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Chapter 1
These are the
sermons that were showed unto Amos ( which was one of the shepherds
at Thecua ) upon Israel, in the time of Osiah king of Judah, and in
the time of Jeroboam the son of Joah king of Israel, two years
before the earthquake. And he said: The Lord shall roar out of Sion,
and show his voice from Jerusalem: so that the pastures of the
shepherds shall be in a miserable cause, and the top of Charmel
dried up. Thus saith the Lord: for three and four wickednesses of
Damascus, I will not spare her: because they have threshed Galaad
with iron stales: But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael,
the same shall consume the palaces of Benadab. Thus will I break the
bars of Damascus, and root out the inhabitant from the field of Aven,
and him that holdeth the scepter, out of the pleasant house: so that
the people shall be driven out of fair Syria, saith the Lord. Thus
saith the Lord: For three and four wickednesses of Gaza, I will not
spare her: because they make the prisoners yet more captive, and
have driven them into the land of Edom. Therefore will I send a fire
in to the walls of Gaza, which shall devour their houses. I will
root out them that dwell at Asdod, and him that holdeth the scepter
of Ascalon, and stretch out mine hand over Accaron, that the remnant
of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord.
Thus saith the Lord: For three and four wickednesses of the
city of Tire, I will not spare her: because they increased the
captivity of the Edomites, and have not remembered the brotherly
covenant. Therefore will I send a fire into the walls of Tire, that
shall consume her palaces. Thus saith the Lord; For three and four
wickednesses of Edom, I will not spare him, because he persecuted
his brother with the sword, destroyed his mothers womb, bare hatred
very long, and so kept indignation always by him. Therefore will I
send a fire upon Theman, which shall devour the palaces of Bosra.
Thus saith the Lord: For three and four wickednesses of the
children of Ammon, I will not spare them: because they rip up the
women great with child in Galaad, to make the borders of their lands
that wider. Therefore I will kindle a fire in the walls of Rabbath,
that shall consume her palaces: with a great cry, in the day of
battle, in tempest and in the day of storm: So that their king shall
go into captivity, he and his princes together, saith the Lord.
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Chapter 2
Thus saith the Lord: For three
and four wickednesses of Moab, I will not spare him: because he
burned the bones of the king of Edom to ashes. Therefore will I send
a fire into Moab, which shall consume the palaces of Carioth: so
that Moab shall perish with a noise and the sound of a trumpet: I
will root out the judge from among them, and slay all his princes
with him, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord: For three and four
wickednesses of Judah, I will not spare him: because he hath cast
aside the law of the Lord, and not kept his commandments: for why?
they would be deceived with the lies, that their forefathers
followed. Therefore I will send a fire into Judah, which shall
consume the palaces of Jerusalem.
Thus saith the Lord: For three and four wickednesses of
Israel, I will not spare him: because he hath sold the righteous for
money, and the poor for shoes. They tread upon poor mens heads, in
the dust of the earth, and crook the wages of the meek. The son and
the father go to the harlot, to dishonor my holy name, they* lay
beside every alter upon clothes taken to pledge, and in the house of
their gods they drink the wine of the oppressed. Yet destroyed I the
Amorite before them, that was as high as the cedar trees, and strong
as the oaks: notwithstanding I destroyed his fruit from above and
his root from under.
Again: I brought you out of the land of Egypt, and led you
forty years through the wilderness, that ye might have the Amorites
land in possession. I raised up prophets among your children, and
abstainers among your young men. Is it not so, O ye children of
Israel, saith the Lord? But ye gave the abstainers wine to drink,
yee ye command the prophets, saying: Prophesy not. Behold, I will
crash you in sunder, like as a wagon crasheth, that is full of
sheaves: so that the swift shall not escape, neither the strong be
able to do anything: no, the giant shall not save his own life. The
archer will not abide, and the swift of foot shall not escape. The
horseman shall not save his life, and he that is manly of stomach as
the giant, shall in that day be fain to run his way naked, saith the
Lord.
