragments (see 5.3).
3.13–15 Judgment against Israel will include destruction of two types of buildings, the sanctuaries (altars of Bethel) and the houses of those wealthy enough to have both a summer and a winter place.
AMOS 4
1Hear this word, you cows of Bashan
who are on Mount Samaria,
who oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
who say to their husbands, “Bring something to drink!”
2The Lord GOD has sworn by his holiness:
The time is surely coming upon you,
when they shall take you away with hooks,
even the last of you with fishhooks.
3Through breaches in the wall you shall leave,
each one straight ahead;
and you shall be flung out into Harmon,a
says the LORD.
4Come to Bethel—and transgress;
to Gilgal—and multiply transgression;
bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three days;
5bring a thank offering of leavened bread,
and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them;
for so you love to do, O people of Israel!
says the Lord GOD.
Israel Rejects Correction
6I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
and lack of bread in all your places,
yet you did not return to me,
says the LORD.
7And I also withheld the rain from you
when there were still three months to the harvest;
I would send rain on one city,
and send no rain on another city;
one field would be rained upon,
and the field on which it did not rain withered;
8so two or three towns wandered
to one town to drink water, and were not satisfied;
yet you did not return to me,
says the LORD.
9I struck you with blight and mildew;
I laid wasteb your gardens and your vineyards;
the locust devoured your fig trees and your olive trees;
yet you did not return to me,
says the LORD.
10I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword;
I carried away your horses;c
and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
yet you did not return to me,
says the LORD.
11I overthrew some of you,
as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and you were like a brand snatched from the fire;
yet you did not return to me,
says the LORD.
12Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!
13For lo, the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind,
reveals his thoughts to mortals,
makes the morning darkness,
and treads on the heights of the earth—
the LORD, the God of hosts, is his name!
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a Meaning of Heb uncertain
b Cn: Heb the multitude of
c Heb with the captivity of your horses
4.1–3 A prophecy of punishment against the wealthy women of Samaria, ridiculed as cows of Bashan. Bashan was a region in northern Transjordan known for its sleek cattle (cf. Deut 32.14; Ps 22.12). Typically, the prophecy includes a summons to attention (v. 1a), an indictment (v. 1b), and an announcement of punishment (vv. 2–3).
4.1 The women are guilty of social injustice and arrogance, epitomized by what they say to their husbands.
4.4–5 Through ironic calls to worship or parodies of pilgrim songs to the traditional sanctuaries at Bethel and Gilgal (Gen 28.10–22; Josh 5.2–9; Am 7.10–17), Amos asserts that worship and transgression have become synonymous (see 5.21–24).
4.6–13 Because a series of disasters sent by the Lord has failed to persuade Israel to return to its God, the people will now meet (v. 12) that God directly. The meaning of the refrain that links the series, yet you did not return to me, is not self-evident. In some instances the expression refers to obedience to God generally (Deut 4.30; 30.2), but elsewhere “to return” or “to turn” to the Lord refers specifically to acts of confession and repentance (Isa 19.22; Hos 14.2; Joel 2.12).
4.6 Cleanness of teeth…and lack of bread, hunger, resulting from famine.
4.7–8 Drought did not lead Israel to its God.
4.9 Crops were destroyed by disease and insects.
4.10 A pestilence after the manner of Egypt. The prophet alludes to the tradition of the plagues against Egypt (Ex 5–11, esp. 9.3–7, 15). The remainder of the verse refers to a military disaster.
4.11 By the time of Amos, Sodom and Gomorrah were synonymous with total and divinely sent destruction (Gen 19.12–29; Isa 1.9; Jer 49.18).
4.12 Although the verse is cryptic, the therefore that links it to the recital of Israel’s failure to return indicates that prepare to meet your God is an announcement of judgment. The encounter with God will not be pleasant.
4.13 Words from a hymn that probably once functioned in worship conclude the announcement against Israel (see also 5.8–9; 9.5–6).
AMOS 5
A Lament for Israel’s Sin
1Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:
2Fallen, no more to rise,
is maiden Israel;
forsaken on her land,
with no one to raise her up.
3For thus says the Lord GOD:
The city that marched out a thousand
shall have a hundred left,
and that which marched out a hundred
shall have ten left.a
4For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel:
Seek me and live;
5but do not seek Bethel,
and do not enter into Gilgal
or cross over to Beer-sheba;
for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,
and Bethel shall come to nothing.
6Seek the LORD and live,
or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire,
and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it.
7Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood,
and bring righteousness to the ground!
8The one who made the Pleiades and Orion,
and turns deep darkness into the morning,
and darkens the day into night,
who calls for the waters of the sea,
and pours them out on the surface of the earth,
the LORD is his name,
9who makes destruction flash out against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
10They hate the one who reproves in the gate,
and they abhor the one who speaks the truth.
11Therefore because you trample on the poor
and take from them levies of grain,
you have built houses of hewn stone,
but you shall not live in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
12For I know how many are your transgressions,
and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,
and push aside the needy in the gate.
13Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time;
for it is an evil time.
14Seek good and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you,
just as you have said.
15Hate evil and love good,
and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord:
In all the squares there shall be wailing;
and in all the streets they shall say, “Alas! alas!”
They shall call the farmers to mourning,
and those skilled in lamentation, to wailing;
17in all the vineyards there shall be wailing,
for I will pass through the midst of you,
says the LORD.
The Day of the LORD a Dark Day
18Alas for you who desire the day of the LORD!
Why do you want the day of the LORD?
It is darkness, not light;
19as if someone fled from a lion,
and was met by a bear;
or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a snake.
20Is not the day of the LORD darkness, not light
and gloom with no brightness in it?
21I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
I will not look upon.
23Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
24But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 26You shall take up Sakkuth your king, and Kaiwan your star-god, your images,b which you made for yourselves; 27therefore I will take you into exile beyond Damascus, says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.
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a Heb adds to the house of Israel
b Heb your images, your star-god
5.1–3 The prophet calls for the people (house of Israel) to hear a lamentation, i.e., a dirge or funeral song.
5.2 Since it is maiden Israel that has died, the song announces the death of the nation.
5.3 The military forces will be decimated.
