Workers For Jesus Online Bible Study
The Book of Amos 

About this Bible Study........The King James Version of the Bible is written in a beautiful form of the English language. It can be hard for modern English readers to understand.  In this study, you will find notes and summaries in brown just above the the verses from the Bible. We recommend that you read the notes and summaries first, and then read the verses in their KJV form. 

Timeline of the Bible

God creates the world. --- God destroys the world with the flood, but saves  Noah and his family.---  God chooses Abraham and his descendants to His people. ---Abraham's grandson, Jacob, has 12 sons who lead the 12 tribes of Israel.--- The Israelites become slaves in Egypt.--- God helps the Israelites escape and leads them to Canaan. ---The Israelites fight in wars and take control of Canaan.---Judges lead the Israelites, but the Israelites want to have kings instead of judges. --- David is Israel's greatest king.--- Israel divides into 2 parts: Israel and Judah.---► The people of Israel and Judah continue to sin and worship false gods.---   ◄This book of the Bible happens during this timeGod allows the Assyrians and the Babylonians to take the Israelites out of Israel and Judah.---  The Israelites (Jews) live in Babylonia and then Persia. --- When Persia defeats the Babylonians, the Jews go back to Judah.--- The Jews build God's Temple in Jerusalem again.--- Greece defeats Persia, and the Greeks control Judah (also now called Israel).--- The Jews become independent for 100 years.-- The Romans take control of Israel.--- Jesus is born. At age 30, Jesus begins his ministry. ---Jesus is crucified and then is resurrected. --- A Roman named Saul is converted to Christianity and becomes Paul.--- Christianity spreads. --- Paul write letters to Christians in other places. In the year, 70 A.D., God's Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed again.



The Book of Amos

Amos tells prophecies about Syria, Edom, Tyrus, Edom, and Moab.
The Lord reminds Israel of everything He has done for them.
The Lord criticizes Israel for not changing after He warned them.
God only wants sincere offerings.
The Lord tells Israel that He will be with them if they
stop sinning and acting selfishly.
A future day when the Lord brings back Israel.




The Bible Project's summary of the Book of Amos.


Amos was a shepherd in Tekoa (a little south of Jerusalem). He lived in the time when there were 2 Israelite kingdoms. He lived in Judah, the southern kingdom. He made his prophecies mostly about Israel, the northern kingdom. He was upset with Israel for the sinful things they had been doing.

 

 

Amos 1

The Lord says He will punish Syria.

These are the words of Amos. He was a sheep farmer in Tekoa. He saw visions about Israel while Uzziah was the king of Judah.  Jeroboam (he was Joash's son) was the king of Israel. He saw his visions two years before the earthquake (the earthquake was in the year 760 B.C.).
[1] The words of Amos, who was among the herdman of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
Amos said, "The Lord will roar loudly from Mt. Zion. He will say words from Jerusalem. The places where the sheep farmers live will be sad. The top of Mt. Carmel will dry up.
[2] And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.

The Lord says, "Damascus (a city in Syria) has sinned 4 times. I will not hold back the punishment because they defeated Gilead with iron farm tools.
[3] Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:

I will send a fire into Hazael's house. The fire will burn Ben-hadad's  homes.
[4] But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.

I will destroy the gate of Damascus. I will cut off the people who live in Aven. I will cut off the king of Eden. The people from Syria will be captured and taken to Kir."
 [5] I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD.


The Lord says He will punish Gaza.


The Lord said, " I will punish Gaza for their sins. They took God's people to Edom. I will send fire on the wall of Gaza. All of the palaces will burn up. I will cut off the people in Ashdad and the leader of Ashkelon.  I will turn against Ekron.  The Philistine people who are left will die.
[6] Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom:
[7] But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof:
[8] And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD.


The Lord says He will punish Tyrus.


 The Lord said, "Tyrus sinned, so they will be punished. They took God's people to Edom. They did not remember their covenant with them.  I will send fire to Tyre that will destroy their palaces."
[9] Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:
[10] But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof.


