Old/New Testament
4 Hear this word, ye cows of Bashan, that are on Mt Shomron, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their adonim, Bring, and let us drink.
2 Adonoi Hashem hath sworn by His Kodesh, that, hinei, the yamim shall come upon you, that He will take you away with hooks, and the last of you with fishhooks.
3 And ye shall go out of the breaks in the wall, every cow right behind the next; and ye shall be cast out toward Harmonah, saith Hashem.
4 Come to Beit-El, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply peysha’im; and bring your zevakhim every boker, and your ma’asrot (tithes) every third day;
5 And offer a todah thank offering with chametz (leavened bread), and proclaim and publish the nedavot (freewill offerings); for this ye love, O Bnei Yisroel, saith Adonoi Hashem.
6 And I also have given you cleanness of teeth [i.e., famine] in all your towns, and want of lechem in all your places; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith Hashem.
7 And also I have withheld the geshem from you, when there were yet shloshah chodashim to the harvest; and I caused it to rain upon one town, and caused it not to rain upon another town; one chelek (part) was rained upon, and the chelek, whereupon it rained not, withered.
8 So two or three towns wandered unto one town, to drink mayim; but they were not satisfied; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith Hashem.
9 I have struck you with blight and mildew; when your ganim (gardens) and your kramim (vineyards) and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the locust devoured them; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith Hashem.
10 I have sent among you the dever after the manner of Mitzrayim; your bocherim have I slain with the cherev, and have taken away your susim; and I have made the stench of your machanot to come up unto your nostrils; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith Hashem.
11 I have overthrown some of you, as Elohim overthrew Sodom and Amora (Gomorrah), and ye were like a firebrand snatched from the burning; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith Hashem.
12 Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Yisroel; and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet Eloheicha, O Yisroel.
13 For, hinei, He that formeth the harim, and createth the ruach, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the shachar darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, Hashem Elohei Tzva’os Shmo.
5 Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a kinah (lamentation), O Bais Yisroel.
2 The Betulat Yisroel is fallen; she shall no more rise; she is forsaken in her own land; there is none to raise her up.
3 For thus saith Adonoi Hashem: The city that went out by a thousand will be left a hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred will be left ten, for Bais Yisroel.
4 For thus saith Hashem unto Bais Yisroel: Seek ye Me, and live;
5 But seek not Beit-El, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer Sheva; for Gilgal shall surely go into golus, and Beit-El shall come to naught.
6 Seek Hashem, and live; lest He break out like eish in Bais Yosef, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Beit-El.
7 Ye who turn mishpat into wormwood, and cast tzedakah to the ground,
8 Seek Him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth tzalmavet into boker, and maketh the yom into lailah; that calleth for the waters of the yam, and poureth them out upon the face of ha’aretz; Hashem Shmo;
9 Who causeth shod (destruction) to flash upon the strong, and shod upon the fortified city.
10 They hate the mochiach (reprover [of injustice]) in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh tamim (uprightly).
11 Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat; ye have built batim (houses) of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant kramim (vineyards), but ye shall not drink yayin of them.
12 For I have da’as of your manifold peysha’im and your mighty chattaim (sins); they afflict the tzaddik, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the sha’ar (gate, court) from their right.
13 Therefore the maskil (prudent) shall keep silence in such times; for it is an evil time.
14 Seek tov, and not rah, that ye may live; and so Hashem Elohei Tzva’os shall be with you, just as ye say He is.
15 Hate the rah, and love the tov, and establish mishpat in the sha’ar; it may be that Hashem Elohei Tzava’os will be gracious unto the she’erit Yosef.
16 Therefore Hashem Adonoi Elohei Tzva’os saith thus: Wailing shall be in all rechovot; and they shall cry in all the public squares, Alas! Alas! And they shall call the ikkar (farmer) to mourning, and such as are skillful of lamentation to wailing.
17 And in all kramim (vineyards) shall be wailing; for I will pass through thee, saith Hashem.
18 Hoy unto you that desire the Yom Hashem! Why do ye seek it? The Yom Hashem is choshech, and not ohr.
19 As if a man did flee from an ari, and a dov met him; or went into the bais, and leaned his hand on the kir (wall), and a nachash bit him.
20 Shall not the Yom Hashem be choshech, and not ohr? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?
21 I hate, I despise your chagim (religious festivals), and I will not stand in your atzerot (solemn assemblies).
22 Though ye offer Me olot and your minchot, I will not accept them; neither will I regard your choice shelamim (peace offerings).
23 Take thou away from Me the noise of thy shirim (songs); for I will not hear the melody of thy nevalim (harps).
24 But let mishpat run down as mayim, and tzedakah as a never failing stream.
25 Did ye offer unto Me zevakhim and minchah in the midbar arba’im shanah, O Bais Yisroel?
26 But ye have borne the shrine of your Moloch and the pedestal of your tzelamim, your star g-d, which ye made for yourselves.
27 Therefore will I cause you to go into golus beyond Damascus, saith Hashem Elohei Tzva’os Shmo.
6 Hoy to them that are complacent in Tziyon, and have their bitachon in Har Shomron, the notables of the foremost Goyim, to whom Bais Yisroel comes!
2 Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to great Chamat; then go down to Gat of the Pelishtim (Philistines); be they better than these mamlachot? Or their territory more vast than your territory?
3 Ye that put far away the Yom Rah, and cause the shevet chamas to come near;
4 That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the tzon, and the calves from the stall;
5 Who prattle to the tune of the nevel (harp); like Dovid [HaMelech] they invent string instruments.
6 That drink yayin in sacrificial bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest ointments; but they are not grieved for the shever Yosef (ruin of Yosef).
