The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his very own life. ¹  The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking: “I despise Jacob’s arrogance; I hate their ²  fortresses. I will hand over to their enemies ³  the city of Samaria ⁴  and everything in it.”

Look, the sovereign Lord is watching ¹  the sinful nation, ²  and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. But I will not completely destroy the family ³  of Jacob,” says the Lord.

“Certainly when ¹  I punish Israel for their ²  covenant transgressions, ³  I will destroy ⁴  Bethel’s ⁵  altars. The horns ⁶  of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.

“I sent against you a plague like one of the Egyptian plagues. ¹  I killed your young men with the sword, along with the horses you had captured. I made the stench from the corpses ²  rise up into your nostrils. Still you did not come back to me.” The Lord is speaking!

and I will drive you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord. He is called the God who commands armies!

I will remove ¹  the ruler ²  from Ashdod, ³  the one who holds the royal scepter from Ashkelon. ⁴  I will strike Ekron ⁵  with my hand; ⁶  the rest of the Philistines will also die.” ⁷  The sovereign Lord has spoken!

“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. ¹ 

“In that day I will rebuild the collapsing hut ¹  of David. I will seal its ²  gaps, repair its ³  ruins, and restore it to what it was like in days gone by. ⁴ 

He said, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end ¹  has come for my people Israel! I will no longer overlook their sins. ² 

Even when their enemies drive them into captivity, ¹  from there ²  I will command the sword to kill them. I will not let them out of my sight; they will experience disaster, not prosperity.” ³ 

I will turn your festivals into funerals, ¹  and all your songs into funeral dirges. I will make everyone wear funeral clothes ²  and cause every head to be shaved bald. ³  I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; ⁴  when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day. ⁵ 

“I withheld rain from you three months before the harvest. ¹  I gave rain to one city, but not to another. One field ²  would get rain, but the field that received no rain dried up.

So I will set Hazael’s house ¹  on fire; fire ²  will consume Ben Hadad’s ³  fortresses.

“You Israelites are just like the Ethiopians in my sight,” ¹  says the Lord. “Certainly I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt, but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtor ²  and the Arameans from Kir. ³ 

Take away from me your ¹  noisy songs; I don’t want to hear the music of your stringed instruments. ² 

He showed me this: I saw ¹  the sovereign One ²  standing by a tin ³  wall holding tin in his hand.

When they had completely consumed the earth’s vegetation, I said, “Sovereign Lord, forgive Israel! ¹  How can Jacob survive? ²  He is too weak!” ³ 

In that day,” says the sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon, and make the earth dark in the middle of the day. ¹ 

I made some of your sons prophets and some of your young men Nazirites. ¹  Is this not true, you Israelites?” The Lord is speaking!

I will destroy both the winter and summer houses. ¹  The houses filled with ivory ²  will be ruined, the great ³  houses will be swept away.” ⁴  The Lord is speaking!