The Lord says He will punish Edom.

The Lord said, "Edom sinned, and they will be punished. They did not stop their own people from killing each other. They did not have pity, and they were mad forever. I will send fire down on Teman and destroy the palaces of Bozrah."
[11] Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:
[12] But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.

The Lord says He will punish Ammon.
The Lord said, "Ammon sinned and now they will be punished.  They have killed pregnant women in Gilead to make their land bigger. I will make a fire in the wall of Rabbah. It will burn the palaces there. There will be war, and the attacks will be like whirlwinds. Their king and his princes will be taken away."
 [13] Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border:
[14] But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:
[15] And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, saith the LORD.

 

Amos 2

Moab will be punished.
The Lord said, "You sinned, Moab. You will be punished because you burned the bones of the king of Edom until they became lime. I will send fire on Moab. It will destroy the palaces of Kerioth. Moab will die with a lot of shouting noise and trumpets.
[1] Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:
[2] But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet:

I will separate the king from the princes, and I will kill them all.
[3] And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD.


Judah will be punished.
Judah will be punished for its sins. They hated the law of the Lord. They did not obey Him. Their lies made them behave badly. They did bad things like their fathers.
[4] Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked:
I will send fire to burn up Judah. The fire will destroy the palaces of Jerusalem."
[5] But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.


The Lord will punish Israel.


The Lord said, "I will punish you, Israel, because you sinned.  You sold good people to get money. You sold poor people so you could buy shoes.
[6] Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;

Your people are cruel to the poor people and the weak people.  Some of their sins are:  fathers and sons sleep with the same women,
[7] That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:

they sleep on clothes given to the temple, and they drink wine that was from sinful people.
[8] And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.


I destroyed the Amorites so you could enter Canaan.  The Amorites were tall like cedar trees and as strong as oak trees. I destroyed them from above and under.
[9] Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.

I brought you up from Egypt and led you through the wilderness for 40 years. Then, I gave you the Amorites' land."
[10] Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.

"I raised some of your sons to be prophets. Some of them were Nazarites. Isn't this true, children of Israel?" asked God.
[11] And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD.


God said, "But you gave the Nazarites wine to drink (The Nazarites weren't supposed to drink any alcohol).  You told the prophets not to prophesy (tell the future).
[12] But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.

Watch and see. I will press you down like a cart full of wheat.
[13] Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.

Then, you will not be strong enough or fast enough to escape Me.
[14] Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself:

Even if you are good archers with bows and arrows, you will not escape Me. Even if you can run fast or ride a fast horse, you will not escape Me.
[15] Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.

Even brave people will run away without their clothes on,"said the Lord.
[16] And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD.




Amos 3


The Lord reminds Israel of everything He has done for them.


Listen to this word that the Lord said against you. He said, "O all of you children of Israel who I brought out of Egypt,  you are the only country on earth that I chose. So, I will punish you for your sins.
[1] Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,
[2] You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

Can two people walk together unless they agree where to walk?
[3] Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Will a lion roar if he hasn't caught anything? Will a young lion cry from his den if he hasn't caught anything?
[4] Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?

Can someone catch a bird without a net? Will a trap shut if there is nothing in it?
[5] Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?


If there is a trumpet blowing, won't the people be afraid? If a city has trouble, isn't the Lord allowing it?
[6] Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?


Before the Lord does something, He tells His prophets.
[7] Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.


If a lion roars, who isn't afraid? If the Lord speaks, His words are powerful. His prophets must prophesy."
[8] The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?


The Lord speaks to Ashdod and Egypt about Samaria.
The Lord said, "Tell the leaders of Ashdod and Egypt to come to Samaria. They should see what is happening there.
[9] Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.


Samaria has sinned greatly.  The Samaritans got rich from violence and stealing.
[10] For they know not to do right, saith the LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.

So, the Lord says there will be enemies all around your land.  They will invade you and steal your valuable things.
[11] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.

Some of the people from Samaria will be saved. There will be just a few. It will be like a shepherd pulling out a sheep's 2 legs or pulling a piece of an ear out of a lion's mouth.
[12] Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.

