圣经-旧约(天主教思高圣经)
不认识圣经,就是不认识基督,不认识基督,就是不认识基督所建立的天主教会。
旧约·亚毛斯
共9章:
第一章(15)
题名
1:1 亚毛斯的言论:亚毛斯原是特科亚的一个牧人,在犹大王乌齐雅时代和以色列王耶曷阿士的儿子雅洛贝罕时代,地震前二年,见了关于以色列的神视。
惩罚阿兰
1:2 他说:「上主由熙雍一怒吼,从耶路撒冷一出声,牧场即凄凉,加尔默耳山顶即干枯。」
1:3 上主这样说:「为了大马士革再三再四犯罪,我不收回成命,因为他们用铁棍压榨了基肋阿得。
1:4 我必把火投于阿匝耳家,烧毁本哈达得的王宫。
1:5 我必打断大马士革的门闩,消灭彼卡特阿文的居民和贝特厄登的掌权者;阿兰人民必被掳往克尔──上主说。
惩罚培肋舍特
1:6 上主这样说:「为了迦萨再三再四犯罪,我不收回成命,因为他们将战俘全都掳去,卖给厄东。
1:7 我必把火投在迦萨城墙上,烧尽她的王宫。
1:8 我必消灭阿市多得的居民和阿市刻隆的掌权者,伸手打击厄刻龙,培肋舍特的残余必要灭亡」──吾主上主说。
惩罚提洛
1:9 上主这样说:「为了提洛再三再四犯罪,我不收回成命,因为他们将战俘全都卖给了厄东,毫不念兄弟的盟约。
1:10 我必把火投在提洛的城墙上,烧尽她的王宫。」
惩罚厄东
1:11 上主这样说:「为了厄东再三再四犯罪,我不收回成命,因为他们持刀追击自己的兄弟,毫无怜悯,常存怒气,永怀愤怒。
1:12 我必把火投于特曼,烧尽波责辣的王宫。」
惩罚阿孟
1:13 上主这样说:「为了阿孟子民再三再四犯罪,我不收回成命,因为他们剖开基肋阿得的孕妇,为扩展的疆土。
1:14 在作战之日的吶喊中,在风雨天的狂暴中,我必在辣巴的城墙上放火,烧尽她的王宫。
1:15 他们的君王和君王的官吏必一起被掳去」──上主说。
第二章(16)
惩罚摩阿布
2:1 上主这样说:「为了摩阿布再三再四犯罪,我不收回成命,因为他们曾将厄东君王的骨骸焚化成灰。
2:2 我必将火投于摩阿布,烧尽克黎约特的王宫;摩阿布必在骚嚷、吶喊和号角声中灭亡。
2:3 我必由其中消灭民长,将她的一切长官同她一起杀死」──上主说。
惩罚犹大
2:4 上主这样说:「为了犹大再三再四犯罪,我不收回成命,因为他们离背了上主的法律,没有遵守衪的诫命;他们祖先所追随的邪神,使他们走入了岐途。
2:5 我必把火投于犹大,烧尽耶路撒冷的王官」
惩罚以色列
2:6 上主这样说:「为了以色列再三再四犯罪,我不收回成命,因为他们为了银钱出卖义人;为一双鞋,出卖无辜的人。
2:7 他们把穷人的头踏在尘土里,侵夺卑微人的权利;儿子与父亲走近同一少女,以致亵渎了我的圣名;
2:8 他们靠近每个祭坛,躺在抵押者的衣服上,在他们的神庙内喝剥削来的酒。
2:9 是我由你们面前消灭了阿摩黎人,他们虽高大似香柏,坚固如橡树,但我仍从树上摘去了果实,由树下拔出了根子。
2:10 是我由埃及国领你们上来,四十年之久引你们经过旷野,使你们占领了阿摩黎人的国土。
2:11 是我从你们的子孙中立了一些人为先知,由你们的少年中选拔了一些人作献身者。以色列子民,是不是这样呢﹖──上主的断语。
2:12 但是,你们竟叫献身者喝酒,又吩咐先知说:「别传神言!」
2:13 看,我要使你们脚下的地摇荡,好象满载禾捆的车摇荡一样,
2:14 以致疾行者无法逃遁,强有力者无法施展,武士救不了自己,
2:15 弓手不能屹立,捷足者不能逃脱,骑马者不能自救。
2:16 在那一天,武士中最勇敢的,也仅能赤身逃走」──上主的断语。
第三章(15)
选民的责任与先知的使命
3:1 以色列子民!你们应听从上主关于你们,即关于我由埃及国领出来的全体民族所说的话:「
3:2 由世界上一切种族中,我只选择了你们,为此,我必惩罚你们的罪恶。
3:3 二人除非预约,岂能同行。
3:4 狮子若无猎物,岂能在林中咆哮﹖幼狮除非捕到食物,岂能在洞中吼叫﹖
3:5 雀鸟若无饵食,岂能落在地上﹖机槛若无所获,岂能由地上翻起﹖
3:6 如在城中吹起号角,人民岂不恐怖﹖如城里发生灾祸,岂不是上主所为﹖
3:7 的确,吾主上主若不先将自己的计划启示给自己的先知,什么也不作。
3:8 狮子咆哮了,谁不害怕﹖吾主上主发了言,谁能不传他的话﹖」
撒玛黎雅的结局
3:9 「你们要在亚述和埃及的宫殿高处宣布说:你们应聚集在撒玛黎雅山上,观看那里的混乱和其中的残暴。
3:10 他们不知行正直的事──上主的断语──只知在宫殿内积累强暴和欺压。
3:11 因此,吾主上主这样说:「敌人要围困此地,推翻你的堡垒,抢掠你的宫殿。
3:12 上主这样说:牧人怎样从样由狮子口中抢救出两条羊腿,或一块羊耳,以色列子民,即在撒玛利亚斜倚在安乐椅角上,或大马士革榻上的人,也要怎样被救出。
3:13 你们静听,并对雅各伯家作证──吾主上主万军的天主的断语──
3:14 在我惩罚以色列罪恶之日,我必毁坏贝特耳的祭坛,祭坛的角必被打落在地上。
3:15 我要破坏过冬和过夏的别墅,象牙宫也必遭毁坏,高楼大厦也必荡然无存」──上主的断语。
第四章(13)
祸哉撒玛黎雅妇女
4:1 你们这些欺压弱小,虐待穷人,且对自己丈夫说:「拿酒来,我们畅饮」的撒玛黎雅山上巴商母牛,听听这话吧!
