For this reason whoever is smart ¹  keeps quiet ²  in such a time, for it is an evil ³  time.

We’re eager to trade silver for the poor, ¹  a pair of sandals ²  for the needy! We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!” ³ 

This is what the Lord says: “Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions ¹  – make that four! ²  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ³  They sold the innocent ⁴  for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals. ⁵ 

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

In all the vineyards there will be wailing, for I will pass through ¹  your midst,” says the Lord.

You will pick up your images ¹  of Sikkuth, ²  your king, ³  and Kiyyun, ⁴  your star god, which you made for yourselves,

“I have chosen ¹  you alone from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”

Woe ¹  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.

I brought you up from the land of Egypt; I led you through the wilderness for forty years so you could take the Amorites’ land as your own.

Do not seek Bethel! ¹  Do not visit Gilgal! Do not journey down ²  to Beer Sheba! For the people of Gilgal ³  will certainly be carried into exile; ⁴  and Bethel will become a place where disaster abounds.” ⁵ 

“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.

“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 

Burn a thank offering of bread made with yeast! ¹  Make a public display of your voluntary offerings! ²  For you love to do this, you Israelites.” The sovereign Lord is speaking!

The sovereign Lord says this: “The city that marches out with a thousand soldiers ¹  will have only a hundred left; the town ²  that marches out with a hundred soldiers ³  will have only ten left for the family of Israel.” ⁴ 

Listen, you Israelites, to this message which the Lord is proclaiming against ¹  you! This message is for the entire clan I brought up ²  from the land of Egypt:

Woe ¹  to those who live in ease in Zion, ²  to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria. They think of themselves as ³  the elite class of the best nation. The family ⁴  of Israel looks to them for leadership. ⁵ 

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 

People ¹  will stagger from sea to sea, ²  and from the north around to the east. They will wander about looking for a revelation from ³  the Lord, but they will not find any. ⁴ 

For here he is! He ¹  formed the mountains and created the wind. He reveals ²  his plans ³  to men. He turns the dawn into darkness ⁴  and marches on the heights of the earth. The Lord, the God who commands armies, ⁵  is his name!”

For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites. ¹  They were as tall as cedars ²  and as strong as oaks, but I destroyed the fruit on their branches ³  and their roots in the ground. ⁴