Amos 3:2

3:2 “I have chosen ¹  you alone from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”

Amos 4:6

4:6 “But surely I gave ²  you no food to eat in any of your cities;

you lacked food everywhere you live. ³ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 8:8

8:8 Because of this the earth ⁴  will quake, ⁵ 

and all who live in it will mourn.

The whole earth ⁶  will rise like the River Nile, ⁷ 

it will surge upward ⁸  and then grow calm, ⁹  like the Nile in Egypt. ¹⁰ 

Amos 9:5

9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. ¹¹ 

He touches the earth and it dissolves; ¹² 

all who live on it mourn.

The whole earth ¹³  rises like the River Nile, ¹⁴ 

and then grows calm ¹⁵  like the Nile in Egypt. ¹⁶ 

[3:2]  ¹ 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.”

[4:6]  ² tn The Hebrew construction is emphatic (pronoun + verb). It underscores the stark contrast between the judgments that the Lord had been sending with the God of blessing Israel was celebrating in its worship (4:4-5).

[4:6]  ³ tn Heb “But I gave to you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of food in all your places.” The phrase “cleanness of teeth” is a vivid way of picturing the famine Israel experienced.

[8:8]  ³ tn Or “land” (also later in this verse).

[8:8]  ⁴ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[8:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “all of it.”

[8:8]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Or “churn.”

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

[8:8]  ⁹ 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]  ⁴ tn The words “will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

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

[9:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “all of it.”

[9:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ⁸ tn Or “sinks back down.”

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