Amos 9

1 I have seen the Lord standing by the altar, and He saith: 'Smite the knob, and the thresholds shake, And cut them off by the head — all of them, And their posterity with a sword I do slay, Not flee to them doth the fleer, Nor escape to them doth a fugitive.

I saw the Lord towering above the altar, and he commanded: Strike the tops of the pillars so that the foundations may shake, bring them down on the heads of the people below. The rest of them I will slay with the sword: no one will get away, no one will escape.

2 If they dig through into sheol, From thence doth My hand take them, And if they go up the heavens, From thence I cause them to come down. (Sheol h7585)

If they dig down to Sheol, there will my hand take them. If they climb up to the heavens, from there will I bring them down. (Sheol h7585)

3 And if they be hid in the top of Carmel, From thence I search out, and have taken them, And if they be hid from Mine eyes in the bottom of the sea, From thence I command the serpent, And it hath bitten them.

If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, there will I search them out and take them. If they hide out of my sight at the bottom of the sea, there will I command the sea serpent to bite them.

4 And if they go into captivity before their enemies, From thence I command the sword, And it hath slain them, And I have set Mine eye on them for evil, And not for good.

If they are taken into captivity by their enemies, there will I command the sword to slay them. I will keep my eye on them but for evil and not for good.

5 And [it is] the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts, Who is striking against the land, and it melteth, And mourned have all the inhabitants in it, And come up as a flood hath all of it, And it hath sunk — like the flood of Egypt.

It is the Lord the God of hosts, who touches the earth and it trembles, all who live on it mourn. The earth rises up like the Nile, and sinks like the Nile of Egypt.

6 Who is building in the heavens His upper chambers; As to His troop, Upon earth He hath founded it, Who is calling for the waters of the sea, And poureth them out on the face of the land, Jehovah [is] His name.

The one who builds in the heavens, who sets the dome of the sky over the earth, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth: the Lord is his name.

7 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?

To me, Israelites, you are just like the Cushites, says the Lord. Yes, I brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt, but also the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir!

8 Lo, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah [are] on the sinful kingdom, And I have destroyed it from off the face of the ground, Only, I destroy not utterly the house of Jacob, An affirmation of Jehovah.

Behold the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom: I will destroy it from the face of the earth! But I will not completely destroy the house of Jacob, says the Lord.

9 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.

For behold I am about to give the command, and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations just as one shakes grain in a sieve, but not a pebble shall fall to the ground.

10 By sword die do all sinners of My people, Who are saying, 'Not overtake, or go before, For our sakes, doth evil.'

All the sinners of my people, who deny that disaster will touch or befall them, will die by the sword.

11 In that day I raise the tabernacle of David, that is fallen, And I have repaired their breaches, And its ruins I do raise up, And I have built it up as in days of old.

On that day I will raise up the fallen house of David, I will wall up its gaps and raise up its ruins, I will rebuild it as it was long ago.

12 So that they possess the remnant of Edom, And all the nations on whom My name is called, An affirmation of Jehovah — doer of this.

They will possess again the rest of Edom, and all the nations which once you ruled for me, says the Lord, who will do this.

13 Lo, days are coming — an affirmation of Jehovah, And come nigh hath the ploughman to the reaper, And the treader of grapes to the scatterer of seed, And the mountains have dropped juice, And all the hills do melt.

Listen! The days are coming, says the Lord, when the harvest is too big to reap before it is time to plough, when the grapes cannot be all trod before it is time to sow, when the mountains will run with sweet wine, and every hill will flow with it.

14 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 bring back my people Israel, they will rebuild waste cities and inhabit them, plant vineyards and drink their wine, make gardens and eat their fruit.

15 And I have planted them on their own ground, And they are not plucked up any more from off their own ground, That I have given to them, said Jehovah thy God!

I will plant them on their own soil, and they will never again be uprooted from their land which I have given them, says the Lord your God.