Amos 9

The Destruction of Israel

1 I saw the Lord standing besidet the altar, and he said:
"Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake,
and shatter them on the heads of all the people;t
and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword;
not one of them shall flee away;
not one of them shall escape.

2  "If they dig into Sheol,
from there shall my hand take them;
if they climb up to heaven,
from there I will bring them down.
3  If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
from there I will search them out and take them;
and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.
4  And if they go into captivity before their enemies,
there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them;
and I will fix my eyes upon them
for evil and not for good."

5  The Lord God of hosts,
he who touches the earth and it melts,
and all who dwell in it mourn,
and all of it rises like the Nile,
and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;
6  who builds his upper chambers in the heavens
and founds his vault upon the earth;
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—
the Lord is his name.

7  "Are you not like the Cushites to me,
O people of Israel?" declares the Lord.
"Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir?
8  Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,
except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,"
declares the Lord.

9  "For behold, I will command,
and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
10  All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who say, 'Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.'

The Restoration of Israel

11  "In that day I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
and raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
12  that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations who are called by my name,"t
declares the Lord who does this.

13  "Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord,
"when the plowman shall overtake the reaper
and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and all the hills shall flow with it.
14  I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
15  I will plant them on their land,
and they shall never again be uprooted
out of the land that I have given them,"
says the Lord your God.

Amos 9

1 I saw the sovereign Onet standing by the altars and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars,t so the thresholds shake!
Knock them down on the heads of all the people,t
and I will kill the survivorst with the sword.
No one will be able to run away;t
no one will be able to escape.t

2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld,t
my hand would pull them up from there.
Even if they could climb up to heaven,
I would drag them down from there.

3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel,
I would hunt them down and take them from there.
Even if they tried to hide from met at the bottom of the sea,
from theret I would command the Sea Serpents to bite them.

4 Even when their enemies drive them into captivity,t
from theret I will command the sword to kill them.
I will not let them out of my sight;
they will experience disaster, not prosperity.”t

5 The sovereign Lord who commands armies will do this.t
He touches the earth and it dissolves;t
all who live on it mourn.
The whole eartht rises like the River Nile,t
and then grows calmt like the Nile in Egypt.s

6 He builds the upper rooms of his palaces in heaven
and sets its foundation supportst on the earth.s
He summons the water of the sea
and pours it out on the earth’s surface.
The Lord is his name.

7 “You Israelites are just like the Ethiopians in my sight,”ts says the Lord.
“Certainly I brought Israel up from the land of Egypt,
but I also brought the Philistines from Caphtors and the Arameans from Kir.t

8 Look, the sovereign Lord is watchingt the sinful nation,t
and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.
But I will not completely destroy the familyt of Jacob,” says the Lord.

9 “For look, I am giving a command
and I will shake the family of Israel together with all the nations.
It will resemble a sieve being shaken,
when not even a pebble falls to the ground.t

10 All the sinners among my people will die by the sword –
the ones who say, ‘Disaster will not come near, it will not confront us.’

The Restoration of the Davidic Dynasty

11 “In that day I will rebuild the collapsing hutt of David.
I will seal itss gaps,
repair itss ruins,
and restore it to what it was like in days gone by.t

12 As a result theys will conquer those left in Edomt
and all the nations subject to my rule.”ts
The Lord, who is about to do this, is speaking!

13 “Be sure of this,t the time ist coming,” says the Lord,
“when the plowman will catch up to the reapers
and the one who stomps the grapess will overtaket the planter.s
Juice will run down the slopes,t
it will flow down all the hillsides.t

14 I will bring back my people, Israel;t
they will rebuild the cities lying in rubblet and settle down.t
They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce;t
they will grow orchardst and eat the fruit they produce.t

15 I will plant them on their land
and they will never again be uprooted from thet land I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.