The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa; what he saw about 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 earth-shock.

And I will have the locks of the door of Damascus broken, and him who is seated in power cut off from the valley of Aven, and him in whose hand is the rod from the house of Eden; and the people of Aram will go away as prisoners into Kir, says the Lord.

Him who is seated in power I will have cut off from Ashdod, and him in whose hand is the rod from Ashkelon; and my hand will be turned against Ekron, and the rest of the Philistines will come to destruction, says the Lord God.

By every altar they are stretched on clothing taken from those who are in their debt, drinking in the house of their god the wine of those who have made payment for wrongdoing.

Though I sent destruction on the Amorite before them, who was tall as the cedar and strong as the oak-tree, cutting off his fruit from on high and his roots from under the earth.

But to those who were separate you gave wine for drink; and to the prophets you said, Be prophets no longer.

And the bowman will not keep his place; he who is quick-footed will not get away safely: and the horseman will not keep his life.

And he who is without fear among the fighting men will go in flight without his clothing in that day, says the Lord.

The cry of the lion is sounding; who will not have fear? The Lord God has said the word; is it possible for the prophet to keep quiet?

For they have no knowledge of how to do what is right, says the Lord, who are storing up violent acts and destruction in their great houses.

These are the words of the Lord: As the keeper of sheep takes out of the mouth of the lion two legs or part of an ear; so will the children of Israel be made safe, who are resting in Samaria on seats of honour or on the silk cushions of a bed.

Give ear to this word, you cows of Bashan, who are in the hill of Samaria, by whom the poor are kept down, and those in need are crushed; who say to their lords, Get out the wine and give us drink.

For see, he who gave form to the mountains and made the wind, giving knowledge of his purpose to man, who makes the morning dark, and is walking on the high places of the earth: the Lord, the God of armies, is his name.

You who make the work of judging a bitter thing, crushing down righteousness to the earth;

Go for help to him who makes Orion and the Pleiades, by whom the deep dark is turned into morning, who makes the day black with night; whose voice goes out to the waters of the sea, sending them out over the face of the earth: the Lord is his name;

Who sends sudden destruction on the strong, so that destruction comes on the walled town.

They have hate for him who makes protest against evil in the public place, and he whose words are upright is disgusting to them.

For I have seen how your evil-doing is increased and how strong are your sins, you troublers of the upright, who take rewards and do wrong to the cause of the poor in the public place.

Sorrow to you who are looking for the day of the Lord! what is the day of the Lord to you? it is dark and not light.

Sorrow to those who are resting in comfort in Zion, and to those who have no fear of danger in the mountain of Samaria, the noted men of the chief of the nations, to whom the people of Israel come!

You who put far away the evil day, causing the rule of the violent to come near;

Who are resting on beds of ivory, stretched out on soft seats, feasting on lambs from the flock and young oxen from the cattle-house;

So now they will go away prisoners with the first of those who are made prisoners, and the loud cry of those who were stretched out will come to an end.

And when a man's relation, even the one who is responsible for burning his body, lifting him up to take his bones out of the house, says to him who is in the inmost part of the house, Is there still anyone with you? and he says, No; then he will say, Keep quiet, for the name of the Lord may not be named.

You whose joy is in a thing of no value, who say, Have we not taken for ourselves horns by the strength which is ours?

Then Amos in answer said to Amaziah, I am no prophet, or one of the sons of the prophets; I am a herdman and one who takes care of sycamore-trees:

Give ear to this, you who are crushing the poor, and whose purpose is to put an end to those who are in need in the land,

Getting the poor for silver, and him who is in need for the price of two shoes, and taking a price for the waste parts of the grain.

Those who make their oaths by the sin of Samaria and say, By the life of your God, O Dan; and, By the living way of Beer-sheba; even they will go down, never again to be lifted up.

It is he who makes his rooms in the heaven, basing his arch on the earth; whose voice goes out to the waters of the sea, and sends them flowing over the face of the earth; the Lord is his name.

All those sinners among my people will be put to the sword who say, Evil will not overtake us or come face to face with us.

So that the rest of Edom may be their heritage, and all the nations who have been named by my name, says the Lord, who is doing this.

See, the days will come, says the Lord, when the ploughman will overtake him who is cutting the grain, and the crusher of the grapes him who is planting seed; and sweet wine will be dropping from the mountains, and the hills will be turned into streams of wine.