* To lay beside every hill alter upon clothes taken to pledge, is ,
to serve their gods taken by extortion from the poor.
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Chapter 3
Hear, what the Lord speaketh
unto you ( O ye children of Israel ) namely, unto all the tribes,
whom I have brought out of Egypt, and said: you only have I accepted
from all the generations of the earth: therefore I will visit you in
all your wickednesses. May two walk together except they be agreed
among themselves? Doth a lion roar in the woods, except he have
prey? Or crieth a Lions whelp out of his den, except he have gotten
something? Doeth a bird fall in a snare upon the earth where no
fouler is? Taketh a man up his snare from the ground, afore he
catcheth something? Cry they out Alarm with the trumpet in the city,
and the people not afraid? Cometh there any plague in a city without
it be the Lords doing? Now doth the Lord God no manner of thing, but
he telleth his secret before unto his servants the prophets. When a
lion roareth, who will not be afraid? Seeing then that the Lord God
himself speaketh, who will not *prophecy?
Preach in the palaces at Asded, and in the palaces in the
land of Egypt, and say: Gather you together upon the mountains of
Samaria, so shall you see great murder and violent oppression among
them, for why? they regard not the thing that is right, saith the
Lord: they gather together evil gotten goods, and lay up robbery in
their houses.
Therefore thus saith the Lord God: This land shall be troubled
and besieged round about, thy strength shall be plucked from thee,
and thy palaces robbed. Thus saith the Lord: like as a herdsman
taketh two legs or a piece of an ear out of the lions mouth: Even so
shall the children of Israel ( that dwell in Samaria having their
couches in the corner, and the beds at Damascus ) shall be plucked
away. Hear, and bear recording the house of Jacob ( saith the Lord
God of hosts ), That when I begin to visit the wickedness Israel, I
will visit the alters at Bethel also: so that the horns of the alter
shall be broken off, and fall to the ground.
As for the winter house and summer house, I will smite them
down: and the houses of Ivory, yee and many other houses shall
perish, and be destroyed, sayeth the Lord.
* or receive prophesy MN
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Chapter 4
Hear this word,
ye fat cows, that be upon the hill of Samaria, yee that do poor men
wrong, and oppress the needy, yee that say to your Lords: bring
hither, and let us drink. Therefore the Lord hath sworn by his
holiness: The days shall come upon you, that ye shall be lift up
upon spears, and your posterity carried away in fishers baskets. Ye
shall get you out at the gapes one after another, and in Armon shall
ye be cast away, saith the Lord.
Ye came to Bethell for to work ungraciousness, and have
increased your sins at Galgal: ye brought your sacrifices in the
morning, and your tithes unto the third day. Ye made a thank
offering of leaven, ye promised free will offerings, and proclaimed
them. Such lust had ye, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God.
Therefore I have given you idle teeth in all your cities, and
scarceness of bread in all your places: yet will ye not turn to me,
saith the Lord. When there were but three months unto the harvest, I
withheld the rain from you: yee I rained upon one city, and not on
another, one piece of ground was moistured with rain, and the ground
that I rained not upon, was dry. Wherefore two, yee three cities
came unto one, to drink water: but they were not satisfied, yet will
ye not turn unto me, saith the Lord.
I have smitten you with drought and a blasting: and look how
many orchards, vineyards, fig trees, and your olive trees ye had:
the caterpillar hath eaten them up. But yet yee will turn unto me,
saith the Lord. Pestilence have I sent among you, as I did in Egypt:
your young men have I slain with the sword, and caused your horses
to be taken captive: I will make the stinking savor of your tents to
come up unto your nostrils: yet will ye not turn unto me, saith the
Lord. Some of you I have overthrown as I overthrew Sodom and
Gomorrah: so that ye were as a brand plucked out of the fire. yet
will ye not turn unto me, saith the Lord. Therefore thus will I
handle thee again, O Israel, ye even thus I will handle thee. Make
thee ready to meet thy God, O Israel. For lo, he maketh the
mountains, he ordereth the wind, he showeth a man what he is about
to do: he maketh the morning and the darkness, he treadeth upon the
high places of the earth: the Lord God of hosts is his name.
