Amos 7:13

7:13 Don’t prophesy at Bethel ¹  any longer, for a royal temple and palace are here!” ² 

Amos 7:12

7:12 Amaziah then said to Amos, “Leave, you visionary! ³  Run away to the land of Judah! Earn your living ⁴  and prophesy there!

Amos 8:12

8:12 People ⁵  will stagger from sea to sea, ⁶ 

and from the north around to the east.

They will wander about looking for a revelation from ⁷  the Lord,

but they will not find any. ⁸ 

Amos 5:18

The Lord Demands Justice

5:18 Woe ⁹  to those who wish for the day of the Lord!

Why do you want the Lord’s day of judgment to come?

It will bring darkness, not light.

Amos 4:13

4:13 For here he is!

He ¹⁰  formed the mountains and created the wind.

He reveals ¹¹  his plans ¹²  to men.

He turns the dawn into darkness ¹³ 

and marches on the heights of the earth.

The Lord, the God who commands armies, ¹⁴  is his name!”

Amos 7:10

Amos Confronts a Priest

7:10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel ¹⁵  sent this message ¹⁶  to King Jeroboam of Israel: “Amos is conspiring against you in the very heart of the kingdom of Israel! ¹⁷  The land cannot endure all his prophecies. ¹⁸ 

[7:13]  ¹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[7:13]  ² tn Heb “for it is a temple of a king and it is a royal house.” It is possible that the phrase “royal house” refers to a temple rather than a palace. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 243.

[7:12]  ³ tn Traditionally, “seer.” The word is a synonym for “prophet,” though it may carry a derogatory tone on the lips of Amaziah.

[7:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “Eat bread there.”

[8:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:12]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “looking for the word of.”

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

[5:18]  ⁷ tn The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”) was used when mourning the dead (see the note on the word “dead” in 5:16). The prophet here either engages in role playing and mourns the death of the nation in advance or sarcastically taunts those who hold to this misplaced belief.

[4:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “For look, the one who.” This verse is considered to be the first hymnic passage in the book. The others appear at 5:8-9 and 9:5-6. Scholars debate whether these verses were originally part of a single hymn or three distinct pieces deliberately placed in each context for particular effect.

[4:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “declares” (NAB, NASB).

[4:13]  ¹¹ tn Or “his thoughts.” The translation assumes that the pronominal suffix refers to God and that divine self-revelation is in view (see 3:7). If the suffix refers to the following term אָדַם (’adam, “men”), then the expression refers to God’s ability to read men’s minds.

[4:13]  ¹² tn Heb “he who makes dawn, darkness.” The meaning of the statement is unclear. The present translation assumes that allusion is made to God’s approaching judgment, when the light of day will be turned to darkness (see 5:20). Other options include: (1) “He makes the dawn [and] the darkness.” A few Hebrew mss, as well as the LXX, add the conjunction (“and”) between the two nouns. (2) “He turns darkness into glimmering dawn” (NJPS). See S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 154), who takes שָׁחַר (shakhar) as “blackness” rather than “dawn” and עֵיפָה (’efah) as “glimmering dawn” rather than “darkness.”

[4:13]  ¹³ tn Traditionally, “God of hosts.”

[7:10]  ¹¹ map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[7:10]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Heb “in the middle of the house of Israel.”

[7:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “words.”