5 But don't search for me at Bethel.

Don't go to Gilgal.

Don't travel to Beersheba.

Gilgal will certainly go into exile.

Bethel will come to nothing.

6 Search for Yahweh and live!

If you don't, he will spread like a fire through the house of Joseph and burn it down.

Bethel will have no one to put it out.

7 You, Israel, turn justice into poison and throw righteousness on the ground.

8 Elohim made the constellations Pleiades and Orion.

He turns deep darkness into dawn.

He turns day into night.

He calls for water from the sea to pour it over the face of the earth.

His name is Yahweh.

9 He destroys strongholds and ruins fortresses.

10 Israel, you hate anyone who speaks out against injustice.

You are disgusted by anyone who speaks the truth.

11 You trample on the poor and take their wheat from them for taxes.

That is why you build houses from hand-cut stones, but you will not live in them.

You plant beautiful vineyards, but you will not drink their wine.

12 I know that your crimes are numerous and your sins are many.

You oppress the righteous by taking bribes.

You deny the needy access to the courts.

13 That is why a wise person remains silent at such times, because those times are so evil.

14 Search for good instead of evil so that you may live.

Then Yahweh Elohe Tsebaoth will be with you, as you have said.

15 Hate evil and love good.

Then you will be able to have justice in your courts.

Maybe Yahweh Elohe Tsebaoth will have pity on the faithful few of Joseph.

16 This is what Adonay Yahweh Elohe Tsebaoth, says: There will be loud crying in every city square, and people will say in every street, "Oh, no!"

They will call on farmers to mourn and on professional mourners to cry loudly.

17 There will be loud crying in every vineyard, because I will pass through your land with death.

Yahweh has said this.

The Terrifying Day of the LORD 18 How horrible it will be for those who long for the day of Yahweh!

Why do you long for that day?

The day of Yahweh is one of darkness and not light.

19 It is like a person who flees from a lion only to be attacked by a bear.

It is like a person who goes home and puts his hand on the wall only to be bitten by a snake.

20 The day of Yahweh brings darkness and not light.

It is pitch black, with no light.

The LORD Rejects Israel's Worship 21 I hate your festivals; I despise them.

I'm not pleased with your religious assemblies.

22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won't accept them.

I won't even look at the fellowship offerings of your choicest animals.

23 Spare me the sound of your songs.

I won't listen to the music of your harps.

24 But let justice flow like a river and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 Did you bring me sacrifices and grain offerings in the desert for 40 years, nation of Israel?

26 You carried along the statues of the god Sikkuth as your king and the star Kiyyun, the gods you made for yourselves.

27 I will send you into exile beyond Damascus, says Yahweh , whose name is Elohe Tsebaoth.

The Fall of Samaria 6 1 How horrible it will be for those who are at ease in Zion, for those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria, and for the heads of the leading nations, to whom the nation of Israel comes.

2 Go to Calneh and look.

Go from there to the great city of Hamath.

Then go to Gath, the city of the Philistines.

Are you better than these kingdoms?

Is their territory larger than yours?

3 How horrible it will be for those who think that a day of disaster is far away.

They bring the reign of violence closer.

4 How horrible it will be for those who sleep on ivory beds.

They sprawl out on their couches and eat lambs from their flocks and calves from their stalls.

5 How horrible it will be for those who make up songs as they strum a harp.

Like David, they write all kinds of songs for themselves.

6 How horrible it will be for those who drink wine by the jugful.

They rub the finest oils all over themselves and are not sorry for the ruin of the descendants of Joseph.

7 That is why they will now be the first to go into exile.

The celebrating of those sprawled around the banquet table will stop.

8 Adonay Yahweh has sworn an oath on himself.

Yahweh Elohe Tsebaoth declares: I am disgusted with Jacob's pride, and I hate his palaces.

So I will hand over the city and everything in it.

9 If ten people are left in one house, they will die.

10 If a relative or a mortician comes to take the dead bodies out of the house and asks someone who is inside the house, "Is there anyone else with you?"

that person will answer, "No."

"Hush," he will add.

"We shouldn't mention the name of Yahweh!"

11 Yahweh is going to give the command to level big houses and flatten little houses.

12 Do horses run on rocks?

Does a farmer plow the sea with oxen?

Yet, you have turned justice into something deadly and what is righteous into poison.

13 How horrible it will be for those who rejoice over Lo Debar and who say, "We were strong enough to capture Karnaim by ourselves."

14 I am going to lead a nation to attack you, nation of Israel, declares the LORD God of the Armies of the Nations.

They will oppress you from the border of Hamath to the valley of Arabah.

The LORD Threatens to Bring a Famine by Locusts 7 1 This is what Adonay Yahweh showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts when the second crop was being harvested. It was the harvest that followed the harvest for the king. 2 When the locusts had finished eating every plant in the land, I said, "Adonay Yahweh , please forgive us! How can the descendants of Jacob survive? There are so few of them."

3 Yahweh changed his plans about this. "This won't happen," Yahweh said.

The LORD Threatens to Bring a Drought by Fire 4 This is what Adonay Yahweh showed me: Adonay Yahweh was calling for judgment by fire. The fire dried up the ocean and burned up the land. 5 Then I said, "Adonay Yahweh , please stop! How can the descendants of Jacob survive? There are so few of them."

6 Yahweh changed his plans about this. "This won't happen either," Adonay Yahweh said.

The LORD Refuses to Overlook Israel's Sin 7 This is what he showed me: Adonay was standing by a wall built with the use of a plumb line, and he had a plumb line in his hand. 8 Yahweh asked me, "What do you see, Amos?"

I answered, "A plumb line."

Then Adonay said, "I'm going to hold a plumb line in the middle of my people Israel. I will no longer overlook what they have done. 9 The worship sites of Isaac will be destroyed, and the holy places of Israel will be in ruins. I will attack Jeroboam's heirs with my sword."

Amaziah Opposes Amos 10 Then Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, sent a message to King Jeroboam of Israel. It read, "Amos is plotting against you among the people of Israel. The country isn't able to endure everything he is saying. 11 Amos says that Jeroboam will be killed with a sword and that Israel cannot avoid being taken from its land into exile."

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, "You seer,a run away to Judah! Eat there, and prophesy there! 13 But don't ever prophesy again in Bethel, because this is the king's holy place and the king's palace."

14 Amos responded, "I'm not a prophet, and I'm not a disciple of the prophets. I am a rancher and a grower of figs. 15 But Yahweh took me away from herding the flock and said to me, 'Prophesy to my people Israel.'

16 "Now listen to the word of Yahweh: You said, 'Stop prophesying against Israel, and stop preaching against the descendants of Isaac.'

17 "However, this is what Yahweh says: Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will be killed with swords. Your land will be surveyed and divided up, and you will die in an uncleanb land. Israel cannot avoid being taken from its land into exile."

The End Has Come for Israel 8 1 This is what Adonay Yahweh showed me: a basket of ripe summer fruit.

2 He asked, "What do you see, Amos?"

"A basket of ripe summer fruit," I answered.

Then Yahweh said to me, "My people Israel are now ripe. I will no longer overlook what they have done. 3 On that day the songs of the temple will become loud cries," declares Adonay Yahweh . "There will be dead bodies scattered everywhere. Hush!"

4 Listen to this, those who trample on the needy and ruin those who are oppressed in the world.

5 You say to yourselves, "When will the New Moon Festival be over so that we can sell more grain?

When will the day of worship be over so that we can sell more wheat?