Amos 3:15

3:15 I will destroy both the winter and summer houses. ¹ 

The houses filled with ivory ²  will be ruined,

the great ³  houses will be swept away.” ⁴ 

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 2:8

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

they do so right ⁵  beside every altar!

They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied;

they do so right in the temple ⁶  of their God! ⁷ 

Amos 5:1

Death is Imminent

5:1 Listen to this funeral song I am ready to sing about you, ⁸  family ⁹  of Israel:

Amos 5:25

5:25 You did not bring me ¹⁰  sacrifices and grain offerings during the forty years you spent in the wilderness, family ¹¹  of Israel.

Amos 7:9-10

7:9 Isaac’s centers of worship ¹²  will become desolate;

Israel’s holy places will be in ruins.

I will attack Jeroboam’s dynasty with the sword.” ¹³ 

Amos Confronts a Priest

7:10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel ¹⁴  sent this message ¹⁵  to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is conspiring against you in the very heart of the kingdom of Israel! ¹⁶  The land cannot endure all his prophecies. ¹⁷ 

Amos 3:14

3:14 “Certainly when ¹⁸  I punish Israel for their ¹⁹  covenant transgressions, ²⁰ 

I will destroy ²¹  Bethel’s ²²  altars.

The horns ²³  of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.

Amos 4:4

Israel has an Appointment with God

4:4 “Go to Bethel ²⁴  and rebel! ²⁵ 

At Gilgal ²⁶  rebel some more!

Bring your sacrifices in ²⁷  the morning,

your tithes on ²⁸  the third day!

Amos 5:6

5:6 Seek the Lord so you can live!

Otherwise he will break out ²⁹  like fire against Joseph’s ³⁰  family; ³¹ 

the fire ³²  will consume

and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. ³³ 

Amos 6:1

The Party is over for the Rich

6:1 Woe ³⁴  to those who live in ease in Zion, ³⁵ 

to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria.

They think of themselves as ³⁶  the elite class of the best nation.

The family ³⁷  of Israel looks to them for leadership. ³⁸ 

Amos 6:14

6:14 “Look! I am about to bring ³⁹  a nation against you, family ⁴⁰  of Israel.”

The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking.

“They will oppress ⁴¹  you all the way from Lebo-Hamath ⁴²  to the Stream of the Arabah.” ⁴³ 

Amos 7:16

7:16 So now listen to the Lord’s message! You say, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel! Don’t preach ⁴⁴  against the family of Isaac!’

Amos 9:9

9:9 “For look, I am giving a command

and I will shake the family of Israel together with all the nations.

It will resemble a sieve being shaken,

when not even a pebble falls to the ground. ⁴⁵ 

Amos 5:5

5:5 Do not seek Bethel! ⁴⁶ 

Do not visit Gilgal!

Do not journey down ⁴⁷  to Beer Sheba!

For the people of Gilgal ⁴⁸  will certainly be carried into exile; ⁴⁹ 

and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds.” ⁵⁰ 

Amos 9:8

9:8 Look, the sovereign Lord is watching ⁵¹  the sinful nation, ⁵² 

and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.

But I will not completely destroy the family ⁵³  of Jacob,” says the Lord.

[3:15]  ¹ tn Heb “the winter house along with the summer house.”

[3:15]  ² tn Heb “houses of ivory.” These houses were not made of ivory, but they had ivory panels and furniture decorated with ivory inlays. See P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 139-48.

[3:15]  ³ tn Or “many,” cf. NAB “their many rooms.”

[3:15]  ⁴ tn The translation assumes the form is from the Hebrew verb סָפָה (safah, “to sweep away”) rather than סוּף (suf, “to come to an end”), which is the choice of most versions. Either option effectively communicates the destruction of the structures.

[2:8]  ⁵ tn The words “They do so right” are supplied twice in the translation of this verse for clarification.

[2:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “house.”

[2:8]  ⁷ 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).

[5:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “Listen to this word which I am about to take up against you, a funeral song.”

[5:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “house.”

[5:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “Did you bring me…?” This rhetorical question expects a negative answer. The point seems to be this: Since sacrifices did not characterize God’s relationship with Israel during the nation’s formative years, the people should not consider them to be so fundamental. The Lord places a higher priority on justice than he does on empty ritual.

[5:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “house.”

[7:9]  ¹⁷ tn Traditionally, “the high places” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “pagan shrines.”

[7:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “And I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with a sword.”

[7:10]  ²¹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[7:10]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Heb “in the middle of the house of Israel.”

[7:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “words.”

[3:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “in the day.”

[3:14]  ²⁶ tn Heb “his.” With the referent “Israel” here, this amounts to a collective singular.

[3:14]  ²⁷ tn Traditionally, “transgressions, sins,” but see the note on the word “crimes” in 1:3.

[3:14]  ²⁸ tn Heb “punish” (so NASB, NRSV).

