New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures Reference Bible

Amos

1 The words of Amos, who happened to be among the sheep raisers from Tekoa,+ which he visioned concerning Israel+ in the days of Uzziah+ the king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam+ the son of Joash,+ the king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.+ 2 And he proceeded to say:

“Jehovah—out of Zion he will roar,+ and out of Jerusalem he will give forth his voice;+ and the pasture grounds of the shepherds must go to mourning, and the summit of Carmel must dry up.”+

3 “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘“On account of three revolts of Damascus,+ and on account of four, I shall not turn it back, on account of their threshing Gilead+ even with iron threshing instruments. 4 And I will send a fire+ onto the house of Hazael,+ and it must devour the dwelling towers of Ben-hadad.+ 5 And I will break the bar of Damascus+ and cut off [the] inhabitant from Bikath-aven,* and the holder of [the] scepter from Beth-eden;* and the people of Syria* will have to go as exiles to Kir,”+ Jehovah has said.’

6 “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘“On account of three revolts of Gaza,+ and on account of four, I shall not turn it back, on account of their taking into exile a complete body of exiles+ to hand over to Edom.+ 7 And I will send a fire onto the wall of Gaza,+ and it must devour her dwelling towers. 8 And I will cut off [the] inhabitant from Ashdod,+ and the holder of [the] scepter from Ashkelon;+ and I will turn my hand back+ upon Ekron,+ and the remaining ones* of the Philistines must perish,”+ the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said.’

9 “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘On account of three revolts of Tyre,+ and on account of four, I shall not turn it back, on account of their handing over a complete body of exiles to Edom, and [because] they did not remember the covenant of brothers.+ 10 And I will send a fire onto the wall of Tyre, and it must devour her dwelling towers.’+

11 “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘On account of three revolts of Edom,+ and on account of four, I shall not turn it back, on account of his pursuing his own brother with the sword,+ and [because] he ruined his [own] merciful qualities,+ and his anger keeps tearing away forever; and his fury—he has kept it perpetually.+ 12 And I will send a fire into Teman,+ and it must devour the dwelling towers of Bozrah.’+

13 “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘“On account of three revolts of the sons of Ammon,*+ and on account of four, I shall not turn it back,+ on account of their slitting open the pregnant women of Gilead, for the purpose of widening out their own territory.+ 14 And I will set fire to the wall of Rabbah,+ and it must devour her dwelling towers, with an alarm signal in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of storm wind.+ 15 And their king must go into exile, he and his princes together,”+ Jehovah has said.’

2 “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘“On account of three revolts of Moab,+ and on account of four, I shall not turn it back, on account of his burning the bones of the king of Edom for lime.+ 2 And I will send a fire into Moab, and it must devour the dwelling towers of Kerioth;+ and with noise Moab must die, with an alarm signal, with the sound of a horn.*+ 3 And I will cut off [the] judge from the midst of her, and all her princes I shall kill with him,”+ Jehovah has said.’

4 “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘On account of three revolts of Judah,+ and on account of four, I shall not turn it back, on account of their rejecting the law of Jehovah,+ and [because] they did not keep his own regulations; but their lies,+ after which their forefathers had walked, kept making them wander.+ 5 And I will send a fire into Judah, and it must devour the dwelling towers of Jerusalem.’+

6 “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘On account of three revolts of Israel,+ and on account of four, I shall not turn it back, on account of their selling someone righteous for mere silver, and someone poor for [the price of] a pair of sandals.+ 7 They are panting for the dust of [the] earth on the head of lowly persons;+ and the way of meek people they turn aside;+ and a man* and his own father have gone to the [same] girl,+ for the purpose of profaning my holy name.+ 8 And on garments seized as a pledge they stretch themselves out+ beside every altar;+ and the wine of those who have been fined they drink at the house of their gods.’*+

9 “‘But as for me, I had annihilated the Amorite+ on account of them, whose height was like the height of cedars, and who was vigorous like the massive trees;+ and I went annihilating his fruitage above and his roots below.+ 10 And I myself brought YOU people up out of the land of Egypt,+ and I kept making YOU walk through the wilderness forty years,+ in order to take possession of the land* of the Amorite.+ 11 And I kept raising up some of YOUR sons as prophets+ and some of YOUR young men as Nazirites.+ Should this really not be, O sons of Israel?’ is the utterance of Jehovah.

