The words of Amos, who was among the sheep breeders of Tekoa, which he spoke concerning Israel during the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah and during the reign of Joash's son Jeroboam, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

I will shatter the gate bars of Damascus, and I will cut off the residents of the Aven Valley, along with the one who holds the scepter from Beth-eden; and the people of Aram will be exiled to Kir," says the LORD.

Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorites in front of them, though their height seemed like a cedar, though their strength seemed like an oak, but whose fruit I destroyed from above and the roots from beneath.

A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who will not prophesy?

This is what the LORD says: "Just as a shepherd might save from the lion's mouth only two leg bones or a scrap of an ear, the Israelis will be saved in a similar manner those in Samaria who sit on the remains of their broken beds, and those in Damascus who lie on the edge of their couches."

"Listen to this message, you fat cows from Bashan, who live on the Samaritan mountains, who oppress the poor, who rob the needy, and who constantly ask your husbands for one more drink!"

Look! The one who crafts mountains, who creates the wind, who reveals what he is thinking to mankind, who darkens the morning light, who tramples down the high places of the land the LORD, the God of the Heavenly Armies is his name.

Those of you who are making justice taste bitter, and who have thrown righteousness to the ground:

Seek the one who fashions the Pleiades and Orion, who turns the deep darkness into morning, who darkens day into night, who calls out to the waters of the sea, pouring them out onto the surface of the earth the LORD is his name.

It is he who is raining sudden destruction upon the strong like lightning, so that ruin comes upon the fortress.

They have hated those who are presenting their cases in court, detesting the one who speaks truthfully.

Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of the Heavenly Armies, the Lord, says: "There will be dirges in all of the streets; and in all of the highways they will cry out in anguish. They will call the farmer to mourning and those who lament to grieve.

"Woe to those who are craving the Day of the LORD! How is it to your benefit, this Day of the LORD? It's a day of darkness to you, and not light.

It will be like a man who runs from a lion, only to encounter a bear; or who comes home, leans his hand against a wall, and a serpent bites him!

"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, to those who rest on the mountain of Samaria the famous men of the nations to whom the house of Israel came!

therefore you will be the first to go into exile, and the celebrations of those who are lounging will end."

"Hear this, you who are swallowing up the needy, who intend to make the poor of the land fail,

and who are saying, "When will the New Moon fade so we may sell grain, and the Sabbath conclude so we may market winnowed wheat? shortchanging the measure, raising the price, falsifying the scales by treachery,

Surely the land will tremble because of this, won't it? And all who live in it will mourn, won't they? The entire land will swell up like a flooded river. It will be stirred up and then will sink like the river of Egypt.

Those who have been swearing oaths by the sin of Samaria, or who say, "As your god lives, Dan"' or who say, "As the way of Beer-sheba lives"' will fall, and will never rise again."

I saw the Lord standing beside the altar as he was saying, "Strike the doorposts so that the thresholds tremble, bringing them down on the heads of all of them. Those who survive I will kill with the sword. Those who flee will not escape. There will be no deliverance for the fugitives.

"The Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies who is touching the earth so that it melts and all of its inhabitants mourn there the land rises like the Nile River, but sinks like the river of Egypt

who is building his stairway to heaven and setting its foundation on earth; who is calling for the waters of the sea and pouring them out over the surface of the land the LORD is his name!

All sinners among my people will die by the sword, especially all who are saying, "Disaster will not come upon or conquer us!'"

so my people may inherit the remnant of Edom and all of the nations that bear my name," declares the LORD who is bringing this about.

"Look! The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when the one who sows will overtake the harvester and the treader of grapes will overtake the planter. Fresh wine will drip down from the mountains, cascading down from the hills.