The Lord said to pay attention and then to tell the Israelite people this:  On the day I choose, I will send punishment to the Isrelites. I will visit the altars in Bethel.  The horns on the altar will be cut off, and they will fall to the ground.
[13] Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,
[14] That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.

I will destroy all of their houses - winter houses, summer houses, ivory houses, and the great houses," said the Lord.
[15] And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD.


Amos 4


The Lord speaks to the women in Samaria.

You  women in Bashan and in the mountains of Samaria need to listen to this. You are like fat cows. You treat poor people badly. Then,  you tell your husbands to bring you something to drink.
[1] Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
The Lord God has sworn that the day is coming when He will take them away. He will pull them out with hooks and fishhooks. He will pull them out and throw them far away.
[2] The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.
[3] And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD.


The Lord criticizes Israel for not changing after He warned them.


Come to Bethel and sin at Gilgal many times. Bring your sacrifices every morning.  Bring your tithes after 3 years.
[4] Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:

Make thanksgiving offerings with bread. Tell everyone that you made offerings. You like to do this, children of Israel.
[5] And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

"I took away the food in all of your cities. In all places, they need bread. But you have not returned to me, " said the Lord.
[6] And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
I kept the rain away from you when your crops needed to grow for 3 more months. I made it rain in one city, but not in the other city. The people from the dry city went to the rainy city to get drinking water. But, you still didn't return to Me.
[7] And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
[8] So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

I have attacked your gardens and farms. The worms ate your olive and fig trees. But you still haven't returned to Me.
[9] I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

I sent the same pests I sent to Egypt. Many of your young men have died violently in battle. I have taken away your horses. Your camps smelled bad. Still, you have not returned to Me.
[10] I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.


I have destroyed some of you the way God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.  You were saved out of the fire, but you still haven't returned to Me.
[11] I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

So, this is what I will do to you, Israel.  You should get ready to meet God.
[12] Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

God made the mountains and the wind. He made the morning. He walks all over the earth. He has told us what He thinks about. The Lord is the God of the heavens.
[13] For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.


Amos 5


The Lord wants Israel to listen to what Amos says.


Listen to what I saying against you, House of Israel.
[1] Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel.


Israel's girl has fallen. She won't rise again.  She is alone in her land. There is no one to help her get up.
[2] The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.


This is what the Lord God said: 1,000 soldiers will go out, but only 10 will come back.
[3] For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.

Look for Me, House of Israel, and you will live.
[4] For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:

But don't follow the people of Bethel or go to Gilgal or Beer-sheba. The people of Gilgal will be captured. Bethel will become nothing.
[5] But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.


Follow God, and you will live. If you don't, He will destroy the family and descendants of Joseph. There will be no one in Bethel to put out the fire.
[6] Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel.


You are not honest and fair. You make the truth bitter.
[7] Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,


Follow God. He made the seven stars and Orion. He turns death into morning. He made day and night. He made the water and seas on the earth. His name is the Lord.
[8] Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:

The Lord made the defeated people strong. They fought back against the people who defeated them.
[9] That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress.



The Lord tells Israel that He will be with them if they will stop sinning and acting selfishly.
They hate the people who tell them they are behaving badly.
[10] They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.


You have not been generous with the poor people. You have stolen their food.   You have built big, strong houses, but you will not live in them.  You have planted nice grape farms, but you will not drink any of the wine.
[11] Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.

I know about your big sins. You sin against honest people. You take bribe money. You don't help poor people who need help.
[12] For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.


Smart people keep quiet and stay away from trouble in those times. 
[13] Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.


Look for the good things, not the evil things so that you will live.  If you do that, the Lord God of heaven will be with you like you say.
[14] Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.

Hate evil and love good. Make good judgments in the city gate. Then, the Lord God may show grace to Joseph's descendants.
[15] Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.


So, the Lord God of heaven said this, "There will be crying in the streets and roads.  The farmers who grow grapes will mourn and cry loudly.
[16] Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.
[17] And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD.