12 “‘But YOU kept giving the Nazirites wine to drink,+ and upon the prophets YOU laid a command, saying: “YOU must not prophesy.”+ 13 Here I am making what is under YOU sway, just as the wagon sways that is full up with a row of newly cut grain. 14 And a place to which to flee must perish from the swift one,+ and no one strong will reinforce his power, and no mighty man will provide his soul* with escape.+ 15 And no one handling the bow will stand, and no one swift on his feet will escape, and no rider of the horse will provide his soul with escape.+ 16 And as for one strong in his heart among the mighty men, naked is how he will flee in that day,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah.”

3 “Hear this word that Jehovah has spoken concerning YOU,+ O sons of Israel, concerning the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt,+ saying, 2 ‘YOU people only have I known+ out of all the families of the ground.+ Ex33:16 That is why I shall hold an accounting against YOU for all YOUR errors.+

3 “‘Will two walk together unless they have met by appointment?+ 4 Will a lion roar in the forest when it has no prey?+ Will a young maned lion give forth its voice from its hiding place if it has caught nothing at all? 5 Will a bird fall into a trap on the earth when there is no snare for it?+ Does a trap go up from the ground when it has absolutely caught nothing? 6 If a horn is blown in a city, do not also the people themselves tremble?+ If a calamity occurs in the city, is it not also Jehovah who has acted? 7 For the Sovereign Lord Jehovah will not do a thing unless he has revealed his confidential matter* to his servants the prophets.+ 8 There is a lion that has roared!+ Who will not be afraid? The Sovereign Lord Jehovah himself has spoken! Who will not prophesy?’+

9 “‘PUBLISH it on [the] dwelling towers in Ashdod and on [the] dwelling towers in the land of Egypt,+ and say: “Be gathered together against the mountains of Samaria,+ and see the many disorders in the midst of her and cases of defrauding inside her.+ 10 And they have not known how to do what is straightforward,”+ is the utterance of Jehovah, “those who are storing up violence+ and despoiling in their dwelling towers.”’

11 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said, ‘There is an adversary even round about the land,+ and he will certainly bring your* strength down from you, and your dwelling towers will actually be plundered.’+

12 “This is what Jehovah has said, ‘Just as the shepherd snatches away from the mouth of the lion two shanks or a piece of an ear,+ so the sons of Israel will be snatched away, those sitting in Samaria on a splendid couch+ and on a Damascene divan.’+

13 “‘HEAR and give witness*+ in the house of Jacob,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, the God of the armies.* 14 ‘For, in the day of my holding an accounting+ for the revolts of Israel against him, I will also hold an accounting against the altars of Bethel;+ and the horns of the altar will certainly be cut off and must fall to the earth.+ 15 And I will strike down the winter house+ in addition to the summer house.’+

“‘And the houses of ivory will have to perish,+ and many houses will have to come to their finish,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah.”

4 “Hear this word, YOU cows of Bashan,+ who are on the mountain of Samaria,+ who are defrauding the lowly ones,+ who are crushing the poor ones, who are saying to their masters, ‘Do bring, and let us drink!’ 2 The Sovereign Lord Jehovah has sworn by his holiness,+ ‘“Look! There are days coming upon YOU, and he will certainly lift YOU up with butcher hooks and the last part of YOU with fishhooks.+ 3 And [by] breaches YOU will go forth,+ each one straight ahead;* and YOU will certainly be thrown out* to Harmon,” is the utterance of Jehovah.’

4 “‘Come, YOU people, to Bethel and commit transgression.+ At Gilgal be frequent in committing transgression,+ and bring YOUR sacrifices in the morning; on the third day, YOUR tenth parts.*+ 5 And from what is leavened make a thanksgiving sacrifice to smoke,+ and proclaim voluntary offerings;+ publish [it], for that is the way YOU have loved, O sons of Israel,’+ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.

