Amos 9:15

9:15 I will plant them on their land

and they will never again be uprooted from the ¹  land I have given them,”

says the Lord your God.

Amos 6:11

6:11 Indeed, look! The Lord is giving the command. ² 

He will smash the large house to bits,

and the small house into little pieces.

Amos 4:6

4:6 “But surely I gave ³  you no food to eat in any of your cities;

you lacked food everywhere you live. ⁴ 

Still you did not come back to me.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 1:1

Introduction

1:1 The following is a record of what Amos prophesied. ⁵  He ⁶  was one of the herdsmen from Tekoa. These prophecies about Israel were revealed to him ⁷  during the time of ⁸  King Uzziah of Judah and ⁹  King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel, two years before the earthquake. ¹⁰ 

Amos 2:6

God Will Judge Israel

2:6 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions ¹¹  –

make that four! ¹²  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ¹³ 

They sold the innocent ¹⁴  for silver,

the needy for a pair of sandals. ¹⁵ 

Amos 4:5

4:5 Burn a thank offering of bread made with yeast! ¹⁶ 

Make a public display of your voluntary offerings! ¹⁷ 

For you love to do this, you Israelites.”

The sovereign Lord is speaking!

Amos 9:5

9:5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this. ¹⁸ 

He touches the earth and it dissolves; ¹⁹ 

all who live on it mourn.

The whole earth ²⁰  rises like the River Nile, ²¹ 

and then grows calm ²²  like the Nile in Egypt. ²³ 

Amos 2:4

2:4 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions ²⁴  –

make that four! ²⁵  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ²⁶ 

They rejected the Lord’s law; ²⁷ 

they did not obey his commands.

Their false gods, ²⁸ 

to which their fathers were loyal, ²⁹ 

led them astray.

Amos 7:17

7:17 “Therefore this is what the Lord says:

‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the streets ³⁰ 

and your sons and daughters will die violently. ³¹ 

Your land will be given to others ³² 

and you will die in a foreign ³³  land.

Israel will certainly be carried into exile ³⁴  away from its land.’”

[9:15]  ¹ tn Heb “their.” The pronoun was replaced by the English definite article in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:11]  ² tn Or “is issuing the decree.”

[4:6]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[1:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “The words of Amos.” Among the prophetic books this opening phrase finds a parallel only at Jer 1:1 but is not that uncommon in other genres (note, e.g., Prov 30:1; 31:1; Eccl 1:1; Neh 1:1).

[1:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “who.” Here a new sentence has been started in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “which he saw concerning Israel.”

[1:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the days of.”

[1:1]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text repeats, “and in the days of.” This phrase has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:1]  ⁹ sn This refers to a well-known earthquake that occurred during the first half of the 8th century b.c. According to a generally accepted dating system, Uzziah was a co-regent with his father Amaziah from 792-767 b.c. and ruled independently from 767-740 b.c. Jeroboam II was a co-regent with his father Joash from 793-782 b.c. and ruled independently from 782-753 b.c. Since only Uzziah and Jeroboam are mentioned in the introduction it is likely that Amos’ mission to Israel and the earthquake which followed occurred between 767-753 b.c. The introduction validates the genuine character of Amos’ prophetic ministry in at least two ways: (1) Amos was not a native Israelite or a prophet by trade. Rather he was a herdsman in Tekoa, located in Judah. His mere presence in the northern kingdom as a prophet was evidence that he had been called by God (see 7:14-15). (2) The mighty earthquake shortly after Amos’ ministry would have been interpreted as an omen or signal of approaching judgment. The clearest references to an earthquake are 1:1 and 9:1, 5. It is possible that the verb הָפַךְ (hafakh, “overturn”) at 3:13-15, 4:11, 6:11, and 8:8 also refers to an earthquake, as might the descriptions at 2:13 and 6:9-10. Evidence of a powerful earthquake has been correlated with a destruction layer at Hazor and other sites. Its lasting impact is evident by its mention in Zech 14:5 and 2 Chr 26:16-21. Earthquake imagery appears in later prophets as well (cf. D. N. Freedman and A. Welch, “Amos’s Earthquake and Israelite Prophecy,” Scripture and Other Artifacts, 188-98). On the other hand, some of these verses in Amos could allude to the devastation that would be caused by the imminent military invasion.

[2:6]  ⁵ tn For this translation see the note at 2:4.

[2:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “Because of three violations of Israel, even because of four.”

[2:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[2:6]  ⁸ tn Or “honest” (CEV, NLT). The Hebrew word sometimes has a moral-ethical connotation, “righteous, godly,” but the parallelism (note “poor”) suggests a socio-economic or legal sense here. The practice of selling debtors as slaves is in view (Exod 21:2-11; Lev 25:35-55; Deut 15:12-18) See the note at Exod 21:8 and G. C. Chirichigno, Debt-Slavery in Israel and the Ancient Near East (JSOTSup). Probably the only “crime” the victim had committed was being unable to pay back a loan or an exorbitant interest rate on a loan. Some have suggested that this verse refers to bribery in legal proceedings: The innocent are “sold” in the sense that those in power pay off the elders or judges for favorable decisions (5:12; cf. Exod 23:6-7).

[2:6]  ⁹ tn Perhaps the expression “for a pair of sandals” indicates a relatively small price or debt. Some suggest that the sandals may have been an outward token of a more substantial purchase price. Others relate the sandals to a ritual attached to the transfer of property, signifying here that the poor would be losing their inherited family lands because of debt (Ruth 4:7; cf. Deut 25:8-10). Still others emend the Hebrew form slightly to נֶעְלָם (ne’lam, “hidden thing”; from the root עָלַם, ’alam, “to hide”) and understand this as referring to a bribe.

[4:5]  ⁶ sn For the background of the thank offering of bread made with yeast, see Lev 7:13.

[4:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “proclaim voluntary offerings, announce.”

[9:5]  ⁷ tn The words “will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[9:5]  ⁸ tn Or “melts.” The verb probably depicts earthquakes and landslides. See v. 5b.

[9:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “all of it.”

[9:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the Nile.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:5]  ¹¹ tn Or “sinks back down.”

[9:5]  ¹² sn See Amos 8:8, which is very similar to this verse.

[2:4]  ⁸ tn This is the same Hebrew term that is translated “crimes” in the previous oracles (see at 1:3). The change to “covenant transgressions” reflects the probability that the prophet is condemning the nation of Israel for violating stipulations of the Mosaic Law.

[2:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “Because of three violations of Judah, even because of four.”

[2:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[2:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “instruction”; NCV “teachings.”

[2:4]  ¹² tn Heb “lies.” This may very well be a derogatory term for idols (perhaps also at Ps. 40:4 [Heb 40:5]). Elsewhere false gods are called “vanities” (Deut 32:21; 1 Kgs 16:13, 26) and a delusion (Isa 66:3). In no other prophetic passages, however, are they called “lies.” The term could refer to the deceptions of false prophets (note Ezek 13:6-9; cf. Hab 2:3). See F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Amos (AB), 301-6.

[2:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “after which their fathers walked.” The expression “to walk after” is an idiom meaning “to be loyal to.” See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 75-76.

[7:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the city,” that is, “in public.”

[7:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “will fall by the sword.”

[7:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “will be divided up with a [surveyor’s] measuring line.”

[7:17]  ¹² tn Heb “[an] unclean”; or “[an] impure.” This fate would be especially humiliating for a priest, who was to distinguish between the ritually clean and unclean (see Lev 10:10).

[7:17]  ¹³ tn See the note on the word “exile” in 5:5.