Amos warns that the day of the Lord will be a time of punishment.

Some people want the day of the Lord to come.  I am telling you that day will be dark and not light.
[18] Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.


A man might run away from a lion and then run into a bear. Or he might go into the house and lean his hand on the wall, and then a snake might bite him.
[19] As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.


The day of the Lord will be dark. It will not be light at all.
[20] Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?



God only wants sincere offerings.

God says, "I hate your feast day. I will not smell the things you sacrifice in your meetings.
[21] I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

Even though you make burnt offerings and meat offerings to Me, I will not accept them.  I won't accept your peace offerings either.
[22] Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.


Take your songs away. I will not hear them. But you will be punished like strong waters in a stream.
[23] Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
[24] But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.


Did you offer Me sacrifices in the wilderness for 40 years, Israel? But you have been worshiping false gods that you made yourselves. 
[25] Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
[26] But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.


"So, I will make you be carried away to places further than Damascus," said the Lord whose name is The God of heavenly armies.
[27] Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.

Amos 6

The Lord will punish Israel.

This is a warning to the people in Zion and Samaria who do not worry. You are the leaders of nations. You do not think anything bad will happen to you.
[1] Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!


Go to Calneh, then the great city of Hamath. After that, go to the city of Gath where the Philistines live. Do you think you are better than them?
[2] Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border?

You are evil and violent.
[3] Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;


You lie around on your beds made of ivory. You eat the lambs and the calves from the farms. You sing with instruments, like King David.
[4] That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;
[5] That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David;

They drink wine in bowls. They put on ointment. But they are not worried about the problems of the Israelites.
[6] That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.


They will be the first ones who are taken away as captives.  The people were eating at large banquets, but that will all go away.
[7] Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.

The Lord God has sworn that he hates the sins of the Israelites. So, He will cause them to be taken away. If there are 10 men left in one house, they will die.
[8] The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself, saith the LORD the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.
[9] And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die.


A man might be carrying his nephew to the cemetery. Someone may ask him if there are other people in the house. He will say no. Then, he will tell them to be quiet and not mention the name of the Lord.
[10] And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue: for we may not make mention of the name of the LORD.


The Lord will command the house be broken and cracked.
[11] For, behold, the LORD commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts.

Can horses run on rock? Can you plow there with oxen? You have turned fairness into poison.
[12] Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:


You celebrate and think your victories were from your own strength.
[13] Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?



The Lord God says He will bring a nation to fight against you, Oh Israel. They will defeat you from Hamath to the wilderness.
[14] But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the LORD the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of the wilderness.

Amos 7


Amos has a vision about grasshoppers.


The Lord God showed me this vision. He made grasshoppers when the later grain started to grow. This was after the king harvested his grain.  When the grasshoppers ate all of the grain, I begged God to stop. I said that Israel is small. Who can help Israel? Then, God said He would not do this.
 [1] Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.
[2] And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
[3] The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.


Amos has a vision about fire.

 The Lord God showed me a vision about fire. The fire devoured everything.
[4] Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.


Then I begged God to stop. I said Israel was small and had no one to help.
[5] Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.

The Lord said He would not do that.
[6] The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.

Amos has a vision of a measuring line.

Then God showed me another vision. He stood on a wall holding a plumbline. (measuring tool)
[7] Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.


God asked me what I saw. I said I saw a plumbline (measuring tool that makes things straight).  The the Lord said He will use a plumbline in the middle of the people in Israel.  He will not go past them anymore. He said all of the places that the Israelites worshipped false gods will be destroyed. The Lord said He will destroy King Jeroboam with the sword.
[8] And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more:
[9] And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.


The priest of the area of Bethel was Amaziah. He sent a message to King Jeroboam (the king of Israel). He told the king that Amos was plotting against him and saying bad things. Amos was saying that Jeroboam would die by the sword and that the people would be carried away from their land.
[10] Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
[11] For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.

Amaziah told Amos to go away to Judah and stay there. He told him to make his prophecies there. He told him not to make prophecies in Bethel. Bethel is where the king worships.
[12] Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
[13] But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.