6 “‘And I also, for my part, gave YOU people cleanness of teeth+ in all YOUR cities and want of bread in all YOUR places;+ but YOU did not come back to me,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah.

7 “‘And as for me, I also withheld from YOU people the downpour when there were yet three months to the harvest;+ and I made it rain on one city, but on another city I would not make it rain. There was one tract of land that would be rained on, but a tract of land on which I would not make it rain* would be dried up.+ 8 And two or three cities staggered to one city in order to drink water,+ and they would not get satisfied; but YOU did not come back to me,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah.

9 “‘I struck YOU people with scorching and mildew.+ There was a multiplying of YOUR gardens and of YOUR vineyards, but YOUR fig trees and YOUR olive trees the caterpillar would devour;+ yet YOU did not come back to me,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah.

10 “‘I sent among YOU people a pestilence in the nature of that of Egypt.+ With the sword I killed YOUR young men,+ along with the taking captive of YOUR horses.+ And I kept making the stink of YOUR camps ascend even into YOUR nostrils;+ but YOU did not come back to me,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah.

11 “‘I caused an overthrow among YOU people, like God’s* overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah.+ And YOU came to be like a log snatched out of [the] burning;+ but YOU did not come back to me,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah.

12 “Therefore that is what I shall do to you, O Israel. As a consequence of the fact that I shall do this very thing to you, get ready to meet your God,*+ O Israel. 13 For, look! the Former of [the] mountains+ and the Creator of [the] wind,+ and the One telling to earthling man* what his mental concern* is,+ the One making dawn into obscurity,+ and the One treading on earth’s high places,+ Jehovah the God of armies* is his name.”+

5 “Hear this word that I am taking up over YOU people as a dirge,+ O house of Israel:
     2 “The virgin,+ Israel, has fallen;+
      She cannot get up again.+
      She has been forsaken upon her own ground;
      There is no one raising her up.+

3 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said, ‘The very city that was going forth with a thousand will have a hundred left; and the one going forth with a hundred will have ten left, for the house of Israel.’+

4 “For this is what Jehovah has said to the house of Israel, ‘Search for me,+ and keep living.+ 5 And do not search for Bethel,+ and to Gilgal+ YOU must not come, and to Beer-sheba YOU must not pass over;+ because Gilgal itself will without fail go into exile;+ and as regards Bethel, it will become something uncanny.+ 6 Search for Jehovah, and keep living,+ that he may not become operative just like fire,+ O house of Joseph,+ and it may not actually devour, and Bethel* may not be with no one to extinguish+ [it], 7 O YOU who are turning justice into mere wormwood,+ and the ones who have cast righteousness itself to the earth.+ 8 The Maker of the Kimah+ constellation* and the Kesil+ constellation,*+ and the One turning deep shadow+ into the morning itself, and the One who has made day itself dark as night,+ the One calling for the waters of the sea, that he may pour them out upon the surface of the earth+—Jehovah is his name;+ 9 he who is causing a despoiling to flash forth upon someone strong, that despoiling itself may come upon even a fortified place.

10 “‘In the gate they have hated a reprover,+ and a speaker of perfect things they detest.+ 11 Therefore, for the reason that YOU are extracting farm rent from someone lowly, and the tribute of grain YOU keep taking from him;+ houses of hewn stone YOU have built,+ but YOU will not keep dwelling in them; and desirable vineyards YOU have planted, but YOU will not keep drinking the wine of them.+ 12 For I have known how many YOUR revolts+ are and how mighty YOUR sins are,+ O YOU who are showing hostility toward someone righteous,+ YOU who are taking hush money,*+ and the ones who have turned aside poor people+ even in the gate.+ 13 Therefore the very one having insight will in that time keep silent, for it will be a calamitous time.+

