Amós 4

1 "Hear this word, *Ps. 22:12you cows of Bashan,

who are *ch. 3:9;6:1on the mountain of Samaria,

*Hos. 5:11who oppress the poor, *Hos. 5:11who crush the needy,

who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’

2 *Ps. 89:35The Lord God has sworn by his holiness

that, behold, the days are coming upon you,

*[Jer. 16:16;Hab. 1:15]; See 2 Kgs. 19:28when they shall take you away with hooks,

*[Jer. 16:16;Hab. 1:15]; See 2 Kgs. 19:28even the last of you with fishhooks.

3 *[Ezek. 12:5,12]And you shall go out through the breaches,

each one straight ahead;

and you shall be cast out into Harmon,"

declares the Lord.

4 *[ch. 5:5;Ezek. 20:39;Matt. 23:32] "Come to Bethel, and transgress;

to *[ch. 5:5;Hos. 4:15;9:15;12:11] Gilgal, and multiply transgression;

*[ch. 5:5;Ezek. 20:39;Matt. 23:32] bring your *Num. 28:3,4;[Jer. 7:21]sacrifices every morning,

your tithes every three days;

5 offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of *Lev. 7:13that which is leavened,

and proclaim *Ex. 35:29;Lev. 22:18,21;Deut. 12:6freewill offerings, publish them;

*[Ps. 81:11,12]for so you love to do, O people of Israel!"

declares the Lord God.

Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord

6 "I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,

and *[Deut. 28:57;Lam. 2:12] lack of bread in all your places,

*Jer. 15:7;Hag. 2:17yet you did not return to me,"

declares the Lord.

7 "I also *Jer. 3:3;[Joel 2:23] withheld the rain from you

when there were yet three months to the harvest;

*[Ex. 9:26]I would send rain on one city,

and send no rain on another city;

one field would have rain,

and the field on which it did not rain would wither;

8 so two or three cities *[ch. 8:12] would wander to another city

to drink water, and would not be satisfied;

*[See ver. 6above]yet you did not return to me,"

declares the Lord.

9 *Deut. 28:22;Hag. 2:17"I struck you with blight and mildew;

your many gardens and your vineyards,

your fig trees and your olive trees *Joel 1:4the locust devoured;

*[See ver. 6above]yet you did not return to me,"

declares the Lord.

10 "I sent among you a pestilence *Deut. 28:27,60;[Ex. 12:29;Ps. 78:50;Isa. 10:24,26] after the manner of Egypt;

I killed your young men with the sword,

and *2 Kgs. 13:7carried away your horses,*4:10 Hebrew along with the captivity of your horses

and *[Joel 2:20] I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;

*[See ver. 6above]yet you did not return to me,"

declares the Lord.

11 "I overthrew some of you,

*[Isa. 13:19] as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,

and you were *Zech. 3:2;[Jude 23] as a brand*4:11 That is, a burning stick plucked out of the burning;

*[See ver. 6above]yet you did not return to me,"

declares the Lord.

12 "Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;

because I will do this to you,

prepare to meet your God, O Israel!"

13 For behold, *[Ps. 102:25] he who forms the mountains and creates the wind,

and *[Ps. 139:2] declares to man what is his thought,

*[ch. 5:8;8:9] who makes the morning darkness,

and *Isa. 58:14;Mic. 1:3treads on the heights of the earth—

*ch. 3:13;5:8;9:6;See Jer. 10:16the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!