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Amos 4-6
New International Reader's Version
Amos 4-6
New International Reader's Version
Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord
4 Listen to the Lord’s message,
you women who live on the hill of Samaria.
You treat poor people badly.
You crush those who are in need.
You say to your husbands,
“Bring us some drinks!”
But you are already as fat
as the cows in Bashan.
2 The Lord and King has made a promise
by his own holy name.
He says, “You can be sure
that the time will come
when your enemies will put hooks in your faces.
They will lead every one of you away with fishhooks.
3 Each of you will go straight out
through gaps made in the wall.
You will be thrown out toward Harmon,”
announces the Lord.
4 “People of Samaria, go to Bethel and sin!
Go to Gilgal! Sin there even more!
Bring your sacrifices every morning.
Every third year, bring a tenth
of everything you produce.
5 Bake some bread with yeast.
Burn it as a thank offering.
Brag about the offerings you freely give.
This is what you Israelites love to do,”
announces the Lord and King.
6 “I made sure your stomachs were empty in every city.
You did not have enough bread in any of your towns.
In spite of that, you still have not returned to me,”
announces the Lord.
7 “I also held back rain from you.
The time to harvest crops
was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town.
But I held it back from another.
One field had rain.
But another had no rain and dried up.
8 People wandered from town to town to look for water.
But they did not get enough to drink.
In spite of that, you still have not returned to me,”
announces the Lord.
9 “Many times I kept your gardens and vineyards from growing.
I sent hot winds to dry them up completely.
Locusts ate up your fig and olive trees.
In spite of that, you still have not returned to me,”
announces the Lord.
10 “I sent plagues on you,
just as I did on Egypt.
I killed your young men by swords.
I also let the horses you had captured be killed.
I filled your noses with the stink of your camps.
In spite of that, you still have not returned to me,”
announces the Lord.
11 “I destroyed some of you,
just as I did Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning stick that was pulled out of the fire.
In spite of that, you still have not returned to me,”
announces the Lord.
12 “So, people of Israel, I will judge you.
Because I will do that to you, Israel,
prepare to meet your God!”
13 The Lord forms the mountains.
He creates the wind.
He makes his thoughts known to human beings.
He turns sunrise into darkness.
He rules over even the highest places on earth.
His name is the Lord God Who Rules Over All.
Mourn and Turn Back to the Lord
5 People of Israel, listen to the Lord’s message. Hear my song of sadness about you. I say,
2 “The people of Israel have fallen.
They will never get up again.
They are deserted in their own land.
No one can lift them up.”
3 Here is what the Lord and King says to Israel.
“A thousand soldiers will march out from a city.
But only a hundred will return.
A hundred soldiers will march out from a town.
But only ten will come back.”
4 The Lord speaks to the people of Israel. He says,
“Look to me and live.
5 Do not look to Bethel.
Do not go to Gilgal.
Do not travel to Beersheba.
The people of Gilgal will be taken away as prisoners.
Nothing will be left of Bethel.”
6 Israel, look to the Lord and live.
If you don’t, he will sweep through
the tribes of Joseph like a fire.
It will burn everything up.
And Bethel won’t have anyone to put it out.
7 There are people among you who turn what is fair into something bitter.
They throw down to the ground what is right.
8 The Lord made the Pleiades and Orion.
He turns midnight into sunrise.
He makes the day fade into night.
He sends for the waters in the clouds.
Then he pours them out on the surface of the land.
His name is the Lord.
9 With a flash of light he destroys places of safety.
He tears down cities
that have high walls around them.
10 There are people among you who hate anyone who stands for justice in court.
They hate those who tell the truth.
11 You make poor people pay tax on their straw.
You also tax their grain.
So, even though you have built stone houses,
you won’t live in them.
You have planted fruitful vineyards.
But you won’t drink the wine they produce.
12 I know how many crimes you have committed.
You have sinned far too much.
Among you are people who crush those who have done no wrong.
They accept money from people who want special favors.
They take away the rights of poor people in the courts.
13 So those who are wise keep quiet in times like these.
That’s because the times are evil.
14 Look to what is good, not to what is evil.
Then you will live.
And the Lord God who rules over all
will be with you,
just as you say he is.
15 Hate evil and love good.
Do what is fair in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God who rules over all
will have mercy on you.
After all, you are the only ones left
in the family line of Joseph.
16 The Lord God rules over all. The Lord says,
“People will weep in all the streets.
They will be very sad in every market place.
Even farmers will be told to cry loudly.
People will mourn for the dead.
17 Workers will cry in all the vineyards.
That’s because I will punish you,”
says the Lord.
The Day of the Lord Is Coming
18 How terrible it will be for you
who long for the day of the Lord!
Why do you want it to come?
That day will be dark, not light.
19 It will be like a man running away from a lion
only to meet a bear.
He enters his house and rests his hand on a wall
only to be bitten by a snake.
20 The day of the Lord will be dark, not light.
It will be very black.
There won’t be a ray of sunlight anywhere.
21 The Lord says,
“I hate your holy feasts.
I can’t stand them.
Your gatherings stink.