4:2 吾主上主指着自己的神圣起誓说:「看,对付你们的日子快到,人必用钩子把你们钩去;直到你们最后一个也必被人用鱼钩钩去。
4:3 你们一个一个地经过城墙的裂口,被押到赫尔孟去」──上主的断语。
以色列因非法敬礼而受罚
4:4 「你们去贝特耳犯罪吧!去基耳加耳罪上加罪吧!每晨奉献你们的牺牲,每三天奉献你们的什一之物,
4:5 焚烧有酵供物当作感恩祭,高声宣扬你们自愿献的祭献!以色列子民,你们原喜欢这样──吾主上主的断语──
4:6 虽然我使你们一切城市饥荒,到处缺粮,但你们还是不归向我──上主的断语──
4:7 收割前三个月,我就不给你们降雨,或者在这城下雨,在另一城却不降雨;这块地得了雨,而另一块地没有得雨,因而枯干了;
4:8 两三座城的人踉踉跄跄走到另一城里去喝水,却不能喝足;虽然如此,你们还是不归向我──上主的断语──
4:9 我使热风和霉烂袭击你们,使你们的田园和葡萄园干旱;蝗虫又吃光了你们的无花果树和橄榄树,但你们还是不归向我──上主的断语──
4:10 我在你们中降下了瘟疫,如在埃及一样,用刀剑杀了你们的精兵,令人掳掠你们的战马,使你们营中腥臭扑鼻,但你们还是不归向我──上主的断语─
4:11 我倾覆了你们,像天主倾覆了索多玛和哈摩辣,你们好似由火中抽出来的木柴,但你们还是不归向我──上主的断语──
4:12 为此,以色列!我必要这样对待你。以色列!因我要这样对待你,你准备迎接你的天主罢!
4:13 看,是衪形成了山岳,创造了风暴,向人宣示衪的旨意,造成黎明和黑暗,在大地高处巡行,衪的名字叫「雅威,」万军的天主。
第五章(27)
哀吊以色列
5:1 以色列家!你们应听这话,应听我为你们唱的这首哀歌!
5:2 「以色列处女已跌倒,不能再起;摔在地上,无人搀扶。
5:3 因为吾主上主这样论以色列家说:出一千兵的城只生还一百;出一百的,只生还十个。寻求上主者生,作恶者亡。
5:4 因为上主这样对以色列家说:你们寻求我,才可生存。
5:5 不可往贝特耳求助,不可往基耳加耳,不可去巴尔舍巴,因为基耳加耳必被掳掠,贝特耳必化为乌有。
5:6 你们寻求上主,才可生存,免得衪如火冲入若瑟家中,烧毁一切,无人能为以色列家扑灭。
5:7 是衪创造了昴星和参星,变昏黑为黎明,使白昼为黑夜,召海水而倾流于地面,衪名叫「雅威。」
5:8 衪使灭亡闪击强者,使毁灭临于城堡。
5:9 凡以毒害代替公正,弃正义于地的,是有祸的!
5:10 他们憎恨在城门口主持公道的人,厌恶讲真话的人。
5:11 为此,你们既然欺压穷人,向他们横征钱粮,你们纵然用方石建筑了房屋,却不得住在里面;栽植了美丽的葡萄园,却喝不到园中的酒。
5:12 因为我知道你们罪恶多端,过犯重大:欺压义人,接受贿赂,在城门口冤枉穷人;
5:13 因此明智人在此时缄默不言,因为这是邪恶的时代。
5:14 你们应寻求善,不可寻求恶:这样你们才能生存;上主万军的天主也必与你们同在,正如你们所说的。
5:15 你们应恶恶好善,在城门口主张正义,或许万军的天主会怜悯若瑟的遗民。」
上主亲来惩罚
5:16 为此,万军的天主,吾主上主这样说:「人必在一切广场上哀悼,人必在各街道上说:哀哉!哀哉!并且召农人们来吊信,叫会哭的人来痛哭。
5:17 在所有的葡萄园中,人必哀哭,因为我要在你们中间经过」──上主说。
上主的日子
5:18 「那仰望上主日子来临的人是有祸的!上主的日子为你们有什么好处﹖那是黑暗和无光明之日,
5:19 好似人逃避了狮子,又遇到了狗熊;进到房屋里,手扶在墙上,却被蛇咬伤。
5:20 上主的日子岂不是黑暗而没有光明吗﹖那日实在幽暗而漆黑!