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Chapter 5
Hear this word, O ye house of
Israel, and why? I must make this moan for you: The virgin Israel
shall fall, and never rise up again: she shall be cast down upon her
own ground, and no man shall help her up. For thus saith the Lord
God: Where as there dwelt a thousand in one city, there shall
scarcely an hundred therin: and where there dwelt an hundred, there
shall scarce ten be left for the house of Israel. Nevertheless, thus
saith the Lord unto the house of Israel: Seek after me, and ye shall
live, but seek not after Bethel. come not at Galgal, and go not to
Bersaba: for Gilgal shall be carried away captive, and Bethel shall
come to nought. Seek the Lord, that ye may live: lest the house of
Joseph be burnt with fire and consumed, and lest there be none to
quench Bethel.
Ye turn the law into wormwood, and cast down righteousness
into the ground. The Lord maketh the seven stars and the*Orions, he
turneth the night into day, and of the day he maketh darkness. He
calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the plain
ground: the Lord is his name. He raiseth destruction upon the mighty
people, and bringeth down the strong hold: but they owe him evil
will, that reproveth them openly: and who followeth them the plain
truth, they abhor him. For so much then as ye oppress the poor, and
rob him of his best sustenance: therefore, where as ye have builded
houses of square stone, ye shall not dwell in them. Marvelous
pleasant vineyards shall ye plant, but the wine of them shall ye not
drink: and why? as for the multitude of your wickednesses and your
stout sins, I know them right well. Enemies are ye of the righteous,
ye take rewards, ye oppress the poor in judgement. Therefore that
wise must now be happy to hold his tongue, so wicked a time is it.
Seek after the thing that is good, and not evil, so shall ye
live: yee the Lord God of hosts shall be with you, according to your
own desire. Hate the evil, and love the good: set up right again in
the port: and ( no doubt ) the Lord God of hosts shall be merciful
unto the remnant of Joseph. If no (saith the Lord God, the God of
hosts) there shall be mourning in all streets, yee they shall say in
every street: alas, alas. They shall call the husband man to
lamentation, and such as can mourn to mourning. In all vineyards
there shall be heaviness, for I will come among you, saith the Lord.
Wo be unto them that desire the day of the Lord: Wherefore would ye
have it? As for the day of the Lord, it shall be dark and not clear:
Yee like as when a man runneth from a lion, and a bear meeteth him:
or when he cometh into the house, and leaneth his hand upon the
wall, a serpent biteth him. Shall not the day of the Lord be dark,
and not clear? shall it not be cloudy, and no shine in it?
I hate and abhor your holy days, and where ye cense me when ye
come together I will not accept it. And though ye offer me burnt
offerings and meat offerings, yet have I no pleasure therin. As for
your fat thank offerings, I will not look upon them. Away with the
noise of thy songs, I will not hear thy plays of your music: but see
that equity flow as water, and righteousness as a mighty stream. O
ye house of Israel, gave ye me offerings and sacrifices those forty
years long in the wilderness? yet ye set up tabernacles to your
Moloch, and images of your Idols, yee and the star of your God *Rempha,
figures which ye made to worship them. Therefore will I cause you to
be carried away beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose name is the
God of Hosts.
*Orions *A constellation in the celestial equator.
*Rempha : left out of KJV and other bibles of man, but found in Acts
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Chapter 6
O woe be to the proud wealthy in
Sion to such as think them so sure upon the mount of Samaria: which
hold themselves for the best of the world, and rule the house of
Israel, even as they jest. Go unto Calne, and see: and from then see
get you to Nemath the great city, and so go down to Gath of the
Philistines: be they better at ease than these kingdoms, or the
border of their land wider than yours? Ye are taken out for the evil
day, even ye that sit in the stole of willfulness: Ye that lie upon
beds of ivory, and use your wantonness upon your couches: ye that
eat the best lambs of the flock, and the fattest calves of the herd:
ye that sing to the lute, and in playing of instruments compare
yourselves to David: ye that drink wine out of goblets, and anoint
yourselves with the best oil, but no man is sorry for Josephs hurt.
