Amos 7:8

7:8 The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “Tin.” The sovereign One then said,

“Look, I am about to place tin among my people Israel.

I will no longer overlook their sin. ¹ 

Amos 8:8

8:8 Because of this the earth ²  will quake, ³ 

and all who live in it will mourn.

The whole earth ⁴  will rise like the River Nile, ⁵ 

it will surge upward ⁶  and then grow calm, ⁷  like the Nile in Egypt. ⁸ 

Amos 8:12

8:12 People ⁹  will stagger from sea to sea, ¹⁰ 

and from the north around to the east.

They will wander about looking for a revelation from ¹¹  the Lord,

but they will not find any. ¹² 

Amos 9:5-6

9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. ¹³ 

He touches the earth and it dissolves; ¹⁴ 

all who live on it mourn.

The whole earth ¹⁵  rises like the River Nile, ¹⁶ 

and then grows calm ¹⁷  like the Nile in Egypt. ¹⁸ 

9:6 He builds the upper rooms of his palace ¹⁹  in heaven

and sets its foundation supports ²⁰  on the earth. ²¹ 

He summons the water of the sea

and pours it out on the earth’s surface.

The Lord is his name.

[7:8]  ¹ tn Heb “And I will no longer pass over him.”

[8:8]  ² tn Or “land” (also later in this verse).

[8:8]  ³ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[8:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “all of it.”

[8:8]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Or “churn.”

[8:8]  ⁷ tn Or “sink back down.” The translation assumes the verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’), following the Qere.

[8:8]  ⁸ 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.

[8:12]  ³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:12]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “looking for the word of.”

[8:12]  ⁶ tn It is not clear whether the speaker in this verse is the Lord or the prophet.

[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.

[9:6]  ⁵ tc The MT reads “his steps.” If this is correct, then the reference may be to the steps leading up to the heavenly temple or the throne of God (cf. 1 Kgs 10:19-20). The prefixed מ (mem) may be dittographic (note the preceding word ends in mem). The translation assumes an emendation to עֲלִיָּתוֹ (’aliyyato, “his upper rooms”).

[9:6]  ⁶ tn Traditionally, “vault” (so ASV, NAB, NRSV). The precise meaning of this word in this context is unclear. Elsewhere it refers to objects grouped or held together. F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman (Amos [AB], 845-46) suggest the foundational structure of a building is in view.

[9:6]  ⁷ sn Verse 6a pictures the entire universe as a divine palace founded on the earth and extending into the heavens.