14 “‘Search for what is good, and not what is bad,+ to the end that YOU people may keep living;+ and that thus Jehovah the God of armies* may come to be with YOU, just as YOU have said.+ 15 Hate what is bad, and love what is good,+ and give justice a place in the gate.+ It may be that Jehovah the God of armies will show favor+ to the remaining ones of Joseph.’+

16 “Therefore this is what Jehovah the God of armies, Jehovah,* has said, ‘In all the public squares there will be wailing,+ and in all the streets people will be saying: “Ah! Ah!” And they will have to call a farmer to mourning,+ and to wailing those experienced in lamentation.’+ 17 ‘And in all vineyards there will be wailing;+ for I shall pass through the midst of you,’+ Jehovah has said.

18 “‘Woe to those who are craving the day of Jehovah!+ What, then, will the day of Jehovah mean to YOU people?+ It will be darkness, and no light,+ 19 just as when a man* flees because of the lion, and the bear actually meets him; and [as when] he went into the house and supported his hand against the wall, and the serpent bit him.+ 20 Will not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light; and will it not have gloom, and not brightness?+ 21 I have hated, I have rejected YOUR festivals,+ and I shall not enjoy the smell of YOUR solemn assemblies.+ 22 But if YOU people offer up to me whole burnt offerings,+ even in YOUR gift offerings I shall find no pleasure,+ and on YOUR communion sacrifices of fatlings I shall not look.+ 23 Remove from me the turmoil of your songs; and the melodious sound of your stringed instruments may I not hear.+ 24 And let justice roll forth just like waters,+ and righteousness like a constantly flowing torrent.+ 25 Was it sacrifices and gift offerings that YOU people brought near to me in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel?+ 26 And YOU will certainly carry* Sakkuth* YOUR king*+ and Kaiwan,* YOUR images, the star of YOUR god,* whom YOU made for yourselves.+ 27 And I will cause YOU to go into exile beyond Damascus,’+ he whose name is Jehovah the God of armies has said.”+

6 “Woe to those who are at ease+ in Zion and to those trusting in the mountain of Samaria! They are the distinguished ones of the chief part of the nations, and to them the house of Israel have come. 2 Make YOUR way over to Calneh, and see; and go from there to populous Hamath,+ and go down to Gath+ of the Philistines. Are they better than these kingdoms, or is their territory bigger than YOUR territory?+ 3 [Are YOU] putting out of [YOUR] mind the calamitous day,+ and do YOU bring near the dwelling of violence?+ 4 [YOU men] that are lying down on couches of ivory+ and are sprawling on their divans, and are eating the rams out of a flock and the young bulls from among fattened calves;+ 5 that are improvising according to the sound* of the stringed instrument;+ that, like David, have devised for themselves instruments for song;+ 6 that are drinking out of bowls of wine,+ and that with the choicest oils+ do their anointing, and that have not been made sick at the catastrophe of Joseph.+

7 “Therefore now they will go into exile at the head of those going into exile,+ and the revelry of sprawling ones must depart.

8 “‘The Sovereign Lord Jehovah has sworn by his own soul,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah the God of armies, ‘“I am detesting the pride of Jacob,+ and his dwelling towers I have hated,+ and I will deliver up [the] city and what fills it.+ 9 And it must occur that if ten men* should be left remaining in one house, they must also die.+ 10 And his father’s brother will have to carry them forth one by one, and will be burning them one by one, in order to bring out [the] bones from the house.+ And he will have to say to whoever is in the innermost parts of the house, ‘Are there any more with you?’ And he will certainly say, ‘Nobody!’ And he will have to say, ‘Keep silence! For it is not the occasion for making any mention of the name of Jehovah.’”+

11 “‘For here is Jehovah commanding,+ and he will certainly strike down the great house into rubble and the small house into debris.+

12 “‘On a crag will horses run, or will one plow [there] with cattle? For into a poisonous plant YOU people have turned justice,+ and the fruitage of righteousness into wormwood, 13 [YOU who] are rejoicing in a thing that is not;+ who are saying: “Have we not in our strength taken horns to ourselves?”+ 14 Look! I am raising up against YOU, O house of Israel,’ is the utterance of Jehovah the God of the armies, ‘a nation,+ and they must oppress YOU people from the entering in of Hamath*+ down to the torrent valley of the Arabah.’”*

