Amos 9

Fifth Vision: The Lord beside the Altar

¹I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, ^a and he said:

Strike the capitals of the pillars ^b

so that the thresholds shake;

knock them down on the heads of all the people.

Then I will kill the rest of them with the sword. ^c

None of those who flee will get away; ^d

none of the fugitives will escape.

²If they dig down to Sheol, ^e

from there my hand will take them;

if they climb up to heaven, ^f

from there I will bring them down.

³If they hide

on the top of Carmel,

from there I will track them down ^g

and seize them;

if they conceal themselves

from my sight on the sea floor, ^h

from there I will command

the sea serpent to bite them. ⁱ

⁴And if they are driven

by their enemies into captivity, ^j

from there I will command

the sword to kill them. ^k

I will keep my eye on them

for harm and not for good. ^l

⁵The Lord, the God of Armies —

he touches the earth; ^m

it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn;

all of it rises like the Nile

and subsides like the Nile of Egypt. ⁿ

⁶He builds his upper chambers

in the heavens ^o

and lays the foundation of his vault

on the earth. ^p

He summons the water of the sea

and pours it out over the surface of the earth. ^q

The Lord is his name. ^r

Announcement of Judgment

⁷Israelites, are you not like the Cushites to me? ^s

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Didn’t I bring Israel from the land of Egypt,

the Philistines from Caphtor, ^t,^u

and the Arameans from Kir? ^v

⁸Look, the eyes of the Lord God

are on the sinful kingdom, ^w

and I will obliterate it

from the face of the earth. ^x

However, I will not totally destroy

the house of Jacob ^y —

this is the Lord’s declaration —

⁹for I am about to give the command,

and I will shake the house of Israel ^z

among all the nations,

as one shakes a sieve,

but not a pebble will fall to the ground.

¹⁰All the sinners among my people ^aa

who say, “Disaster will never overtake ^ab

or confront us,” ^ac

will die by the sword.

Announcement of Restoration

¹¹In that day

I will restore the fallen shelter ^ad of David: ^ae

I will repair its gaps,

restore its ruins, ^af

and rebuild it as in the days of old, ^ag

¹²so that they may possess

the remnant of Edom ^ah

and all the nations

that bear my name ^ai,^aj —

this is the declaration of the Lord; he will do this.

¹³Look, the days are coming —

this is the Lord’s declaration —

when the plowman will overtake the reaper ^ak

and the one who treads grapes,

the sower of seed.

The mountains will drip with sweet wine,

and all the hills will flow with it. ^al

¹⁴I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel. ^am,^an

They will rebuild and occupy ruined cities, ^ao

plant vineyards and drink their wine,

make gardens and eat their produce. ^ap

¹⁵I will plant them on their land,

and they will never again be uprooted

from the land I have given them. ^aq

The Lord your God has spoken.