Amos replied to Amaziah. Amos said, "I was not a prophet or the son of a prophet. I was a farmer. I took care of animals and grew fruit. The Lord spoke to me one day when I was out with my sheep.  The Lord told me to go to prophesy to Israel.
[14] Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:
[15] And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.


This is what the Lord says to you now:  You are telling Amos not to prophesy against Israel. But your wife will become a prostitute in the city. Your sons and daughters will die violently. Your land will be divided up. You will die in a land that is dirty. Israel will be taken away for sure."
[16] Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.
[17] Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.



Amos 8


Amos has a vision about ripe fruit.


The Lord God showed me a vision about ripe fruit. He asked me what I saw. I told Him I saw a basket of summer fruit. Then, the Lord God said, "The end is coming to my people Israel. I will not save them anymore.
[1] Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.
[2] And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.

Instead of songs in the temple, there will be loud crying. There will be dead bodies in every place. They will throw them out without a word.
[3] And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.


Hear what I am saying. You people do not help poor people. You only care about yourselves. You want to see a lot of your crops and make money.  Then, you want to buy poor people and make them slaves.
[4] Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
[5] Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
[6] That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?


The Lord has sworn by the goodness of Jacob. He said he will never forget what those bad people did.
[7] The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.


The land will shake because of this. Everyone who lives there will mourn and be sad. The land will flood and be thrown down.
[8] Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.


I will make the sun go down at noon. I will make the earth dark even if it is daytime.
[9] And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:


I will make your feasts become sad times.  Your songs will be sad songs for mourning. You will all wear rough cloth. Your heads will have no hair. It will be like mourning the death of an only son. The days will be bitter and sad.
[10] And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.

There will be a time when you don't hear My words.  Everyone will be running around trying to find My words.
 [11] Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
[12] And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.


Young women and young men will faint because they are thirsty.
[13] In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.

The people who worship false gods will fall and never get up."
[14] They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beer-sheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.


Amos 9


I saw the Lord God standing on the altar. He said, "Hit the top of the door so the posts shake. Make the tops fall off and fall on the people to kill them.  I will kill whoever is left. No one will run away and be safe.
[1] I saw the LORD standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.


I will get them even if they dig down into hell or climb up to heaven.
[2] Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:


Even if they hide on the top of Mt. Carmel, I will find them and take them. Even if they go down to the bottom of the sea, I will tell the sea serpent to bite them.
[3] And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:


They will be captured and carried away by their enemies.  I will tell the sword to kill them. I will make bad things happen to them.
[4] And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.

The Lord God will touch the land, and it will melt. Everyone who lives there will be sad. There will be a big flood just like in Egypt.
[5] And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.

The Lord God built the heavens and earth. He called for the waters of the sea to come out and they poured over the earth.
[6] It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name.

Aren't you like the Ethiopians to Me now? I brought you out of Egypt, but I also brought the Philistines out of Caphtor and the Syrians out of Kir.
[7] Are ye not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?

The Lord God sees the sinful kingdom of Israel. I will destroy it. It will not exist anymore. However, I will save a few of Jacob's descendants.
[8] Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD.


I will give the command, and I will sift the Israelites like corn in a sieve. The good Israelites will not die, but they will be scattered in other nations.
[9] For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.


The sinners in Israel will die violently. Evil people will not stop us.
[10] All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.



A future day when the Lord brings back Israel.


On that day, I will raise David's broken tabernacle. I will repair all of the cracks. I will restore all of the destroyed buildings. I will make them as good as new.
[11] In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:


The Israelites will capture the other nations. They will know that the Lord God has done this.
[12] That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.

The days are coming when there will be harvests. There will still be food leftover when the next harvest is ready.
[13] Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.

I will bring my people Israel back. They will rebuild the cities and live in them. They will plant grapes in vineyards. They will plant gardens and eat the food.
[14] And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

I will put them back in the land I gave them. They will never be taken out again," said the Lord God.
[15] And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.

 

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