Amos 2:8

2:8 They stretch out on clothing seized as collateral;

they do so right ¹  beside every altar!

They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied;

they do so right in the temple ²  of their God! ³ 

Amos 8:7

8:7 The Lord confirms this oath ⁴  by the arrogance of Jacob: ⁵ 

“I swear ⁶  I will never forget all you have done! ⁷ 

Amos 9:10

9:10 All the sinners among my people will die by the sword –

the ones who say, ‘Disaster will not come near, it will not confront us.’

Amos 8:10

8:10 I will turn your festivals into funerals, ⁸ 

and all your songs into funeral dirges.

I will make everyone wear funeral clothes ⁹ 

and cause every head to be shaved bald. ¹⁰ 

I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; ¹¹ 

when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day. ¹² 

Amos 3:1-2

Every Effect has its Cause

3:1 Listen, you Israelites, to this message which the Lord is proclaiming against ¹³  you! This message is for the entire clan I brought up ¹⁴  from the land of Egypt: 3:2 “I have chosen ¹⁵  you alone from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”

Amos 8:8

8:8 Because of this the earth ¹⁶  will quake, ¹⁷ 

and all who live in it will mourn.

The whole earth ¹⁸  will rise like the River Nile, ¹⁹ 

it will surge upward ²⁰  and then grow calm, ²¹  like the Nile in Egypt. ²² 

Amos 9:5

9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. ²³ 

He touches the earth and it dissolves; ²⁴ 

all who live on it mourn.

The whole earth ²⁵  rises like the River Nile, ²⁶ 

and then grows calm ²⁷  like the Nile in Egypt. ²⁸ 

Amos 7:10

Amos Confronts a Priest

7:10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel ²⁹  sent this message ³⁰  to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is conspiring against you in the very heart of the kingdom of Israel! ³¹  The land cannot endure all his prophecies. ³² 

[2:8]  ¹ tn The words “They do so right” are supplied twice in the translation of this verse for clarification.

[2:8]  ² tn Heb “house.”

[2:8]  ³ tn Or “gods.” The Hebrew term אֱלֹהֵיהֶם (’elohehem) may be translated “their gods” (referring to pagan gods), “their god” (referring to a pagan god, cf. NAB, NIV, NLT), or “their God” (referring to the God of Israel, cf. NASB, NRSV).

[8:7]  ⁴ tn Or “swears.”

[8:7]  ⁵ sn In an oath one appeals to something permanent to emphasize one’s commitment to the promise. Here the Lord sarcastically swears by the arrogance of Jacob, which he earlier had condemned (6:8), something just as enduring as the Lord’s own life (see 6:8) or unchanging character (see 4:2). Other suggestions include that the Lord is swearing by the land, his most valuable possession (cf. Isa 4:2; Ps 47:4 [47:5 HT]); that this is a divine epithet analogous to “the Glory of Israel” (1 Sam 15:29); or that an ellipsis should be understood here, in which case the meaning is the same as that of 6:8 (“The Lord has sworn [by himself] against the arrogance of Jacob”).

[8:7]  ⁶ tn The words “I swear” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation because a self-imprecation is assumed in oaths of this type.

[8:7]  ⁷ tn Or “I will never forget all your deeds.”

[8:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “mourning.”

[8:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will place sackcloth on all waists.”

[8:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “and make every head bald.” This could be understood in a variety of ways, while the ritual act of mourning typically involved shaving the head (although occasionally the hair could be torn out as a sign of mourning).

[8:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will make it like the mourning for an only son.”

[8:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and its end will be like a bitter day.” The Hebrew preposition כְּ (kaf) sometimes carries the force of “in every respect,” indicating identity rather than mere comparison.

[3:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “about.”

[3:1]  ¹¹ tn One might expect a third person verb form (“he brought up”), since the Lord apparently refers to himself in the third person in the preceding sentence. This first person form, however, serves to connect this message to the earlier indictment (2:10) and anticipates the words of the following verse.

[3:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “You only have I known.” The Hebrew verb יָדַע (yada’) is used here in its covenantal sense of “recognize in a special way.”

[8:8]  ¹⁶ tn Or “land” (also later in this verse).

[8:8]  ¹⁷ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[8:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “all of it.”

[8:8]  ¹⁹ tc The MT reads “like the light” (כָאֹר, kha’or; note this term also appears in v. 9), which is commonly understood to be an error for “like the Nile” (כִּיאוֹר, ki’or). See the parallel line and Amos 9:5. The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity. If this emendation is correct, in the Hebrew of Amos “Nile” is actually spelled three slightly different ways.

[8:8]  ²⁰ tn Or “churn.”

[8:8]  ²¹ tn Or “sink back down.” The translation assumes the verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’), following the Qere.

[8:8]  ²² tn The entire verse is phrased in a series of rhetorical questions which anticipate the answer, “Of course!” (For example, the first line reads, “Because of this will the earth not quake?”). The rhetorical questions entrap the listener in the logic of the judgment of God (cf. 3:3-6; 9:7). The rhetorical questions have been converted to affirmative statements in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ¹⁹ tn The words “will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:5]  ²⁰ tn Or “melts.” The verb probably depicts earthquakes and landslides. See v. 5b.

[9:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “all of it.”

[9:5]  ²² tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ²³ tn Or “sinks back down.”

[9:5]  ²⁴ sn See Amos 8:8, which is very similar to this verse.

[7:10]  ²² map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[7:10]  ²³ tn The direct object of the verb translated “sent” is elided in the Hebrew text. The words “this message” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[7:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “in the middle of the house of Israel.”

[7:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “words.”