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Amos 4-6
New King James Version
Amos 4-6
New King James Version
God’s Punishments Have Not Reformed Israel
4 Hear this word, you (A)cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria,
Who oppress the (B)poor,
Who crush the needy,
Who say to [a]your husbands, “Bring wine, let us (C)drink!”
2 (D)The Lord God has sworn by His holiness:
“Behold, the days shall come upon you
When He will take you away (E)with fishhooks,
And your posterity with fishhooks.
3 (F)You will go out through broken walls,
Each one straight ahead of her,
And you will [b]be cast into Harmon,”
Says the Lord.
4 “Come(G) to Bethel and transgress,
At (H)Gilgal multiply transgression;
(I)Bring your sacrifices every morning,
(J)Your tithes every three [c]days.
5 (K)Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven,
Proclaim and announce (L)the freewill offerings;
For this you love,
You children of Israel!”
Says the Lord God.
Israel Did Not Accept Correction
6 “Also I gave you [d]cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
And lack of bread in all your places;
(M)Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord.
7 “I also withheld rain from you,
When there were still three months to the harvest.
I made it rain on one city,
I withheld rain from another city.
One part was rained upon,
And where it did not rain the part withered.
8 So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water,
But they were not satisfied;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord.
9 “I(N) blasted you with blight and mildew.
When your gardens increased,
Your vineyards,
Your fig trees,
And your olive trees,
(O)The locust devoured them;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord.
10 “I sent among you a plague (P)after the manner of Egypt;
Your young men I killed with a sword,
Along with your captive horses;
I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord.
11 “I overthrew some of you,
As God overthrew (Q)Sodom and Gomorrah,
And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord.
12 “Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel;
Because I will do this to you,
(R)Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”
13 For behold,
He who forms mountains,
And creates the [e]wind,
(S)Who declares to man what [f]his thought is,
And makes the morning darkness,
(T)Who treads the high places of the earth—
(U)The Lord God of hosts is His name.
A Lament for Israel
5 Hear this word which I (V)take up against you, a lamentation, O house of Israel:
2 The virgin of Israel has fallen;
She will rise no more.
She lies forsaken on her land;
There is no one to raise her up.
3 For thus says the Lord God:
“The city that goes out by a thousand
Shall have a hundred left,
And that which goes out by a hundred
Shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”
A Call to Repentance
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:
(W)“Seek Me (X)and live;
5 But do not seek (Y)Bethel,
Nor enter Gilgal,
Nor pass over to (Z)Beersheba;
For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity,
And (AA)Bethel shall come to nothing.
6 (AB)Seek the Lord and live,
Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
And devour it,
With no one to quench it in Bethel—
7 You who (AC)turn justice to wormwood,
And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!”
8 He made the (AD)Pleiades and Orion;
He turns the shadow of death into morning
(AE)And makes the day dark as night;
He (AF)calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth;
(AG)The Lord is His name.
9 He [g]rains ruin upon the strong,
So that fury comes upon the fortress.
10 (AH)They hate the one who rebukes in the gate,
And they (AI)abhor the one who speaks uprightly.
11 (AJ)Therefore, because you [h]tread down the poor
And take grain [i]taxes from him,
Though (AK)you have built houses of hewn stone,
Yet you shall not dwell in them;
You have planted [j]pleasant vineyards,
But you shall not drink wine from them.
12 For I (AL)know your manifold transgressions
And your mighty sins:
(AM)Afflicting the just and taking bribes;
(AN)Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.
13 Therefore (AO)the prudent keep silent at that time,
For it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil,
That you may live;
So the Lord God of hosts will be with you,
(AP)As you have spoken.
15 (AQ)Hate evil, love good;
Establish justice in the gate.
(AR)It may be that the Lord God of hosts
Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
The Day of the Lord
16 Therefore the Lord God of hosts, the Lord, says this:
“There shall be wailing in all streets,
And they shall say in all the highways,
‘Alas! Alas!’
They shall call the farmer to mourning,
(AS)And skillful lamenters to wailing.
17 In all vineyards there shall be wailing,
For (AT)I will pass through you,”
Says the Lord.
18 (AU)Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
For what good is (AV)the day of the Lord to you?
It will be darkness, and not light.
19 It will be (AW)as though a man fled from a lion,
And a bear met him!
Or as though he went into the house,
Leaned his hand on the wall,
And a serpent bit him!
20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light?
Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?
21 “I(AX) hate, I despise your feast days,
And (AY)I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
22 (AZ)Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them,
Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
24 (BA)But let justice run down like water,
And righteousness like a mighty stream.
25 “Did(BB) you offer Me sacrifices and offerings
In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
26 You also carried [k]Sikkuth[l] (BC)your king
And Chiun, your idols,
The star of your gods,
Which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into captivity (BD)beyond Damascus,”
Says the Lord, (BE)whose name is the God of hosts.
Warnings to Zion and Samaria
6 Woe (BF)to you who are at (BG)ease in Zion,
And (BH)trust in Mount Samaria,
Notable persons in the (BI)chief nation,
To whom the house of Israel comes!
2 (BJ)Go over to (BK)Calneh and see;
And from there go to (BL)Hamath the great;
Then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
(BM)Are you better than these kingdoms?
Or is their territory greater than your territory?
3 Woe to you who (BN)put far off the day of (BO)doom,
(BP)Who cause (BQ)the seat of violence to come near;
4 Who lie on beds of ivory,
Stretch out on your couches,
Eat lambs from the flock
And calves from the midst of the stall;
5 (BR)Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments,
And invent for yourselves (BS)musical instruments (BT)like David;
6 Who (BU)drink wine from bowls,
And anoint yourselves with the best ointments,
(BV)But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
7 Therefore they shall now go (BW)captive as the first of the captives,
And those who recline at banquets shall be removed.
8 (BX)The Lord God has sworn by Himself,
The Lord God of hosts says:
“I abhor (BY)the pride of Jacob,
And hate his palaces;
Therefore I will deliver up the city
And all that is in it.”
9 Then it shall come to pass, that if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And when [m]a relative of the dead, with one who will burn the bodies, picks up the [n]bodies to take them out of the house, he will say to one inside the house, “Are there any more with you?”
Then someone will say, “None.”
And he will say, (BZ)“Hold your tongue! (CA)For we dare not mention the name of the Lord.”
11 For behold, (CB)the Lord gives a command:
(CC)He will break the great house into bits,
And the little house into pieces.
12 Do horses run on rocks?
Does one plow there with oxen?
Yet (CD)you have turned justice into gall,
And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,
13 You who rejoice over [o]Lo Debar,
Who say, “Have we not taken [p]Karnaim for ourselves
By our own strength?”
14 “But, behold, (CE)I will raise up a nation against you,
O house of Israel,”
Says the Lord God of hosts;
“And they will afflict you from the (CF)entrance of Hamath
To the Valley of the Arabah.”
Footnotes
- Amos 4:1 Lit. their masters or lords
- Amos 4:3 Or cast them
- Amos 4:4 Or years, Deut. 14:28
- Amos 4:6 Hunger
- Amos 4:13 Or spirit
- Amos 4:13 Or His
- Amos 5:9 Or flashes forth destruction
- Amos 5:11 trample
- Amos 5:11 Or tribute
- Amos 5:11 desirable
- Amos 5:26 LXX, Vg. tabernacle of Moloch
- Amos 5:26 A pagan deity
- Amos 6:10 Lit. his loved one or uncle
- Amos 6:10 Lit. bones
- Amos 6:13 Lit. Nothing
- Amos 6:13 Lit. Horns, a symbol of strength
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 King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.