Amos 5:5

5:5 Do not seek Bethel! ¹ 

Do not visit Gilgal!

Do not journey down ²  to Beer Sheba!

For the people of Gilgal ³  will certainly be carried into exile; ⁴ 

and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds.” ⁵ 

Amos 6:1

The Party is over for the Rich

6:1 Woe ⁶  to those who live in ease in Zion, ⁷ 

to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria.

They think of themselves as ⁸  the elite class of the best nation.

The family ⁹  of Israel looks to them for leadership. ¹⁰ 

Amos 6:14

6:14 “Look! I am about to bring ¹¹  a nation against you, family ¹²  of Israel.”

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

“They will oppress ¹³  you all the way from Lebo-Hamath ¹⁴  to the Stream of the Arabah.” ¹⁵ 

Amos 8:12

8:12 People ¹⁶  will stagger from sea to sea, ¹⁷ 

and from the north around to the east.

They will wander about looking for a revelation from ¹⁸  the Lord,

but they will not find any. ¹⁹ 

Amos 9:8-9

9:8 Look, the sovereign Lord is watching ²⁰  the sinful nation, ²¹ 

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

But I will not completely destroy the family ²²  of Jacob,” says the Lord.

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. ²³ 

[5:5]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “cross over.”

[5:5]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “disaster,” or “nothing”; NIV “Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”

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

[6:1]  ⁷ sn Zion is a reference to Jerusalem.

[6:1]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “house.”

[6:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “comes to them.”

[6:14]  ¹¹ tn Or “raise up” (KJV, NASB); NIV “stir up.”

[6:14]  ¹² tn Heb “house.”

[6:14]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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.

[8:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:12]  ¹⁷ tn That is, from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Dead Sea in the east – that is, across the whole land.

[8:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “looking for the word of.”

[8:12]  ¹⁹ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[9:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “the eyes of the sovereign Lord are on.”

[9:8]  ²² tn Or “kingdom.”

[9:8]  ²³ tn Heb “house” (also in the following verse).

[9:9]  ²⁶ 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).