申斥不义者的祭献
5:21 「我痛恨厌恶你们的庆节;你们的盛会,我也不喜悦;
5:22 既使你们给我奉献全燔祭和素祭,我仍不悦纳;既使你们献上肥牲作和平祭,我也不垂顾。
5:23 让你们喧嚷的歌声远离我;你们的琴声,我也不愿再听;
5:24 只愿公道如水常流,正义像川流不息的江河!
5:25 以色列家!你们在旷野中四十年,何尝给我奉献过牺牲和素祭﹖
5:26 你们应抬着自己所造的偶像,即你们的君王撒雇特和你们的星神克汪,
5:27 因为必使你们充军到大马士革之外,」名叫「万军的天主」的上主说。
第六章(14)
斥责安享快乐的人
6:1 那些安身熙雍,自恃撒玛黎雅山,自命为诸民之首,为以色列家所归之人,是有祸的!
6:2 你们去加耳乃观察一下,从那里到大哈玛特,然后下到培肋舍特人的加特,看你们是否比这些国更好﹖或者你们的疆域比他们的更广大,
6:3 那些想避开凶日的,却接近了残暴。
6:4 他们躺在象牙床上,棋横卧在软榻上,吃着羊群中的羔羊和牛栏中的牛犊,
6:5 伴着琴声吟咏,自比达味,发明乐器,
6:6 大碗喝酒,以上等的油抹身,但对若瑟的崩溃,却漠不关心。
6:7 为此,这些人现在就要先被掳去;放荡不羁者的狂欢,也就完了。
骄奢的悲惨结局
6:8 吾主上主指着自己起誓──上主万军的天主的断语──我厌恶雅各伯的骄傲,痛恨他的宫殿;我必将城和城中所有的一切交出。
6:9 倘若在一家中留下了十个人,也必死尽。
6:10 幸免的少数亲友,由屋内抬出他们的骨骸,问那内室深处的人说:「还有人同你在一起吗﹖」他必说:「没有了。」继而说:「不要做声,千万不要提上主的名字!」
6:11 看,上主一下令,高楼大厦顿成瓦砾,矮小平房荡然无存。
6:12 马岂能在悬崖上奔驰,牛岂能在海上耕作﹖你们竟将公道变为毒药,将正义之果变为苦药!
6:13 你们为了罗德巴尔而自鸣得意,且说:「我们岂不是靠自己的力量取得了卡尔纳殷﹖」
6:14 然而,以色列家!看,我必要唤起一个民族来攻打你们,──上主万军的天主的断语──从哈玛特关口蹂躏你们直到阿辣巴河。
第七章(17)
神视一 蝗灾
7:1 吾主上主叫我看见这事:割完君王的青草,当晚草初生时,看,蝗虫出现了。
7:2 当蝗虫要吃光地上的青草时,我就说:「吾主上主,求你饶恕罢!雅各伯还怎能存在﹖他已这样弱小!」
7:3 上主对这事后悔了。上主说:「这事不会发生。」
神视二 旱灾
7:4 吾主上主叫我看见这事:看,吾主上主召来惩罚的火,烧毁了广大的深渊,又烧毁了上主的基业。
7:5 我就说:「吾主上主!求你罢休!雅各伯还怎能存在﹖他已这样弱小!」
7:6 上主对这事后悔了。吾主上主说:「这事也不会发生。」
神视三 铅垂线
7:7 吾主上主叫我看见这事:看,有一个人立在墙上,手中拿着一条铅垂线。
7:8 上主对我说:「亚毛斯,你看见了什么﹖」我答说:「一条铅垂线。」吾主说:「看,我将铅垂线安置在我民族以色列当中,我不再放过她。
7:9 依撒格的高丘必要荒芜,以色列的圣所必要废弃;我必起来用刀攻击雅洛贝罕家。」
先知被放逐
7:10 那时,贝特耳司祭阿玛责雅派人向以色列王雅洛贝罕说:「亚毛斯在以色列家中图谋背叛你,国家再不能容受他的一切言论,
7:11 因为亚毛斯这样说:雅洛贝罕必死于刀下,以色列必被掳去充军,远离本土。」
7:12 事后,阿玛责雅又向亚毛斯说:「先见者,你走吧!赶快到犹大国去,在那里糊口,在那里讲预言。
7:13 在贝特耳不可讲预言,因为这里是君王的圣所,王国的殿宇。」
7:14 亚毛斯回答阿玛责雅说:「我原不是先知,也不是先知的弟子,只是一个放羊兼修剪野无花果树的人。
7:15 但是,上主正在我赶羊时提了我来。上主对我说:你去向我的百姓以色列讲预言吧!