7 Therefore now shall they go into captivity at the head of the golus, and the merry shouting of the revellers will die.
8 Adonoi Hashem hath sworn by Himself, saith Hashem Elohei Tzva’os: I abhor the ga’on Ya’akov, and hate his fortresses; therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.
9 And it shall come to pass, if there remain asarah anashim in one bais, they shall die.
10 And a man’s relative shall take him up, and he that burieth him, to carry out the bones out of the bais, and shall say unto him still hiding inside, Is there yet any with thee? And he shall say, Not one. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue; for the Shem Hashem is not to be invoked.
11 For, hinei, Hashem commandeth, and He will strike the bais hagadol into ruins, and the bais hakaton into pieces.
12 Do susim run upon the rock? Do men plow there with oxen? For ye have turned mishpat into poison, and the p’ri of tzedakah into wormwood;
13 Ye which rejoice over what is worthless, which say, Have we not taken to us horns [i.e., symbols of military resources] by chazekeinu (our own strength)?
14 But, hineni, I will raise up against you a Goy (Nation), O Bais Yisroel, saith Hashem Elohei Tzva’os; and they shall afflict you from the territory of Chamat unto the Wadi of the Aravah. T.N. Notice in the next chapter that Amos refuses to be intimidated by an apostate religious leader who dares to war against Scripture. Amos gives a prophetic prediction that this chalatan will be defrocked by Hashem by being dragged off to an unclean heathen land.
7 After this I saw arba’ah malachim (angels) taking their stand on the arbah pinot ha’aretz (the four corners of the earth), holding the four winds of ha’aretz (the earth) so that wind should not blow on ha’aretz (the earth) nor on the yam (sea) nor on any etz (tree). [YESHAYAH 11:12; YIRMEYAH 49:36; YECHEZKEL 37:9; DANIEL 7:2; ZECHARYAH 6:5]
2 And I saw another malach (angel) coming up from the rising of the shemesh (sun), having a chotam (seal) of the Elohim Chayyim (Living G-d), and he cried with a kol gadol (loud voice) to the four malachim (angels). These were the malachim to whom it was given to harm ha’aretz (the earth) and hayam (the sea),
3 Saying, Do not harm ha’aretz (the earth) nor hayam (the sea) nor haetzim (the trees), until we have marked with the chotam (seal) the avadim (servants) of Eloheinu upon their metsakhim (foreheads). [YECHEZKEL 9:4]
4 And I heard the mispar (number) of the ones having been sealed, 144,000, having been marked with the chotam (seal) from kol shivtei Bnei Yisroel (every tribe of the Sons of Israel),
5 Of the shevet of Yehudah, 12,000 having been sealed; of the shevet of Re’uven, 12,000, of the shevet of Gad, 12,000,
6 Of the shevet of Asher, 12,000, of the shevet of Naphtali, 12,000, of the shevet of M’nasheh, 12,000,
7 Of the shevet of Shim’on, 12,000, of the shevet of Levi, 12,000, of the shevet of Yissass’khar, 12,000,
8 Of the shevet of Z’vulun, 12,000, of the shevet of Yosef, 12,000, of the shevet of Binyamin, 12,000.
9 After these things I looked, and, hinei, a great multitude, which to number no one was being able, out of every nation and from shevatim (tribes) and haumim (the peoples) and lashonot (tongues), standing before the Kes (Throne) and before the SEH (Lamb, SHEMOT 12:3; YESHAYAH 53:7 Moshiach), each clothed with a kittel and lulavim in their hands.
10 And they cried with a kol gadol (loud voice), saying, Yeshu’at Eloheinu is of Hashem, our G-d, the One sitting on the Kes (Throne), and of the SEH (Lamb, SHEMOT 12:3; YESHAYAH 53:7 Moshiach).
11 And all the malachim stood around the Kes (Throne) and the Zekenim (Elders, SHEMOT 12:21) and the Arbah Chayyot and they fell before the Kes (Throne) on their faces and they worshiped Hashem, saying, [TEHILLIM 3:8]
12 Omein, the bracha (blessing) and the kavod (glory) and the chochmah (wisdom) and the hodayah (thanksgiving) and the hod (honor) and the oz (power) and the gevurah (strength) be to Hashem Eloheinu l’Olelamei Olamim. Omein.
13 And one of the Zekenim (Elders, SHEMOT 12:21) answered, saying to me, These ones, each wearing a kittel, who are they and from where did they come?
14 And I said to him, Adoni, you have da’as. And he said to me, These are the ones coming out of HaTzarah HaGedolah (The Great Tribulation, Mt. 24:29) and each washed his kittel and whitened it in the dahm of the SEH (Lamb, SHEMOT 12:3; YESHAYAH 53:7 Moshiach).
15 Therefore, they are before the Kes (Throne) of Hashem and serve Him yomam valailah in His Beis Hamikdash, and the One sitting on the Kes (Throne) will pitch the tent of His Mishkan over them. [YESHAYAH 4:5]
16 They will hunger no more nor thirst nor shall the shemesh (sun) strike them nor any scorching heat, [YESHAYAH 49:10]
17 Because the SEH, (Lamb, SHEMOT 12:3; YESHAYAH 53:7 Moshiach) at the center of the Kes (Throne), will shepherd them and will lead them to the Makor Mayim Chayyim ["Fountain, source of Living Waters," YIRMEYAH 2:13], and Hashem will wipe away every tear from their eynayim. [YESHAYAH 25:8; 35:10; 51:11; 65:19]
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International