The Book of Amos

Literal Translation

Introduction/Foreword

The words of Amos
who was among the sheep-breeders from Tekoa
who foresaw over Israel
in the day of Uzziah king of Judah
and in the day of Jeroboam son of Joash king of Israel
two years before the presence of the quaking.

And saying:
"YHWH from Zion roars
and from Jerusalem gives his voice;
and scorches it the grazing places of feeding
and dried up the head of the Carmel."

Oracles Against Three Enemy Nations

Thus said YHWH,

"Upon three covenant-breakings of Damascus
and upon four not will cause I him to return;
Because they tread out,
as with threshing sledges of iron,
Gilead!

And sent out I fire among the family line of Hazael
and consumed it the palace of Ben-Hadad.
And shattered I
the gate-bar of Damascus,
And exterminated I
the enthroned one from the ‘Vale of Wealth’
and the holder of the scepter from the 'House of Paradise,'􏰀
and were exiled,
the people of Aram,
Kir-wards,"

declared he, YHWH.

Thus said YHWH,

"Upon three law-breakings of Gazza,
and upon four not will cause I them to return;

Because they exiled an exile complete, to the delivering up unto Edom.

And sent I fire against a wall of Gazza and she ate her fortifications.

And cut off I
the enthroned from Ash’dod
and grasper of the scepter from Ash’kelon

and caused to return I my hand over Ek’ron

and perished they,
remnant of the Philish’tines.”

Thus said YHWH,

"Upon three law-breakings of Tyre,
and upon four not will cause I him to return;

Because delivered they,
of exile complete, to Edom,

and not remembered their covenant-brothers.

And set loose I fire
among the fortifications of Tyre and ate she her citadel.

Oracles Against Familial Nations

Thus said YHWH,

"Upon three law-breakings of Edom
and upon four not will cause I him to return;

Because pursued he with the sword his brother and annihilated he his compassion
and rendered he unending his anger
and his rage kept in perpetuity.

And loosed I fire through Teman, consuming she the palaces of Bozrah."

Thus said YHWH,

"Upon three law-breakings of Ammon
and upon four not will cause I him to return; Because broke open they the pregnant of Gilead

for the sake of making large their boundary.
And kindled I fire among the fortifications of Rabbah

and consumed she her citadel with a blast in a day of battle, in a tempest in a day of storm.

And went he their king into exile, he and officers his together,"

said he, YHWH. Thus said YHWH,

"Upon three law-breakings of Moab
and upon four not will cause I him to return;

Because burned he the bones of the king of Edom to lime.

And sent I fire into Moab
and consumed her the twin citadels of the Kerioth

and perished he among the roaring, Moab, in the loud noise in the voice of the horn.

And exterminated I the judge from among her and all of officers, hers, killed I with him,"

said YHWH.

[Oracle against Judah removed]

The Ultimate Oracle Against Israel

Thus said YHWH,
"Upon three law-breakings of Israel,
and upon four not will cause I him to return; Because:

Sold they in exchange for silver the righteous and the poor for the yield of sandals.

The crushers7 against the dust of the earth with the head of the poor, and the way of the humble they stretch out against,

And a man and his father go they to the maidservant in order to profane the Name-Sacred: mine!

And upon garments pledged stretch they beside every altar
and the wine of those-fined drink they [in the]8 house of their gods.

Yet I,
annihilated I the Amorites before their face,

who were as the tallness of cedars exalted,

and strong he as the oak, and exterminated I

his fruit-from-above
and his root-from-below.

Yet I,
brought I up you all from the land of Egypt
and led I you all through the wilderness four years

to take possession of the land of the Amorite.

And establish I
from sons of you all to be prophets
and from your young men to be consecrated ones;

also is there not here son of Israel?" groan/sigh/utterance-of-YHWH.

“And gave drink you all [to] the consecrated, of wine, and toward the prophets you all commanded saying,

"[Do] not you all prophesy!" Behold!

cause I tottering underneath you all
who will her totter a rolling cart, the full one, of her reaped-grain.

And will perish in flight, of swift,
and the strong will be not-strengthened their strength

and the strong hero not allowed to escape [with his] life-breath.

And holders of the bow will not stand
and the swift of feet not allowed to escape

and the mounted of horse not allowed to escape [with his] life-breath. And mighty hearted heroes naked will flee in his the day,”

says the Lord.

Literary Translation

The oracles of Amos,
who came from Judah to prophesy in Israel.