7:16 现今,你且听上主说什么。你说:不要讲预言攻击以色列,不要发言反对依撒格家!
7:17 为此,上主这样说:你的妻子必在城中卖淫,你的子女必丧身刀下,你的田地必被人以绳墨瓜分,你自己必死在不洁之地,以色列必被掳去充军,远离本土。」
第八章(14)
神视四 果篮
8:1 吾主上主叫我看见这事:看,有一篮熟果子。
8:2 上主说:「亚毛斯,你看见了什么﹖」我答说:「一篮熟果子。」上主又向我说:「我百姓以色列的结局已成熟,我不再放过她。
8:3 在那一天,王宫中的歌女必要哀号──吾主上主的断语──尸体成堆,拋在各处,鸦雀无声。」
斥责欺诈
8:4 压榨穷人,使世上弱小绝迹的人哪!你们应听。
8:5 你们说:「月朔几时才过去,好让我们卖五谷?安息日几时才过去,好让我们打开粮仓,缩小「厄法,」加重「协刻尔,」用假秤欺人﹖
8:6 用银钱购买穷人,以一双鞋换取贫人,连麦糠也卖掉﹖」
8:7 上主指着雅各伯的夸耀起誓说:「我永不会忘了你们的所作所为。
8:8 难道不是因此大地才震动,地上居民才悲号,全地汜滥有如尼罗,退落有如埃及大河﹖
8:9 在那一天──吾主上主的断语──我必使太阳在中午落下,使大地白昼变为黑暗;
8:10 使你们的喜庆变为丧事,使你们的一切乐曲变为哀歌,使你们都腰系苦衣,头都剃光;使你们哀悼,如哀悼独生子,使那一天绐终是愁苦的日子。
8:11 看,那日子一来临──吾主上主的断语──我必使饥饿临于此地,不是对食物的饥饿,也不是对水的饥渴,而是对听上主的话的饥渴。
8:12 他们必由这海走到那海,由北至东,去寻求上主的话,却寻不到。
8:13 那一天,美丽的处女和健壮的青年,必因饥渴而晕眩。
8:14 那些指着撒玛黎雅的罪过起誓,那些说:「丹,你的神永在,」或说:「贝尔舍巴,你的护守神永在」的人,必要跌倒,再不能起来。
第九章(15)
神视五 上主消灭恶人无一幸免
9:1 我看见吾主站在祭坛旁,击打柱帽,门限震动。衪说:「我要砍下他们众人的头,剩下的要用刀杀尽;他们中一个也逃不了,一个也不能幸免生存。
9:2 既使钻入阴府,我的手必从那里将他们揪出;既使飞上高天,我也必从那里将他们拉下;
9:3 既使藏在加尔默耳山顶,我必去搜寻,从那里将他们逮回;既使避开我的眼目逃入海底,我也必令蛟龙将他们咬死;
9:4 既使在敌人面前被掳去充军,我必命刀剑杀死他们;我的眼注视他们,是为加害,不是为祝福。」
9:5 吾主万军的上主一触摸大地,大地就溶化,地上所有的居民便都哀号,全地泛滥有如尼罗,退落有如埃及大河。
9:6 衪在高天建造了楼阁,在地上奠定了穹苍,召海水倾流于地面,衪名叫「雅威」。
9:7 以色列子民!你们对我岂不是像雇士子民﹖──上主的断语──岂不是我由埃及领出了以色列,由加非托尔领出了培肋舍特人,由克尔领出了阿兰人﹖
9:8 看,吾主上主的眼注视这犯罪的国家,我必由此地面上将她消灭。
复兴的预许
然而我不全然消灭雅各伯家──上主的断语──
9:9 看,我必下令,要在万民中如人用筛子筛以色列,不让一粒落在地上。
9:10 我百姓中那些人说:「灾祸不会临近,不会来到我们身上」的一切罪人,都要死在刀下。
9:11 在那一天,我必树起达味已坍塌的帐幕,修补它的缺口,重建它的废墟:使它重建有如往日,
9:12 使他们征服厄东的遗民和属于我名下的万民──行这事的上主的断语──
9:13 看,时日将到,──上主的断语──那时耕田的人要紧靠着收割的人,榨酒的人要紧靠着播种的人;山岭要滴下新酒,丘陵都要溶化奔流。
9:14 我必要转变我民以色列的命运,他们必要重建已荒废的城市,再住在其中;栽植葡萄园,饮其中的美酒;耕种田园,吃其中的出产。
9:15 我要将他们栽植在自己的地内,他们不会再从我赐与他们的地上被拔除──上主你的天主说。
BOOK ENDS. Seraphim, April 2009.
JB AMOS Chapter 1
Title
1:1 Words of Amos who was one of the shepherds of Tekoa. The visions he had about Israel in the time of Uzziah king of Judah and ofJeroboam[*a] son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
Introduction
1:2 He said: Yahweh roars from Zion, and makes his voice heard from Jerusalem; the shepherds’ pastures mourn, and the crown of Carmel withers.