7 This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah caused me to see, and, look! he was forming a [locust] swarm at the start of the coming up of the later sowing.*+ And, look! it was the later sowing after the mown grass of the king.* 2 And it occurred that when it had finished eating up the vegetation of the land,* I proceeded to say: “O Sovereign Lord Jehovah, forgive, please.+ Who will rise up of Jacob? For he is small!”+

3 Jehovah felt regret over this.+ “It shall not occur,” Jehovah said.

4 This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah caused me to see, and, look! the Sovereign Lord Jehovah was calling for a contention by means of fire;+ and it went eating up the vast watery deep* and ate up the tract of land. 5 And I proceeded to say: “O Sovereign Lord Jehovah, hold off, please.+ Who will rise up of Jacob? For he is small!”+

6 Jehovah felt regret over this.+ “That, too, will not occur,” the Sovereign Lord Jehovah said.

7 This is what he caused me to see, and, look! Jehovah* was stationed on a wall [made with] a plummet,+ and there was a plummet in his hand. 8 Then Jehovah said to me: “What are you seeing, Amos?”* So I said: “A plummet.” And Jehovah* went on to say: “Here I am setting a plummet in the midst of my people Israel.+ I shall no more do any further excusing of it.+ 9 And the high places of Isaac*+ will certainly be laid desolate, and the sanctuaries+ themselves of Israel will be devastated;+ and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam* with a sword.”+

10 And Amaziah the priest of Bethel+ proceeded to send to Jeroboam+ the king of Israel, saying: “Amos has conspired against you right inside the house of Israel.+ The land* is not able to put up with all his words.+ 11 For this is what Amos has said, ‘By the sword Jeroboam will die; and as regards Israel, it will without fail go into exile from its own ground.’”+

12 And Amaziah proceeded to say to Amos: “O visionary,+ go, run your way off to the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and there you may prophesy. 13 But at Bethel you must no longer do any further prophesying,+ for it is the sanctuary of a king+ and it is the house of a kingdom.”

14 Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah: “I was not a prophet, neither was I the son of a prophet;*+ but I was a herdsman+ and a nipper of figs of sycamore trees. 15 And Jehovah proceeded to take me from following the flock, and Jehovah went on to say to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’+ 16 And now hear the word of Jehovah, ‘Are you saying: “You must not prophesy against Israel,+ and you must let no [word] drop+ against the house of Isaac”?* 17 Therefore this is what Jehovah has said: “As regards your wife, in the city she will become a prostitute.+ And as regards your sons and your daughters, by the sword they will fall. And as regards your ground, by the measuring rope it will be apportioned out. And as regards you yourself, on unclean ground you will die;+ and as regards Israel, it will without fail go into exile from its own ground.”’”+

8 This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah caused me to see, and, look! there was a basket of summer fruit.+ 2 Then he said: “What are you seeing,+ Amos?” So I said: “A basket of summer fruit.”*+ And Jehovah went on to say to me: “The end* has come to my people Israel.+ I shall no more do any further excusing of them.+ 7:8  3 ‘And the songs of [the] temple will actually be a howling in that day,’+ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. ‘There will be many a carcass.+ In every place one will certainly throw [them] out—hush!’

4 “Hear this, YOU men snapping at someone poor,+ even in order to cause the meek ones* of the earth to cease,+ 5 saying, ‘How long will it be before the new moon passes+ and we may sell cereals?+ Also, the sabbath,+ and we may offer grain for sale; in order to make the ephah small+ and to make the shekel great and to falsify the scales of deception;+ 6 in order to buy lowly people for mere silver and someone poor for [the price of] a pair of sandals, and that we may sell mere refuse of grain?’+

7 “Jehovah has sworn by the Superiority* of Jacob,+ ‘Never will I forget all their works.+ 8 Will it not be on this account that the land* will be agitated,+ and every inhabitant in it will have to mourn;+ and it will, all of it, certainly come up just like the Nile and be tossed and sink down like the Nile of Egypt?’+

9 “‘And it must occur in that day,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, ‘that I will make the sun go down at high noon,+ and I will cause darkness for the land on a bright day. 10 And I will turn YOUR festivals into mourning+ and all YOUR songs into a dirge, and I will bring up upon all hips sackcloth and upon every head baldness;+ and I will make the situation like the mourning for an only [son],+ and the end result of it as a bitter day.’