[3:14]  ²⁹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[3:14]  ³⁰ sn The horns of an ancient altar projected upwards from the four corners and resembled an animal’s horns in appearance. Fugitives could seek asylum by grabbing hold of these corners (see Exod 21:14; 1 Kgs 1:50; 2:28). When the altar’s horns were cut off, there would be no place of asylum left for the Lord’s enemies.

[4:4]  ²⁹ sn Bethel and Gilgal were important formal worship centers because of their importance in Israel’s history. Here the Lord ironically urges the people to visit these places so they can increase their sin against him. Their formal worship, because it was not accompanied by social justice, only made them more guilty in God’s sight by adding hypocrisy to their list of sins. Obviously, theirs was a twisted view of the Lord. They worshiped a god of their own creation in order to satisfy their religious impulses (see 4:5: “For you love to do this”). Note that none of the rituals listed in 4:4-5 have to do with sin.

[4:4]  ³⁰ tn The Hebrew word translated “rebel” (also in the following line) could very well refer here to Israel’s violations of their covenant with God (see also the term “crimes” in 1:3 [with note] and the phrase “covenant transgressions” in 2:4 [with note]; 3:14).

[4:4]  ³¹ sn See the note on Bethel earlier in this verse.

[4:4]  ³² tn Or “for.”

[4:4]  ³³ tn Or “for.”

[5:6]  ³³ tn Heb “rush.” The verb depicts swift movement.

[5:6]  ³⁴ sn Here Joseph (= Ephraim and Manasseh), as the most prominent of the Israelite tribes, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[5:6]  ³⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[5:6]  ³⁶ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “to/for Bethel.” The translation assumes that the preposition indicates advantage, “on behalf of.” Another option is to take the preposition as vocative, “O Bethel.”

[6:1]  ³⁷ tn On the Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy; “ah, woe”) as a term of mourning, see the notes in 5:16, 18.

[6:1]  ³⁸ sn Zion is a reference to Jerusalem.

[6:1]  ³⁹ tn The words “They think of themselves as” are supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the term נְקֻבֵי (nÿquvey; “distinguished ones, elite”) is in apposition to the substantival participles in the first line.

[6:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “house.”

[6:1]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “comes to them.”

[6:14]  ⁴¹ tn Or “raise up” (KJV, NASB); NIV “stir up.”

[6:14]  ⁴² tn Heb “house.”

[6:14]  ⁴³ sn Once again there is irony in the divine judgment. The oppressive nation itself will suffer oppression. The verb “oppress” (לָחַץ, lakhats) in this verse is not the same as that used in 4:1 (עָשַׁק, ’ashaq).

[6:14]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “from the entrance to Hamath.” The Hebrew term לְבוֹא (lÿvo’) can either be translated or considered a part of the place name.

[6:14]  ⁴⁵ sn Lebo-Hamath refers to the northern border of Israel, the Stream of the Arabah to its southern border. See 2 Kgs 14:25. Through this invader the Lord would reverse the victories and territorial expansion Israel experienced during the reign of Jeroboam II.

[7:16]  ⁴⁵ tn The verb, which literally means “to drip,” appears to be a synonym of “to prophesy,” but it might carry a derogatory tone here, perhaps alluding to the impassioned, frenzied way in which prophets sometimes delivered their messages. If so, one could translate, “to drivel; to foam at the mouth” (see HALOT 694 s.v. נטף).

[9:9]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “like being shaken with a sieve, and a pebble does not fall to the ground.” The meaning of the Hebrew word צְרוֹר (tsÿror), translated “pebble,” is unclear here. In 2 Sam 17:13 it appears to refer to a stone. If it means “pebble,” then the sieve described in v. 6 allows the grain to fall into a basket while retaining the debris and pebbles. However, if one interprets צְרוֹר as a “kernel of grain” (cf. NASB, NIV, NKJV, NLT) then the sieve is constructed to retain the grain and allow the refuse and pebbles to fall to the ground. In either case, the simile supports the last statement in v. 8 by making it clear that God will distinguish between the righteous (the grain) and the wicked (the pebbles) when he judges, and will thereby preserve a remnant in Israel. Only the sinners will be destroyed (v. 10).

[5:5]  ⁵³ sn Ironically, Israel was to seek after the Lord, but not at Bethel (the name Bethel means “the house of God” in Hebrew).

[5:5]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “cross over.”

[5:5]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “For Gilgal.” By metonymy the place name “Gilgal” is used instead of referring directly to the inhabitants. The words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:5]  ⁵⁶ tn In the Hebrew text the statement is emphasized by sound play. The name “Gilgal” sounds like the verb גָּלָה (galah, “to go into exile”), which occurs here in the infinitival + finite verb construction (גָּלֹה יִגְלֶה, galoh yigleh). The repetition of the “ג” (g) and “ל” (l) sounds draws attention to the announcement and suggests that Gilgal’s destiny is inherent in its very name.

[5:5]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “disaster,” or “nothing”; NIV “Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”

[9:8]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “the eyes of the sovereign Lord are on.”

[9:8]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “kingdom.”

[9:8]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).