Therefore now shall ye be the first of them, that shall be led away
captive, and the lust ye cheer of the willful shall come to an end.
The Lord God hath sworn even by himself (saith the Lord the
God of hosts), I will hate the pride of Jacob, and abhor his
palaces: and I will give over the city, with all that is therin: so
that though there remain ten men in one house, they shall die. So
their next kinfolks and the dead buryers shall take them, and carry
away their bones, and say unto him, that is in the innermost house:
is there yet any more by thee? And he shall answer: they are all
gone, hold thy tongue ( shall he say ) for they would not remember
the name of the Lord.
Behold, the Lord is minded to smite the great houses, so that
they shall decay: and that little houses, so that they shall clean a
*sunder. Who can run with horses, or plow with oxen upon the hard
rocks of stone? For why? ye have turned true judgement into
bitterness and the fruit of righteousness into worm wood: Yee even
ye , that rejoice in vain things: ye that say: have not we obtained
horns in our own strength? Well, take heed, O ye house of Israel,
sayeth the Lord God of hosts: I will bring a people upon you, which
shall trouble you, from the way that goeth toward Hemath, unto the
brook in the meadow.
*sunder.*break apart
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Chapter 7
The Lord God
showed me such a vision: behold, there stood on that made
grasshoppers, even when the corn was shooting forth, after the king
had clipped his sheep. Now when they undertook to eat up all the
green things in the land, I said: O' Lord God, be merciful, I
beseech thee: who should else help up Jacob that is brought so low?
So the Lord was gracious therin, and the Lord said: Well, it shall
not be. Again, the Lord showed me this vision: behold, the Lord God
called the fire to punish withal, and it devoured the great deep:
yee it consumed a part already. Then said I: O' Lord God hold thy
hand: who should else help up Jacob that is brought so low? So the
Lord was merciful therin, and the Lord God said: well, it shall not
be.
Moreover, he showed me this vision: behold, the Lord stood
upon a plastered wall, and a masons trowel in his hand. And the Lord
said unto me: Amos, what seest thou? I answered: a masons trowel.
Then said the Lord: behold, I will lay the trowel among my people of
Israel, and will nomore oversee them: but the high hill chapels of
Isaac must be laid waste and the churches of Israel made desolate:
and as for the house of Jeroboam, I will stand up against with a
sword. Upon this sent Amasiah the priest to Bethel unto Jeroboam the
king of Israel saying: Amos maketh the house of Israel to rebel
against thee, the land cannot away with his words. For Amos sayeth,
Jeroboam shall die with the sword, and Israel shall be led away,
captive out of their own land. And Amasiah said unto Amos: Get thee
hence ( thou that canest see so well) and flee into the land of Juda:
get thee there thy living, and prophesy there: and prophesy no more
at Bethel, for it is the kings chapel, and the kings court.
Amos answered, and said to Amasiah: As for me I am neither
prophet , nor prophets son: but a keeper of cattle. Now as I was
breaking down my mulberries, and going after cattle, the Lord took
me, and said unto me: Go thy way, and prophesy unto my people of
Israel. And therefore, bear thou now the word of the Lord: Thou
sayest: prophesy not against Israel, and speak nothing against the
house of Isaac. Wherefore thus sayeth the Lord: Thy wife shall be
defiled in the city, thy sons and daughters shall be slain with the
sword, and thy land shall be measured out with the line. Thou thy
self shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall be driven out of
his own country.
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Chapter 8
The Lord God
showed me this vision: and behold, there was a maunder with summer
fruit. And he said: Amos, what seest thou? I answered: a maunder
with summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me: the end cometh upon
my people Israel, I will no more oversee them. In that day shall the
songs of the temple be turned to sorrow, sayeth the Lord God. Many
dead bodies shall lie in every place, and be cast forth secretly.
