Amos, chapter 9

Judgment on Israel

I saw a vision of the Lord standing by the temple altarO,

and he said,

“Shake the columns until the tops fall loose,

and the doorposts crumble.

Then make the pieces fall on the people below.

I will take a sword and kill anyone who escapes.

²“If they dig deep into the earthI or climb to the sky,

I'll reach out and get them.

³If they escape to the peaks of Mount CarmelG,

I'll search and find them.

And if they hide from me at the bottom of the ocean,

I'll command a sea monster to bite them.

⁴I'll send a sword to kill them,

wherever their enemies drag them off as captives.

I'm determined to hurt them, not to help them.”

His Name Is the Lord

⁵ CWhen the Lord God All-PowerfulI touches the earth,

it melts, and its people mourn.

God makes the earth rise and then fall,

just like the Nile River.

⁶He built his palace in the heavens

and let its foundations rest on the earth.*

He scoops up the ocean and empties it on the earth.

His name is the Lord.

The Lord Is God

⁷Israel, I am the Lord God,

and the Ethiopians* are no less important to me

than you are.

I brought you out of Egypt,

but I also brought the Philistines from Crete*

and the ArameansP from Kir.

⁸My eyes have seen what a sinful nation you are,

and I'll wipe you out.

But I will leave a few of Jacob's descendantsP.

I, the Lord, have spoken!

⁹At my command, all of you will be sifted like grain.

Israelites who remain faithful

will be scattered among the nations.

And the others will be trapped like trash in a sifterO.

¹⁰Some of you are evil, and you deny

that you will ever get caught.

But you will be killed.

The Lord's Promise to Israel

¹¹ C In the future, I will rebuild David's fallen kingdomH.

I will build it from its ruins and set it up again,

just as it used to be.

¹²Then you will capture EdomG

and the other nations that are mine.

I, the Lord, have spoken,

and my words will come true.

¹³You will have such a harvest that you won't be able

to bring in all of your wheat before plowing time.

You will have grapes left over from season to season;

your fruitful vineyards will cover the mountains.

¹⁴I'll make Israel prosper again.

You will rebuild your towns and live in them.

You will drink wine from your own vineyards

and eat the fruit you grow.

¹⁵I'll plant your roots deep in the land I have given you,

and you won't ever be uprooted again.

I, the Lord God, have spoken!