- JUDGEMENT ON THE NEIGHBOURS OF ISRAEL AND ON ISRAEL ITSELF
Damascus
1:3 Yahweh says this: For the three crimes, the four crimes,[*b] of Damascus I have made my decree and will not relent: because they have thrashed Gilead with iron threshing-sledges,
1:4 I am going to hurl fire on the House of Hazael
1:5 to burn up Ben-hadad’s[*c] palaces; I am going to break the gate bars of Damascus, and cut down the one enthroned at Bikath-aven and thesceptred one at Beth-eden;[*d] and the people of Aram shall go captive to Kir, says Yahweh.
Gaza and Philistia
1:6 Yahweh says this: For the three crimes, the four crimes, of Gaza I have made my decree and will not relent: because they have deported entire nations as slaves to Edom,
1:7 I am going to hurl fire on the walls of Gaza to burn up her palaces.
1:8 I am going to cut down the one enthroned at Ashdod and the sceptred one at Ashkelon; I am going to turn my hand against Ekron until the last of the Philistines is dead, says Yahweh.
Tyre and Phoenicia
1:9 Yahweh says this: For the three crimes, the four crimes, of Tyre I have made my decree and will not relent: because they have deported entire nations as slaves to Edom and have not remembered the covenant of brotherhood,
1:10 I am going to hurl fire on the walls of Tyre to burn up her palaces.
Edom
1:11 Yahweh says this: For the three crimes, the four crimes, of Edom I have made my decree and will not relent: because he has persecuted his brother with the sword, stifling his pity, persistently nursing his fury and ever cherishing his rage,
1:12 I am going to hurl fire on Teman[*e] to burn up the palaces of Bozrah.
Ammon
1:13 Yahweh says this: For the three crimes, the four crimes, of the sons of Ammon I have made my decree and will not relent: because they havedisembowelled the pregnant women of Gilead in order to extend their own frontiers,
1:14 I am going to light a fire against the wall of Rabbah to burn up her palaces, to the sound of war-cries on the day of battle, amid storms on a day of hurricane;
1:15 and their king shall go into exile, he and his princes with him, says Yahweh.
JB AMOS Chapter 2
Moab
2:1 Yahweh says this: For the three crimes, the four crimes, of Moab I have made my decree and will not relent: because they have burnt the bones of the king[*a] of Edom for lime,
2:2 I am going to hurl fire on Moab to burn up the palaces of Kerioth, and Moab shall die in tumult, to the sound of war cries and the blare of trumpets;
2:3 I will cut down the chieftain inside her and slaughter all her princes with him, says Yahweh.
Judah
2:4 Yahweh says this: For the three crimes, the four crimes, of Judah I have made my decree and will not relent: because they have rejected the Law of Yahweh and failed to keep his precepts, because the false gods which their ancestors followed have led them astray,
2:5 I am going to hurl fire on Judah to burn up the palaces of Jerusalem.
Israel
2:6 Yahweh says this: For the three crimes, the four crimes, of Israel I have made my decree and will not relent: because they have sold the virtuous man for silver and the poor man for a pair of sandals,
2:7 because they trample on the heads of ordinary people and push the poor out of their path, because father and son have both resorted to the same girl,[*b] profaning my holy name,
2:8 because they stretch themselves out by the side of every altar on clothes acquired as pledges, and drink the wine of the people they have fined in the house of their god…
2:9 Yet it was I who overthrew the Amorites when they attacked, men tall as cedars and strong as oaks, I who destroyed them, both fruit above ground and root below.
2:10 It was I who brought you out of the land of Egypt and for forty years led you through the wilderness to take possession of the Amorite’s country.
2:11 I raised up prophets from your sons and nazirites from your young men. Is this not true, sons of Israel?-it is Yahweh who speaks.
2:12 But you have forced the nazirites to drink wine and given orders to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy’.
2:13 See then how I am going to crush you into the ground as the threshing-sledge crushes when clogged by straw;
2:14 flight will not save even the swift, the strong man will find his strength useless, the mighty man will be powerless to save himself.
2:15 The bowman will not stand his ground, the fast runner will not escape, the horseman will not save himself,
2:16 the bravest warriors will run away naked that day. It is Yahweh who speaks.
JB AMOS Chapter 3
- ISRAEL WARNED AND THREATENED
Election and punishment
3:1 Listen, sons of Israel, to this oracle Yahweh speaks against you, against the whole family I brought out of the land of Egypt:
3:2 You alone, of all the families of earth, have I acknowledged, therefore it is for all your sins that I mean to punish you.
The prophetic call cannot be resisted
3:3 Do two men take the road together if they have not planned to do so?
3:4 Does the lion roar in the jungle if no prey has been found? Does the young lion growl in his lair if he has captured nothing?
3:5 Does the bird fall to the ground if no trap has been set? Does the snare spring up from the ground if nothing has been caught?
3:6 Does the trumpet sound in the city without the populace becoming alarmed? Does misfortune come to a city if Yahweh has not sent it?
3:7 No more does the Lord Yahweh do anything without revealing his plans to his servants the prophets.
3:8 The lion roars: who can help feeling afraid? The Lord Yahweh speaks: who can refuse to prophesy?
