Amos 9

1 I SAW the Lord standing beside the altar: and he said, Smite the chapiters, that the thresholds may shake: and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.

Then I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: Strike the tops of the Temple pillars so that the foundations shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people below. Those who survive I will kill by the sword. None of them will escape, not a single one.

2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; and though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down. (Sheol h7585)

Even if they dig down into Sheol, I will catch them and pull them up. Even if they climb up to heaven, I will bring them down. (Sheol h7585)

3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them.

Even if they hide themselves at the top of Mount Carmel, I will search for them and catch them. Even if they hide from me at the bottom of the sea, I will command the sea serpent to bite them.

4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.

Even if they are driven into exile by their enemies, I will order them put to death by the sword. I will watch them carefully—and for evil, not for good.

5 For the Lord, the GOD of hosts, [is] he that toucheth the land and it melteth, and all that dwell therein shall mourn; and it shall rise up wholly like the River; and shall sink again, like the River of Egypt;

The Lord God of power touches the earth and it melts, and all who live there mourn. The earth rises up like the Nile river in flood, and then falls again.

6 [it is] he that buildeth his chambers in the heaven, and hath founded his vault upon the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; the LORD is his name.

The Lord builds his upper rooms in heaven, and places the foundations on the earth. He calls for the water of the seas, and pours it down as rain upon the earth—the Lord is his name!

7 Are ye not as the children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?

Aren't the Ethiopians as important to me as you, people of Israel? asks the Lord. Yes, I brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, but I also brought 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 off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD.

Watch out! I'm watching this sinful kingdom. I will eradicate it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not completely destroy the descendants of Jacob.

9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, like as [corn] is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.

See what I'm doing! I will give the command, and the people of Israel will be shaken among the nations like flour through a sieve, and nothing will fall to the ground.

10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.

All the sinners of my people will be killed by the sword—all those who say, “Nothing bad is going to happen; no disaster will fall on us.”

11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old;

On that day I will restore the fallen kingdom of David; I will repair the broken walls, I will rebuild the ruins, and I will make it as it was in days of old.

12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.

And they will possess what is left of Edom and all the nations that were once mine, declares the Lord. He will make this happen.

13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.

Look! The time is coming, says the Lord, when the reaper will overtake the plowman, and the one who treads the grapes will overtake the one who sows the seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, and flow from all the hills.

14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

I will bring my people back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, and they shall live in them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will plant gardens and eat the fruit they produce.

15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.

I will plant them in their own land, and they shall never be uprooted again from the land I have given them, declares the Lord your God.