The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen 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.

Thus says the Lord,
“For three transgressions of Edom [the descendants of Esau] and for four (multiplied delinquencies)
I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it,
Because he pursued his brother Jacob (Israel) with the sword,
Corrupting and stifling his compassions and casting off all mercy;
His destructive anger raged continually,
And he maintained [and nurtured] his wrath forever.

Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke its sentence; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes;

Yet I destroyed the Amorite as Israel advanced;
his height was like the cedars,
and he was as sturdy as the oaks;
I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath.

And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, ye children of Israel? saith Jehovah.

Hear, what the LORD speaketh unto you, O ye children of Israel: namely, unto all the tribes, whom I brought out of Egypt, and said,

Thus sayeth the LORD, 'like as a herdsman taketh two legs or a piece of an ear out of the lion's mouth: Even so the children of Israel that dwell in Samaria, having their couches in the corner, and the beds at Damascus, shall be plucked away.

'That when I begin to visit the wickedness of Israel, I will visit the altars at Bethel also: so that the horns of the alter shall be broken off, and fall to the ground.

Ye made a thank offering of leaven, ye promised free will offerings, and proclaimed them. Such lust had ye, O ye children of Israel,' sayeth the LORD God.

'Therefore thus will I handle thee again, O Israel: yea, even thus will I handle thee. Make thee ready then to meet thy God, O Israel.

Hear this word, O ye house of Israel. And why? I must make this moan for you:

The virgin Israel shall fall, and never rise up again: she shall be cast down upon her own ground, and no man shall help her up.

For thus sayeth the LORD God, 'Whereas there dwelt a thousand in one city, there shall be left scarcely a hundred therein: and where before dwelt a hundred, there shall scarcely ten be left for the house of Israel.'

"Nevertheless, thus sayeth the LORD unto the house of Israel, 'Seek after me, and ye shall live;

Because of Israel's sins this is what the Lord, the God who commands armies, the sovereign One, says: "In all the squares there will be wailing, in all the streets they will mourn the dead. They will tell the field workers to lament and the professional mourners to wail.

O ye house of Israel, gave ye me offerings and sacrifices those forty years long in the wilderness?

O Woe be to the proud wealthy in Zion, to such as think them so sure upon the mount of Samaria: which hold themselves for the best of the world, and rule the house of Israel, even as they list.

Who drink wine from sacrificial bowls
And anoint themselves with the finest oils [reflecting their unrestrained celebration];
Yet they are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph (Israel).

The Lord God has sworn [an oath] by Himself—the Lord God of hosts, says:
“I loathe and reject the [self-centered] arrogance of Jacob (Israel),
And I hate his palaces and citadels;
Therefore, I shall hand over the [idolatrous] city [of Samaria] with all that it contains [to the Assyrian invaders].”

Surely, lo, I am raising against you a nation, O house of Israel, An affirmation of Jehovah, God of Hosts, And they have oppressed you from the coming in to Hamath, Unto the stream of the desert.

When they had completely consumed the earth's vegetation, I said, "Sovereign Lord, forgive Israel! How can Jacob survive? He is too weak!"

and Jehovah saith unto me, 'What art thou seeing, Amos?' And I say, 'A plumb-line;' and the Lord saith: 'Lo, I am setting a plumb-line in the midst of My people Israel, I do not add any more to pass over to it.

And desolated have been high places of Isaac, And sanctuaries of Israel are wasted, And I have risen against the house of Jeroboam with a sword.'

And Amaziah priest of Beth-El sendeth unto 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,

for thus said Amos: By sword die doth Jeroboam, And Israel certainly removeth from off its land.'

and Jehovah taketh me from after the flock, and Jehovah saith unto me, Go, prophesy unto My people Israel.

And now, hear a word of Jehovah: thou art saying, Do not prophesy against Israel, nor drop any thing against the house of Isaac,

therefore thus said Jehovah: Thy wife in the city doth go a-whoring, And thy sons and thy daughters by sword do fall, And thy land by line is apportioned, And thou on an unclean land diest, And Israel certainly removeth from off its land.'

And He saith, 'What art thou seeing, Amos?' and I say, 'A basket of summer-fruit.' And Jehovah saith unto me: 'The end hath come unto My people Israel, I do not add any more to pass over to it.

As sons of Cushim are ye not to Me? O sons of Israel -- an affirmation of Jehovah. Israel did I not bring up out of the land of Egypt? And the Philistines from Caphtor, and Aram from Kir?

“Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful [northern] kingdom [of Israel’s ten tribes]
And I shall destroy it from the face of the earth;
But I shall not totally destroy the house of Jacob [that is, the entire nation of Israel],”
Says the Lord.

For lo, I am commanding, And I have shaken among all the nations the house of Israel, As one doth shake with a sieve, And there falleth not a grain to the earth.

And I have turned back to the captivity of My people Israel, And they have built desolate cities, and inhabited, And have planted vineyards, and drunk their wine, And made gardens, and eaten their fruit.

I will plant the people of Israel in their own land, never again to be torn out of their land that I gave them," says the LORD your God.