Samaria will perish for her corruption
3:9 Proclaim it in the palaces of Assyria and in the palaces in the land of Egypt; saying, ‘Assemble on Samaria’s mountain and see what great disorder there is in that city, what oppression is found inside her’.
3:10 They know nothing of fair dealing-it is Yahweh who speaks-they cram their palaces full by harshness and extortion.
3:11 Therefore, the Lord Yahweh says this: An enemy[*a] is going to invade the country, your power will be brought low, your palaces looted.
3:12 Yahweh says this: Like a shepherd rescuing a couple of legs or a bit of an ear from the lion’s mouth, so will these sons of Israel be rescued, who now loll in Samaria on the corner-pillows of their divans.
Against Bethel and domestic luxury
3:13 Listen, and then testify it against the House of Jacob-it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks, the God of Sabaoth:
3:14 On the day I punish Israel for his crimes I will punish the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar are going to be broken off and dropped on the ground.
3:15 I mean to pull down both winter houses and summer houses, the houses of ivory will be destroyed, the houses of ebony will vanish. It is the Lord Yahweh who speaks.
JB AMOS Chapter 4
Against the women of Samaria
4:1 Listen to this word, you cows of Bashan living in the mountain of Samaria, oppressing the needy, crushing the poor, saying to your husbands, ‘Bring us something to drink!’
4:2 The Lord Yahweh swears this by his holiness: The days are coming to you now when you will be dragged out with hooks, the very last of you with prongs.
4:3 Out you will go, each by the nearest breach in the wall, to be driven all the way to Hermon.[*a] It is Yahweh who speaks.
The self-deception, obstinacy and punishment of Israel
4:4 Go to Bethel, and sin, to Gilgal, and sin your hardest! Offer your sacrifices each morning and your tithes on the third day,
4:5 burn leavened dough as a sacrifice with praise, announce your voluntary offerings, make them public, for this is what makes you happy, sons of Israel. It is the Lord Yahweh who speaks.
4:6 And that is why I left your teeth clean in all your towns, left you without bread in all your villages; and yet you never came back to me. It is Yahweh who speaks.
4:7 I kept your rain back with harvest still three months away; I let rain fall on one town and none on another, one field was rained on and the next dried up because I sent it no rain;
4:8 two towns, three towns, went tottering to the next for drinking-water, but their thirst had to stay unquenched; and yet you never came back to me. It is Yahweh who speaks.
4:9 I struck you with burning and scorching, and withered your gardens and vineyards; the locusts devoured your fig trees and olives; and yet you never came back to me. It is Yahweh who speaks.
4:10 I sent you a plague like Egypt’s plague; I slaughtered your young men with the sword, while your horses were captured for plunder; I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps; and yet you never came back to me, It is Yahweh who speaks.
4:11 I overthrew you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,[*b] and you were like a brand snatched from the blaze; and yet you never came back to me. It is Yahweh who speaks.
4:12 This therefore, Israel, is what I plan to do to you, and because I am going to do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God!
Doxology
4:13 For he it was who formed the mountains, created the wind, reveals his mind to man, makes both dawn and dark, and walks on the top of the heights of the world; Yahweh, God of Sabaoth, is his name.
JB AMOS Chapter 5
Lament for Israel
5:1 Listen to this oracle I speak against you, it is a dirge, House of Israel:
5:2 She is down and will rise no more, the virgin of Israel. There she lies all alone on her own soil, with no one to lift her up;
5:3 for thus says the Lord Yahweh to the House of Israel: The town which used to put a thousand in the field will be left with a hundred, and the one which used to put a hundred will be left with ten.
No salvation without repentance
5:4 For Yahweh says this to the House of Israel. Seek me and you shall live.
5:5 Do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba, since Gilgal is going to be exiled and Bethel brought to nothing.
5:6 Seek Yahweh and you shall live, or else he will rush like fire on the House of Joseph and burn it up, with none at Bethel able to put out the flames.
Doxology
5:8 It is he who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns the dusk to dawn and day to darkest night. He summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the land. Yahweh is his name.
5:9 He blazes out ruin on the stronghold and brings destruction to the fortress.
Threats
5:7 Trouble for those who turn justice into wormwood, throwing integrity to the ground;
5:10 who hate the man dispensing justice at the city gate and detest those who speak with honesty.
5:11 Well then, since you have trampled on the poor man, extorting levies on his wheat-those houses you have built of dressed stone, you will never live in them; and those precious vineyards you have planted, you will never drink their wine.
5:12 For I know that your crimes are many, and your sins enormous: persecutors of the virtuous, blackmailers, turning away the needy at the city gate.
5:13 No wonder the prudent man keeps silent, the times are so evil.
Exhortation
5:14 Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and that Yahweh, God of Sabaoth, may really be with you as you claim he is.
5:15 Hate evil, love good, maintain justice at the city gate, and it may be that Yahweh, God of Sabaoth, will take pity on the remnant of Joseph.
Impending punishment
5:16 Therefore Yahweh says this, the God of Sabaoth, the Lord. In every public square there will be lamentation, in every street wails of ‘Alas! Alas!’ Peasants will be called on to lament as well as the professional mourners
5:17 and there will be wailing in every vineyard, for I am going to pass through you, says Yahweh.
