9 I looked and saw the Lord standing by the altar.
Eternal One: Strike the tops of the pillars so that the foundations shake,
and cut them off so the building crashes down upon the heads of all the people!
I will kill with the sword any who survive.
Not one of them will get away.
Not one of them will escape.
2 If they dig down to the land of the dead,
My hand will find them and pull them back up.
If they try to climb to heaven,
I will bring them back down from there.
3 If they try to hide on the summit and in the dense forests of Mount Carmel,
I will track them down and capture them.
If they try to disappear from sight in the depths of the sea,
I will send a sea monster to bite and devour them.
4 If they are taken captive by their enemies,
I will command that they be killed by the sword in their exile,
And I will fix My gaze upon them,
not for their good, but for their harm.
5 The Eternal Lord, Commander of heavenly armies—
He touches the earth and it cracks and crumbles,
and everyone upon it cries with grief.
He touches the land and it rises and falls,
falls and rises like the Nile in Egypt.
6 He builds His upper chambers in the heavens
and founds His storeroom[a] on the earth.
He calls up the waters of the sea
and pours them out across the land—
Eternal One is His name.
7 Eternal One: To Me, aren’t you like the people of Ethiopia,
overwhelmed by the powers around you,
You people of Israel?
Didn’t I bring the people of Israel from the land of Egypt,
And the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir?
8 Look! The eyes of the Eternal Lord are fixed upon your sinful kingdom,
and I will wipe it off the face of the earth.
But I will not destroy Jacob’s descendants completely.
So says the Eternal.
9 Eternal One: I will give the order,
and I will shake the nation of Israel among all the nations
The way grain is shaken in a sieve.
All the good kernels will fall to the ground,
But the rocks will stay trapped in the sieve, ready for disposal.
10 I will see all of My people who do wrong,
who say, “Nothing bad will ever happen to us.”
I will see them all fall to the sword.
11 After that happens, on the day I choose, I will rebuild
the dilapidating house of David from its ruins,
Mend the holes in it, rebuild its wreckage,
and restore it just the way it used to be.
12 Then they may possess what remains of Edom,
including every person among the outsiders who have been called by My name.[b]
13 So says the Eternal One who will make this happen.
Eternal One: The day is coming
when one following will overtake one ahead—
When the person plowing the field will overtake
the person still reaping the grain from the last season;
When the person stomping grapes will overtake
the person planting the vineyard.
And in that fertile day, new wine will drip from the mountains,
and the hills will flow with it.
14 I will restore the captives of My people, Israel.
They will rebuild their ruined cities and return to them.
They will plant new vineyards and drink wine from them,
and they will plant new gardens and eat the food they grow.
15 I will plant them in their own soil,
and they will never be uprooted again,
For this is the land I have given them.
So said the Eternal One your God.
Most of Amos’s prophecy announces doom against Israel, Judah, and her neighbors. But in these last verses, the tone of his prophecy changes. He foresees a day when divine judgment will give way to restoration. According to the prophet, David’s dynasty will be reinstated and the divided people of God will once again be united. A glorious age will then arrive when their enemies are defeated, their devastated cities are bustling and thriving again, and their farmers and vintners can’t keep up with the abundance of food and wine. When that day comes, the people will experience the fruit of God’s salvation.
Footnotes
- 9:6 Meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
- 9:11–12 Acts 15:16–17