<p class="poetry">&#8220;Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel.p> <p class="poetry">Because I will do this to you,p> <p class="poetry">prepare to meet your God, Israel!<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;I absolutely despise<n id="1" /> your festivals!p> <p class="poetry">I get no pleasure<n id="2" /> from your religious assemblies!p>

<p class="poetry">and I will drive you into exile beyond Damascus,&#8221; says the <sc>Lordsc>.p> <p class="poetry">He is called the God who commands armies!p>

<p class="poetry">Indeed, look! The <sc>Lordsc> is giving the command.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">He will smash the large house to bits,p> <p class="poetry">and the small house into little pieces.p>

<p class="poetry">I said, &#8220;Sovereign <sc>Lordsc>, stop!p> <p class="poetry">How can Jacob survive?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">He is too weak!&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

Then the <sc>Lordsc> took me from tending<n id="1" /> flocks and gave me this commission,<n id="2" /> &#8216;Go! Prophesy to my people Israel!&#8217;

<t /><p class="poetry">Amos<n id="1" /> said:p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> comes roaring<n id="2" /> out of Zion;p> <p class="poetry">from Jerusalem<n id="3" /> he comes bellowing!<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">The shepherds&#8217; pastures wilt;<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">the summit of Carmel<n id="6" /> withers.&#8221;<n id="7" />p>

<p class="poetry">Archers<n id="1" /> will not hold their ground;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">fast runners will not save their lives,p> <p class="poetry">nor will those who ride horses.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">People from<n id="1" /> two or three cities staggered into one city to get<n id="2" /> water,p> <p class="poetry">but remained thirsty.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">Still you did not come back to me.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> is speaking!p>

When they had completely consumed the earth&#8217;s vegetation, I said,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Sovereign <sc>Lordsc>, forgive Israel!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">How can Jacob survive?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">He is too weak!&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Isaac&#8217;s centers of worship<n id="1" /> will become desolate;p> <p class="poetry">Israel&#8217;s holy places will be in ruins.p> <p class="poetry">I will attack Jeroboam&#8217;s dynasty with the sword.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

So now listen to the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s message! You say, &#8216;Don&#8217;t prophesy against Israel! Don&#8217;t preach<n id="1" /> against the family of Isaac!&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">The women singing in the temple<n id="1" /> will wail in that day.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">The sovereign <sc>Lordsc> is speaking.p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;There will be many corpses littered everywhere!<n id="2" /> Be quiet!&#8221;p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;I destroyed your crops<n id="1" /> with blight and disease.p> <p class="poetry">Locusts kept<n id="2" /> devouring your orchards,<n id="3" /> vineyards, fig trees, and olive trees.p> <p class="poetry">Still you did not come back to me.&#8221;p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> is speaking!p>

<p class="poetry">Because of this the earth<n id="1" /> will quake,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and all who live in it will mourn.p> <p class="poetry">The whole earth<n id="3" /> will rise like the River Nile,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">it will surge upward<n id="5" /> and then grow calm,<n id="6" /> like the Nile in Egypt.<n id="7" />p>

<p class="poetry">The sovereign <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies will do this.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">He touches the earth and it dissolves;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">all who live on it mourn.p> <p class="poetry">The whole earth<n id="3" /> rises like the River Nile,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and then grows calm<n id="5" /> like the Nile in Egypt.<n id="6" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">&#8220;In that day I will rebuild the collapsing hut<n id="1" /> of David.p> <p class="poetry">I will seal its<n id="2" /> gaps,p> <p class="poetry">repair its<n id="3" /> ruins,p> <p class="poetry">and restore it to what it was like in days gone by.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;I withheld rain from you three months before the harvest.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I gave rain to one city, but not to another.p> <p class="poetry">One field<n id="2" /> would get rain, but the field that received no rain dried up.p>

<p class="poetry">Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,p> <p class="poetry">I would hunt them down and take them from there.p> <p class="poetry">Even if they tried to hide from me<n id="1" /> at the bottom of the sea,p> <p class="poetry">from there<n id="2" /> I would command the Sea Serpent<n id="3" /> to bite them.p>