The day of Yahweh
5:18 Trouble for those who are waiting so longingly for the day of Yahweh! What will this day of Yahweh mean for you? It will mean darkness, not light,
5:19 as when a man escapes a lion’s mouth, only to meet a bear; he enters his house and puts his hand on the wall, only for a snake to bite him.
5:20 Will not the day of Yahweh be darkness, not light? It will all be gloom, without a single ray of light.
Against formalism in religion
5:21 I hate and despise your feasts, I take no pleasure in your solemn festivals.
5:22 When you offer me holocausts, ……………I reject your oblations, and refuse to look at your sacrifices of fattened cattle.
5:23 Let me have no more of the din of your chanting, no more of your strumming on harps.
5:24 But let justice flow like water, and integrity like an unfailing stream.
5:25 Did you bring me sacrifice and oblation in the wilderness for all those forty years, House of Israel?
5:26 Now you must shoulder Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your god, those idols you have made for yourselves;[*a]
5:27 for I mean to take you far beyond Damascus into exile, says Yahweh-God of Sabaoth is his name.
JB AMOS Chapter 6
Against the self-indulgent and their false sense of security
6:1 Woe to those ensconced so snugly in Zion and to those who feel so safe on the mountain of Samaria, those famous men of this first of nations to whom the House of Israel goes as client.
6:2 Make a journey to Calneh and look, go on from there to Hamath the great, then down to Gath in Philistia.[*a] Are they any better off than these kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours?
6:3 You think to defer the day of misfortune, but you hasten the reign of violence.
6:4 Lying on ivory beds and sprawling on their divans, they dine on lambs from the flock, and stall-fattened veal;
6:5 they bawl to the sound of the harp, they invent new instruments of music like David,
6:6 they drink wine by the bowlful, and use the finest oil for anointing themselves, but about the ruin of Joseph[*b] they do not care at all.
6:7 That is why they will be the first to be exiled; the sprawlers’ revelry is over.
The punishment and its horrors
6:8 The Lord Yahweh swears it by his own self-it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks, the God of Sabaoth. I detest the pride of Jacob, I hate his palaces. I mean to abandon the city[*c] and all it contains.
6:9 And if ten men are left in a single house, they shall die.
6:10 Only a few will escape to carry the bones out of the house; and if a man should say to another one in a corner of the house, ‘Is there anyone left with you?’ he will reply, ‘No! Hush! The name of Yahweh must not be mentioned.’
6:11 For see, Yahweh himself orders it; as he strikes, the great house falls to pieces, the small house crumbles.
6:12 Do horses gallop on rocks, do men plough the sea with oxen, for you to change justice into poison, and the fruit of integrity into wormwood?
6:13 You rejoice over Lo-debar,[*d] ‘Was it not by our own strength’ you say ‘that we took Karnaim?’
6:14 Now see, you House of Israel, how I am stirring up against you-it is Yahweh who speaks, the God of Sabaoth-a nation that will harry you from the Pass of Hamath right down to the wadi of the Arabah.[*e]
JB AMOS Chapter 7
III. THE VISIONS
First vision: the locusts
7:1 This is what the Lord Yahweh showed me: it was a swarm of locusts at the time when the second crop was starting to grow, a swarm of full-grown locusts, when the king’s cutting was over.
7:2 They were about to devour all the greenstuff in the land, but I said, ‘Lord Yahweh, forgive, I beg you. How can Jacob survive, being so small?’
7:3 And Yahweh relented; ‘This shall not happen’ said Yahweh.
Second vision: the drought
7:4 This is what the Lord Yahweh showed me: the Lord Yahweh himself summoning fire in punishment; it had devoured the great Abyss [*a] and was already encroaching on the land.
7:5 Then I said, ‘Stop, Lord Yahweh, I beg you. How can Jacob survive, being so small?’
7:6 And Yahweh relented; ‘This will not happen either’ said the Lord Yahweh.
Third vision: the plumb-line
7:7 This is what the Lord Yahweh showed me: a man standing by a wall, plumb-line in hand.
7:8 ‘What do you see, Amos?’ Yahweh asked me. ‘A plumb-line’ I said. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Look, I am going to measure my people Israel by plumb-line; no longer will I overlook their offences.
7:9 The high places of Isaac are going to be ruined, the sanctuaries of Israel destroyed, and, sword in hand, I will attack the House of Jeroboam.’
The intervention of Amaziah: Amos expelled from Bethel
7:10 Amaziah the priest of Bethel then sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel as follows. ‘Amos is plotting against you in the heart of the House of Israel; the country can no longer tolerate what he keeps saying.
7:11 For this is what he says, “Jeroboam is going to die by the sword, and Israel go into exile far from its country”.’
7:12 To Amos, Amaziah said, ‘Go away, seer; get back to the land of Judah; earn your bread there, do your prophesying there.
7:13 We want no more prophesying in Bethel; this is the royal sanctuary, the national temple.’