11 “‘Look! There are days coming,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, ‘and I will send a famine into the land, a famine, not for bread,* and a thirst, not for water, but for hearing the words of Jehovah.+ 12 And they will certainly stagger from sea all the way to sea, and from north even to the sunrise. They will keep roving about while searching for the word of Jehovah, but they will not find [it].+ 13 In that day the pretty virgins will swoon away, also the young men, because of the thirst;+ 14 those who are swearing by the guiltiness of Samaria,+ and who actually say: “As your god is alive,* O Dan!”+ and, “As the way of Beer-sheba+ is alive!” And they will certainly fall, and they will rise up no more.’”+

9 I saw Jehovah* stationed above the altar,+ and he proceeded to say: “Strike the pillar head, so that the thresholds will rock. And cut them off at the head, all of them.+ And the last part of them I shall kill with the sword itself. No one fleeing of them will make good his flight, and no one escaping of them will make his getaway.+ 2 If they dig down into Sheol,* from there my own hand will take them;+ and if they go up to the heavens, from there I shall bring them down.+ 3 And if they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I shall carefully search and be certain to take them.+ And if they conceal themselves from in front of my eyes on the floor of the sea,+ down there I shall command the serpent, and it must bite them. 4 And if they go into captivity before their enemies, from there I shall command the sword, and it must kill them;+ and I will set my eyes upon them for bad, and not for good.+ 5 And the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of the armies,* is the One touching the land,* so that it melts;+ and all the inhabitants in it will have to mourn;+ and it will certainly come up like the Nile, all of it, and sink down like the Nile of Egypt.+

6 “‘He who is building in the heavens his stairs,+ and his structure over the earth that he founded;+ he who is calling for the waters of the sea,+ that he may pour them out upon the surface of the earth+—Jehovah is his name.’+

7 “‘Are YOU not like the sons of the Cushites* to me, O sons of Israel?’ is the utterance of Jehovah. ‘Did I not bring Israel itself up out of the land of Egypt,+ and the Philistines+ out of Crete,* and Syria* out of Kir?’*+

8 “‘Look! The eyes of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah are upon the sinful kingdom,+ and he will certainly annihilate it from upon the surface of the ground.+ Nevertheless, I shall not completely annihilate the house of Jacob,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah. 9 ‘For, look! I am commanding, and I will jiggle the house of Israel among all the nations,+ just as one jiggles the sieve, so that not a pebble falls to the earth. 10 By the sword they will die—all the sinners of my people,+ those who are saying: “The calamity will not come near or reach as far as us.”’+

11 “‘In that day I shall raise up+ the booth*+ of David that is fallen,+ and I shall certainly repair their breaches. And its ruins I shall raise up, and I shall certainly build it up as in the days of long ago,+ 12 to the end that they may take possession of what is left remaining of Edom,+ and all the nations* upon whom my name has been called,’+ is the utterance of Jehovah, who is doing this.*

13 “‘Look! There are days coming,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘and the plowman will actually overtake* the harvester,+ and the treader of grapes, the carrier* of the seed;+ and the mountains must drip with sweet wine,+ and the very hills will all find themselves melting.+ 14 And I will gather back the captive ones of my people Israel,+ and they will actually build [the] desolated cities and inhabit [them],+ and plant vineyards and drink the wine of them, and make gardens and eat the fruit of them.’+

15 “‘And I shall certainly plant them upon their ground, and they will no more be uprooted from their ground that I have given them,’+ Jehovah your God* has said.”