22 You bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings.
But I will not accept them.
You bring your best friendship offerings.
But I will not even look at them.
23 Take the noise of your songs away!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 I want you to treat others fairly.
So let fair treatment roll on
just as a river does!
Always do what is right.
Let right living flow along
like a stream that never runs dry!
25 “People of Israel, did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
for 40 years in the desert?
26 Yes. But you have honored the place
where your king worshiped other gods.
You have carried the stands
the statues of your gods were on.
You have lifted up the banners
of the stars you worship as gods.
You made all those things for yourselves.
27 So I will send you away
as prisoners beyond Damascus,”
says the Lord.
His name is God Who Rules Over All.
How Terrible for Those Who Feel Secure When They Shouldn’t
6 How terrible it will be for you men
who are so contented on Mount Zion!
How terrible for you who feel secure
on the hill of Samaria!
You are famous men from the greatest nation.
The people of Israel come to you
for help and advice.
2 Go and look at the city of Kalneh.
Go from there to the great city of Hamath.
Then go down to Gath in Philistia.
Are those places better off than your two kingdoms?
Is their land larger than yours?
3 You are trying to avoid the time
when trouble will come.
But you are only bringing closer
the Assyrian rule of terror.
4 You lie down on beds
that are decorated with ivory.
You rest on your couches.
You eat the best lambs
and the fattest calves.
5 You pluck away on your harps as David did.
You play new songs on musical instruments.
6 You drink wine by the bowlful.
You use the finest lotions.
But Joseph’s people will soon be destroyed.
And you aren’t even sad about it.
7 So you will be among the first
to be taken away as prisoners.
You won’t be able to enjoy good food.
You won’t lie around on couches anymore.
The Lord Hates the Pride of Israel
8 The Lord and King has made a promise in his own name. He is the Lord God who rules over all. He announces,
“I hate the pride of Jacob’s people.
I can’t stand their forts.
I will hand the city of Samaria
and everything in it over to their enemies.”
9 Ten people might be left in one house. If they are, they will die there. 10 Relatives might come to burn the dead bodies. If they do, they’ll have to carry them out of the house first. They might ask someone still hiding there, “Is anyone else here with you?” If the answer is no, the relatives will go on to say, “Be quiet! We must not pray in the Lord’s name.”
11 That’s because the Lord has already given an order.
He will smash large houses to pieces.
He will crush small houses to bits.
12 Horses don’t run on rocky ground.
People don’t plow the sea with oxen.
But you have turned fair treatment into poison.
You have turned the fruit of right living into bitterness.
13 You are happy because you captured the town of Lo Debar.
You say, “We were strong enough to take Karnaim too.”
14 But the Lord God rules over all. He announces, “People of Israel,
I will stir up a nation against you.
They will crush you from Lebo Hamath
all the way down to the Arabah Valley.”
Amos 4-6
New International Version
Amos 4-6
New International Version
Israel Has Not Returned to God
4 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan(A) on Mount Samaria,(B)
you women who oppress the poor(C) and crush the needy(D)
and say to your husbands,(E) “Bring us some drinks!(F)”
2 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness:
“The time(G) will surely come
when you will be taken away(H) with hooks,(I)
the last of you with fishhooks.[a]
3 You will each go straight out
through breaches in the wall,(J)
and you will be cast out toward Harmon,[b]”
declares the Lord.
4 “Go to Bethel(K) and sin;
go to Gilgal(L) and sin yet more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,(M)
your tithes(N) every three years.[c](O)
5 Burn leavened bread(P) as a thank offering
and brag about your freewill offerings(Q)—
boast about them, you Israelites,
for this is what you love to do,”
declares the Sovereign Lord.
6 “I gave you empty stomachs in every city
and lack of bread in every town,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.(R)
7 “I also withheld(S) rain from you
when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
but withheld it from another.(T)
One field had rain;
another had none and dried up.
8 People staggered from town to town for water(U)
but did not get enough(V) to drink,
yet you have not returned(W) to me,”
declares the Lord.(X)
9 “Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
destroying them with blight and mildew.(Y)
Locusts(Z) devoured your fig and olive trees,(AA)
yet you have not returned(AB) to me,”
declares the Lord.
10 “I sent plagues(AC) among you
as I did to Egypt.(AD)
I killed your young men(AE) with the sword,
along with your captured horses.
I filled your nostrils with the stench(AF) of your camps,
yet you have not returned to me,”(AG)
declares the Lord.(AH)
11 “I overthrew some of you
as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.(AI)
You were like a burning stick(AJ) snatched from the fire,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.(AK)
12 “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,
and because I will do this to you, Israel,
prepare to meet your God.”