Hear this, O ye that oppress the poor, and destroy the needy in the
lands, saying: When will the new month be gone, that we may sell
vitals, and the Sabbath, that we may have scarceness of corn: to
make the bushel less, and the Sickle greater? We shall set up false
weights, that we may get the poor under us with their money, and the
needy also for shoes: yee let us sell the chaff for corn.
The Lord hath sworn against the pride of Jacob: these works of
theirs I will never forget. Shall not the land tremble, and all they
that dwell therin, mourn for this? Shall not their destruction come
upon them like a water stream, and flow over them, as the flood of
Egypt? At the same time ( sayeth the Lord God) I shall cause the sun
to go down at noon, and the land to be dark in the clear of day.
Your high feasts will I turn to sorrow, and your songs to mourning:
I will bring sack cloth upon all backs, and baldness on every head:
yee such a mourning will I send them, as is made upon an only
begotten son, and they shall have an miserable end.
Behold the time cometh ( sayeth the Lord God ) that I shall
send an hunger into the earth: not the hunger of bread, nor the
thirst of water: but an hunger to hear the word of the Lord: so that
they shall go from one sea to the other, yee from the north unto the
east, running about to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find
it. In that time shall the fair virgins and the young men perish for
thirst, yee even they that swear in offense of Samaria, and say: as
truly as thy God liveth at Dan, and as truly as thy God liveth at
Bersaba. These shall fall, and never rise up again.
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Chapter 9
I saw the
Lord standing upon the alter, and he said: smite the door check,
that the posts may ye shake withal. For their covetousness shall
fall upon all their heads, and their posterity shall be slain with
the sword. They shall not flee away, there shall not one of them
escape, nor be delivered. Though they were buried in hell, my hand
shall fetch them from thence: though they climb up to heaven, yet
shall I cast them down: though they hide themselves upon the top of
Carmel, yet shall I seek them out, and bring them from thence:
Though they creep down from my sight in to the deep of the sea, I
shall command the serpent, even there to bite them. If they go away
before their enemies in to captivity, then shall I command the
sword, there to slay them.
Thus will I set mine eyes upon them, for their harm and not
for their wealth. For when the Lord God of the hosts toucheth a
land, it consumeth away, and all they that dwell therin, must needs
mourn: And why? their destruction shall arise as every stream and
run over them, as the flood of Egypt. He that hath his dwelling in
Heaven, and groundeth his tabernacle in the earth: He that calleth
the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the plain ground:
his name is the Lord. O ye children of Israel, are ye not unto me,
even as the Morians, sayeth the lord: have not I brought Israel out
of the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians
from Kir? Behold, the eyes of the Lord are upon the realm that
sinneth, to root it clean out of the earth: Nevertheless I will not
destroy the house of Jacob, sayeth the Lord.
For lo, this I promise: though I sift the house of Israel
among all the nations (like as they use to sift in a sieve ) yet
shall not the smallest gravel stone fall upon the earth: But all the
wicked doers of my people, that say: Tush, the plague is not so
nigh, to come so hastily upon us: those shall perish with the sword.
At that time I will build again the tabernacle of David, that is
fallen down, and hedge up his gaps: and look what is broken, I shall
repair it: Yee I shall build it again, as it was afore time, that
they may possess the remnant of Edom, yee and all such people as
call upon my name with them, sayeth the Lord, which doeth these
things.
Behold, the time cometh ( sayeth the Lord ) that the plowman
shall over take the mower, and the treader of grapes, him that
soweth seed. The mountains shall drop sweet wine, and the hills
shall be fruitful, and I will turn the captivity of my people of
Israel: they shall repair the waste cities, and have them in
possession: they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof:
they shall make gardens, and enjoy the fruits of them. And I will
plant them upon their own ground, so that I will never root them out
again from their land which I have given them sayeth the Lord thy
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