One from among the shepherd clans of Tekoa near Jerusalem, not of the prophetic guild—a herd owner by trade.

He saw these words concerning the nation of Israel,
in the reign of King Uzziah of Judah,
in the reign of Jeroboam the son of King Joash of Israel,
two years before the great earth-quaking in the mid-8th century BC,
one generation before the destruction of Israel by Assyria.

And he called for an audience:

“YHWH roars from Mount Zion,
Thunder rolls from Jeru’Salem.
Grazing lands are scorched,
The summit of Mount Garden withers.”

YHWH's first oracle:

"Upon three crimes of Damascus of the Arameans,
even yet upon four, they shall not be restored:
They ravaged, they trampled, they threshed our happy dwelling of Gilead,
they savaged her with weighted iron teeth.

"Therefore I sent out fire, threading among the house of Haza'el, and it devoured the lofty palace halls of Ben-H'dad.

I shattered the mighty barrier gates of Damascus.

I extinguished the enthroned one of the 'Vale of Wealth', the scepter-bearer of the 'House of Paradise'.

The people of Aram are rejected, they are exiled to Kir."

The second oracle of YHWH:

"For three crimes of Gaza of the Philish'tines, even yet upon four, they shall not be restored:

For they grasped villages entire, and slaved them unto Edom for a coin.

Therefore my breath came as fire upon the wall of Gaza, And devoured her battlements.

And I severed the enthroned head of Ash'dod, the grasper of the scepter of Ash'kelon. And I removed my hand from over Ek'ron,

and the remnant of the Philish'tines perished.”

The third of three oracles of YHWH:

"For three crimes of Tyre,
even yet upon four, they shall not be restored:

They delivered an entire people as slaves to Edom, not remembering their covenant-brothers.

And my fire was loosed among the fortifications of Tyre, and it ate up her citadel.”

YHWH's second trilogy of oracles begins:

"For three covenant-breakings of your cousin Edom, even yet upon four, he shall not be restored:

He pursued his own brethren with the sword, annihilated his pity, cherished his anger continually, stoked his fury ever-burning.

“Therefore I loosed fire throughout Teman, and it consumed the palaces of Bozrah.”

YHWH's fifth oracle:

“For three covenant-breakings of your Ammonite kin, even yet upon four, they shall not be restored:

They have ripped open the child-bearers of happy Gilead, extinguishing life to extend their boundaries.

“Therefore I kindled fire among the fortifications of Rabbah, consuming her citadel with a war-cry in the day of battle,

with a howling gale in the storm-breaking day. Their king will go into exile,

he and his nobles together,”

The penultimate oracle of YHWH:

“For three covenant-breaking of your brethren Moab,
even yet upon four, they shall not be restored:

They have fire-rendered to lime the bones of the house of Edom,
to build up their own white-washed palace.

Therefore I sent a fire into Moab,
consuming the twin towers of Ke'rioth.
Moab perished under the roaring flame, with a war-cry,
with the sound of the shofar

And I exterminated the judges from among the people, and all the nobles perished,”

Thus said YHWH,

“For three rebellious acts of you yourself Israel,
even yet upon four,
you also shall not be restored!

Because you sold the honest in exchange for a little silver,
and the impoverished for the value of sandals.

You crushed the very head of the poor into the dust of the earth,
and you stretched out against the way of the humble.

A man and his father purchase the sacred prostitutes,
making unholy my Sacred Name!

And upon clothing confiscated for loans you stretch beside the altars,
and the wine taken in fines you drink in the shrines of God.

Yet I, I annihilated the Amorites before your face, who were as the tallness of cedars exalted,

and strong as the oak,
and I rotted his fruit above and his root below.

Yet I, I brought you all up from the lands of the Pharaoh, and I led you all through the wilderness for forty years

to take possession of the land of the Amorite.

And I chose from your sons to be prophets
and from your young men to be consecrated ones;
Is there not here a true son of Israel?

You forced the consecrated to drink wine,
and you commanded the prophets saying, “Do not prophesy!"

Behold!
I will overwhelm your harvest wagons,
you will break down under the crushing loads of your heaped-grain.

And your swift will perish in flight,
and your strong will be lose their strength
and even the mighty hero will not escape with his life-force!

You holders of the bow will not stand,
and you, the swift of feet, will not find escape,
and you who are mounted on warhorses will not escape with your life-force!

In this Day your own mighty-hearted-heroes will flee unarmed and naked as a babe.” 

Thus end the oracles of YHWH.