The Destruction of Israel

61 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion And to those who feel secure in the mountain of Samaria , The distinguished men of the foremost of nations , To whom the house of Israel comes . 2 Go over to Calneh and look , And go from there to Hamath the great , Then go down to Gath of the Philistines . Are they better than these kingdoms , Or is their territory greater than yours? 3 Do you put off the day of calamity , And would you bring near the seat of violence ? 4 Those who recline on beds of ivory And sprawl on their couches , And eat lambs from the flock And calves from the midst of the stall , 5 Who improvise to the sound of the harp , And like David have composed songs for themselves, 6 Who drink wine from sacrificial bowls While they anoint themselves with the finest of oils , Yet they have not grieved over the ruin of Joseph . 7 Therefore , they will now go into exile at the head of the exiles , And the sprawlers' banqueting will pass away .

8 The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself , the Lord God of hosts has declared : "I loathe the arrogance of Jacob , And detest his citadels ; Therefore I will deliver up the city and all it contains ." 9 And it will be, if ten men are left in one house , they will die . 10 Then one's uncle , or his undertaker , will lift him up to carry out his bones from the house , and he will say to the one who is in the innermost part of the house , "Is anyone else with you?" And that one will say , "No one ." Then he will answer , " Keep quiet . For the name of the Lord is not to be mentioned ." 11 For behold , the Lord is going to command that the great house be smashed to pieces and the small house to fragments . 12 Do horses run on rocks ? Or does one plow them with oxen ? Yet you have turned justice into poison And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood , 13 You who rejoice in Lodebar , And say , "Have we not by our own strength taken Karnaim for ourselves?" 14 "For behold , I am going to raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel ," declares the Lord God of hosts , "And they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath To the brook of the Arabah ."

Three Visions of Destruction

71 Thus the Lord GOD showed me, and behold , He was forming a locust-swarm when the spring crop began to sprout . And behold , the spring crop was after the king's mowing . 2 And it came about, when it had finished eating the vegetation of the land , that I said , " Lord GOD , please pardon ! How can Jacob stand , For he is small ?" 3 The Lord changed His mind about this . "It shall not be," said the Lord . 4 Thus the Lord GOD showed me, and behold , the Lord GOD was calling to contend with them by fire , and it consumed the great deep and began to consume the farm land . 5 Then I said , " Lord GOD , please stop ! How can Jacob stand , for he is small ?" 6 The Lord changed His mind about this . "This too shall not be," said the Lord GOD . 7 Thus He showed me, and behold , the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand . 8 The Lord said to me, " What do you see , Amos ?" And I said , "A plumb line ." Then the Lord said , "Behold I am about to put a plumb line In the midst of My people Israel . I will spare them no longer e . 9 "The high places of Isaac will be desolated And the sanctuaries of Israel laid waste . Then I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword ."

Amos and Amaziah

10 Then Amaziah , the priest of Bethel , sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel , saying , "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel ; the land is unable e to endure all his words . 11 "For thus Amos says , 'Jeroboam will die by the sword and Israel will certainly go from its land into exile .' " 12 Then Amaziah said to Amos , " Go , you seer , flee away to the land of Judah and there eat bread and there do your prophesying ! 13 "But no longer e prophesy at Bethel , for it is a sanctuary of the king and a royal residence ." 14 Then Amos replied to Amaziah , "I am not a prophet , nor am I the son of a prophet ; for I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs . 15 "But the Lord took me from following the flock and the Lord said to me, 'Go prophesy to My people Israel .' 16 "Now hear the word of the Lord : you are saying , 'You shall not prophesy against Israel nor shall you speak against the house of Isaac .' 17 "Therefore , thus says the Lord , 'Your wife will become a harlot in the city , your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword , your land will be parceled up by a measuring line and you yourself will die upon unclean soil . Moreover, Israel will certainly go from its land into exile .' "

The Basket of Summer Fruit

81 Thus the Lord GOD showed me, and behold , there was a basket of summer fruit . 2 He said , "What do you see , Amos ?" And I said , "A basket of summer fruit ." Then the Lord said to me, "The end has come for My people Israel . I will spare them no longer e . 3 "The songs of the palace will turn to wailing in that day ," declares the Lord GOD . "Many will be the corpses ; in every place they will cast them forth in silence ."

Israel's Doom at Hand

4 Hear this , you who trample the needy , to do away with the humble of the land , 5 saying , "When will the new moon be over , So that we may sell grain , And the sabbath , that we may open the wheat market, To make the bushel smaller and the shekel bigger , And to cheat with dishonest scales , 6 So as to buy the helpless for money And the needy for a pair of sandals , And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat ?" 7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob , "Indeed , I will never e forget any of their deeds . 8 "Because of this will not the land quake And everyone who dwells in it mourn ? Indeed, all of it will rise up like the Nile , And it will be tossed about And subside like the Nile of Egypt . 9 "It will come about in that day ," declares the Lord GOD , "That I will make the sun go down at noon And make the earth dark in broad daylight e . 10 "Then I will turn your festivals into mourning And all your songs into lamentation ; And I will bring sackcloth on everyone's loins And baldness on every head . And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son , And the end of it will be like a bitter day .

11 "Behold , days are coming ," declares the Lord GOD , "When I will send a famine on the land , Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water , But rather e for hearing the words of the Lord . 12 "People will stagger from sea to sea And from the north even to the east ; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the Lord , But they will not find it. 13 "In that day the beautiful virgins And the young men will faint from thirst . 14 "As for those who swear by the guilt of Samaria , Who say , 'As your god lives , O Dan ,' And, 'As the way of Beersheba lives ,' They will fall and not rise again ."

The LORD's Judgments Inescapable

91 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar , and He said , "Smite the capitals so that the thresholds will shake , And break them on the heads of them all ! Then I will slay the rest of them with the sword ; They will not have a fugitive who will flee , Or a refugee who will escape . 2 "Though they dig into Sheol , From there will My hand take them; And though they ascend to heaven , From there will I bring them down . 3 "Though they hide on the summit of Carmel , I will search them out and take them from there ; And though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea , From there I will command the serpent and it will bite them. 4 "And though they go into captivity before their enemies , From there I will command the sword that it slay them, And I will set My eyes against them for evil and not for good ." 5 The Lord GOD of hosts , The One who touches the land so that it melts , And all those who dwell in it mourn , And all of it rises up like the Nile And subsides like the Nile of Egypt ; 6 The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens And has founded His vaulted dome over the earth , He who calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth , The Lord is His name . 7 "Are you not as the sons of Ethiopia to Me, O sons of Israel ?" declares the Lord . "Have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt , And the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir ? 8 "Behold , the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom , And I will destroy it from the face of the earth ; Nevertheless e , I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob ," Declares the Lord . 9 "For behold , I am commanding , And I will shake the house of Israel among all nations As grain is shaken in a sieve , But not a kernel will fall to the ground . 10 "All the sinners of My people will die by the sword , Those who say , ' The calamity will not overtake or confront us.'

The Future Restoration of Israel

11 "In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David , And wall up its breaches ; I will also raise up its ruins And rebuild it as in the days of old ; 12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom And all the nations who are called by My name ," Declares the Lord who does this . 13 "Behold , days are coming ," declares the Lord , "When the plowman will overtake the reaper And the treader of grapes him who sows seed ; When the mountains will drip sweet wine And all the hills will be dissolved . 14 "Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel , And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine , And make gardens and eat their fruit . 15 "I will also plant them on their land , And they will not again be rooted out from their land Which I have given them," Says the Lord your God .