7:14 ‘I was no prophet, neither did I belong to any of the brotherhoods of prophets,’ Amos replied to Amaziah ‘I was a shepherd, and looked after sycamores:
7:15 but it was Yahweh who took me from herding the flock, and Yahweh who said, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel”.
7:16 So listen to the word of Yahweh. You say: “Do not prophesy against Israel, utter no oracles against the House of Isaac”.
7:17 Very well, this is what Yahweh says, “Your wife will be forced to go on the streets, your sons and daughters will fall by the sword, your land be parcelled out by measuring line, and you yourself die on unclean soil and Israel will go into exile far distant from its own land”.’
JB AMOS Chapter 8
Fourth vision: the basket of ripe fruit
8:1 This is what the Lord Yahweh showed me: a basket of ripe fruit:
8:2 ‘What do you see, Amos?’ he asked. ‘A basket of ripe fruit’ I said. Then Yahweh said, ‘My people Israel is ripe for destruction; I will no longer overlook its offences.
8:3 The palace singing girls will wail that day-it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks-so many will be dead, all thrown down anywhere. Hush!’
Against swindlers and exploiters
8:4 Listen to this, you who trample on the needy and try to suppress the poor people of the country,
8:5 you who say, ‘When will New Moon be over so that we can sell our corn, and sabbath, so that we can market our wheat? Then by lowering the bushel, raising the shekel, by swindling and tampering with the scales,
8:6 we can buy up the poor for money, and the needy for a pair of sandals, and get a price even for the sweepings of the wheat.’
8:7 Yahweh swears it by the pride of Jacob, ‘Never will I forget a single thing you have done’.
8:8 Is this not the reason for the earthquakes, for its inhabitants all mourning, and all of it heaving, like the Nile, then subsiding, like the river of Egypt?
Prediction of a mysterious punishment: darkness and mourning
8:9 ‘That day-it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks-I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight.
8:10 I am going to turn your feasts into funerals, all your singing into lamentation; I will have your loins all in sackcloth, your heads all shaved. I will make it a mourning like the mourning for an only son, as long as it lasts it will be like a day of bitterness.
Famine and drought of the word of God
8:11 ‘See what days are coming-it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks-days when I will bring famine on the country, a famine not of bread, a drought not of water, but of hearing the word of Yahweh.
8:12 They will stagger from sea to sea, wander from north to east, seeking the word of Yahweh and failing to find it.
Fresh prediction of punishment
8:13 That day, delicate girl and stalwart youth shall faint from thirst.
8:14 All who swear by Samaria’s Ashimah, those who swear, “By your god’s life, Dan !”[*a] and, “By your Beloved’s life, Beersheba !” these shall all fall, never to rise again.’
JB AMOS Chapter 9
Fifth vision: the fall of the sanctuary
9:1 I saw the Lord standing at the side of the altar. ‘Strike the capitals’ he said ‘and let the roof tumble down! I mean to break their heads, every one, and all who remain I will put to the sword; not one shall get away, not one escape.
9:2 Should they burrow their way down to Sheol, my hand shall haul them out; should they scale the heavens, I will drag them down;
9:3 should they hide on Carmel’s peak, there I will track them down and catch them; should they hide from my sight on the sea bed, I will tell the Dragon to bite them there;
9:4 should they go into exile driven before their enemies, I will order the sword to slaughter them there; and my eyes will be on them for their misfortune, not their good.’
Doxology
9:5 The Lord Yahweh of Sabaoth-he touches the earth and it melts, and all its inhabitants mourn; it all heaves, like the Nile, and subsides, like the river of Egypt.
9:6 He has built his high dwelling place in the heavens and supported his vault on the earth; he summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the land. Yahweh is his name.
No special privileges for Israel
9:7 ‘Are not you and the Cushites[*a] all the same to me, sons of Israel?-it is Yahweh who speaks. Did not I, who brought Israel out of the land of Egypt, bring the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Aramaeans from Kir?
9:8 Now, my eyes are turned on the sinful kingdom, to wipe it off the face of the earth.
Only sinners will perish
‘Yet I am not going to destroy the House of Jacob completely-it is Yahweh who speaks.
9:9 For now I will issue orders and shake the House of Israel among all the nations, as you shake a sieve so that not one pebble can fall on the ground.
9:10 All the sinners of my people are going to perish by the sword, all those who say, “No misfortune will ever touch us, nor even come anywhere near us”.
- PROSPECTS OF RESTORATION AND OF IDYLLIC PROSPERITY
9:11 ‘That day I will re-erect the tottering hut of David, make good the gaps in it, restore its ruins and rebuild it as it was in the days of old,
9:12 so that they can conquer the remnant of Edom and all the nations that belonged to me. It is Yahweh who speaks, and he will carry this out.
9:13 ‘The days are coming now-it is Yahweh who speaks-when harvest will follow directly after ploughing, the treading of grapes soon after sowing, when the mountains will run with new wine and the hills all flow with it.
9:14 I mean to restore the fortunes of my people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them, plant vineyards and drink their wine, dig gardens and eat their produce.
9:15 I will plant them in their own country, never to be rooted up again out of the land I have given them, says Yahweh, your God.’
END OF JB AMOS [9 Chapters].