13 He who forms the mountains,(AL)
who creates the wind,(AM)
and who reveals his thoughts(AN) to mankind,
who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads on the heights of the earth(AO)—
the Lord God Almighty is his name.(AP)
A Lament and Call to Repentance
5 Hear this word, Israel, this lament(AQ) I take up concerning you:
2 “Fallen is Virgin(AR) Israel,
never to rise again,
deserted in her own land,
with no one to lift her up.(AS)”
3 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:
“Your city that marches out a thousand strong
will have only a hundred left;
your town that marches out a hundred strong
will have only ten left.(AT)”
4 This is what the Lord says to Israel:
“Seek(AU) me and live;(AV)
5 do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,(AW)
do not journey to Beersheba.(AX)
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.[d](AY)”
6 Seek(AZ) the Lord and live,(BA)
or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;(BB)
it will devour them,
and Bethel(BC) will have no one to quench it.(BD)
7 There are those who turn justice into bitterness(BE)
and cast righteousness(BF) to the ground.(BG)
8 He who made the Pleiades and Orion,(BH)
who turns midnight into dawn(BI)
and darkens day into night,(BJ)
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out over the face of the land—
the Lord is his name.(BK)
9 With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
and brings the fortified city to ruin.(BL)
10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court(BM)
and detest the one who tells the truth.(BN)
11 You levy a straw tax on the poor(BO)
and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,(BP)
you will not live in them;(BQ)
though you have planted lush vineyards,
you will not drink their wine.(BR)
12 For I know how many are your offenses
and how great your sins.(BS)
There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes(BT)
and deprive the poor(BU) of justice in the courts.(BV)
13 Therefore the prudent keep quiet(BW) in such times,
for the times are evil.(BX)
14 Seek good, not evil,
that you may live.(BY)
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
just as you say he is.
15 Hate evil,(BZ) love good;(CA)
maintain justice in the courts.(CB)
Perhaps(CC) the Lord God Almighty will have mercy(CD)
on the remnant(CE) of Joseph.
16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:
“There will be wailing(CF) in all the streets(CG)
and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers(CH) will be summoned to weep
and the mourners to wail.
17 There will be wailing(CI) in all the vineyards,
for I will pass through(CJ) your midst,”
says the Lord.(CK)
The Day of the Lord
18 Woe to you who long
for the day of the Lord!(CL)
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?(CM)
That day will be darkness,(CN) not light.(CO)
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion
only to meet a bear,(CP)
as though he entered his house
and rested his hand on the wall
only to have a snake bite him.(CQ)
20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,(CR) not light—
pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?(CS)
21 “I hate,(CT) I despise your religious festivals;(CU)
your assemblies(CV) are a stench to me.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings(CW) and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.(CX)
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.(CY)
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.(CZ)
24 But let justice(DA) roll on like a river,
righteousness(DB) like a never-failing stream!(DC)
25 “Did you bring me sacrifices(DD) and offerings
forty years(DE) in the wilderness, people of Israel?
26 You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
the pedestal of your idols,(DF)
the star of your god[e]—
which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into exile(DG) beyond Damascus,”
says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.(DH)
Woe to the Complacent
6 Woe to you(DI) who are complacent(DJ) in Zion,
and to you who feel secure(DK) on Mount Samaria,(DL)
you notable men of the foremost nation,
to whom the people of Israel come!(DM)
2 Go to Kalneh(DN) and look at it;
go from there to great Hamath,(DO)
and then go down to Gath(DP) in Philistia.
Are they better off than(DQ) your two kingdoms?
Is their land larger than yours?
3 You put off the day of disaster
and bring near a reign of terror.(DR)
4 You lie on beds adorned with ivory
and lounge on your couches.(DS)
You dine on choice lambs
and fattened calves.(DT)
5 You strum away on your harps(DU) like David
and improvise on musical instruments.(DV)
6 You drink wine(DW) by the bowlful
and use the finest lotions,
but you do not grieve(DX) over the ruin of Joseph.(DY)
7 Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;(DZ)
your feasting and lounging will end.(EA)
The Lord Abhors the Pride of Israel
8 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by himself(EB)—the Lord God Almighty declares:
“I abhor(EC) the pride of Jacob(ED)
and detest his fortresses;(EE)
I will deliver up(EF) the city
and everything in it.(EG)”
9 If ten(EH) people are left in one house, they too will die. 10 And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them[f](EI) asks anyone who might be hiding there, “Is anyone else with you?” and he says, “No,” then he will go on to say, “Hush!(EJ) We must not mention the name of the Lord.”
11 For the Lord has given the command,
and he will smash(EK) the great house(EL) into pieces
and the small house into bits.(EM)
Footnotes
- Amos 4:2 Or away in baskets, / the last of you in fish baskets
- Amos 4:3 Masoretic Text; with a different word division of the Hebrew (see Septuagint) out, you mountain of oppression
- Amos 4:4 Or days
- Amos 5:5 Hebrew aven, a reference to Beth Aven (a derogatory name for Bethel); see Hosea 4:15.
- Amos 5:26 Or lifted up Sakkuth your king / and Kaiwan your idols, / your star-gods; Septuagint lifted up the shrine of Molek / and the star of your god Rephan, / their idols
- Amos 6:10 Or to make a funeral fire in honor of the dead
- Amos 6:12 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text plow there
- Amos 6:13 Lo Debar means nothing.
- Amos 6:13 Karnaim means horns; horn here symbolizes strength.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV) 
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New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.