Shared Word Translation
Amos 4
Hear This Word, Cows of Bashan
Hear this word,
cows of Bashan
who are on the mountain of Samaria,
who oppress the poor,
who crush the needy,
who say to their husbands,
“Bring, so that we may drink!”
The Lord GOD has sworn
by his holiness:
Look, days are coming upon you
when they will take you away with hooks
and the last of you
with fishhooks.
You will go out through breaches,
each woman straight ahead,
and you will be cast out toward Harmon,
says the LORD.
Come to Bethel and Transgress
Come to Bethel and transgress;
at Gilgal multiply transgression.
Bring your sacrifices in the morning,
your tithes every three days.
Burn a thanksgiving offering with leaven
and proclaim freewill offerings;
make them known,
for so you love to do,
children of Israel,
says the Lord GOD.
Yet You Did Not Return to Me
I also gave you cleanness of teeth
in all your cities
and lack of bread
in all your places;
yet you did not return to me,
says the LORD.
I also withheld the rain from you
when there were still three months until harvest.
I made it rain upon one city
and did not make it rain upon another city.
One field was rained upon,
and the field on which it did not rain
dried up.
Two or three cities wandered
to one city to drink water
and were not satisfied;
yet you did not return to me,
says the LORD.
I struck you with blight and mildew.
The locust devoured
the multitude of your gardens,
your vineyards,
your fig trees,
and your olive trees;
yet you did not return to me,
says the LORD.
I sent among you a plague
like the plague of Egypt.
I killed your young men with the sword,
along with the capture of your horses.
I made the stench of your camp
rise into your nostrils;
yet you did not return to me,
says the LORD.
I overthrew some among you
as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and you were like a burning stick
snatched from the fire;
yet you did not return to me,
says the LORD.
Prepare to Meet Your God
Therefore thus I will do to you, Israel.
Because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, Israel!
For look,
the one who forms the mountains
and creates the wind,
who declares to humanity
what his thought is,
who makes dawn into darkness
and treads upon the heights of the earth—
the LORD, the God of Hosts,
is his name.