Amos 3

Listen to this message that the LORD has spoken against you, people of Israel. It is against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt. This is what he says:

1Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,

NoteThe family "brought up out of the land of Egypt" is the whole nation descended from Jacob, whose founding story was escape from slavery in Egypt into the land of Canaan. By Amos's day (about the eighth century BC) that nation had split in two: the northern kingdom, called Israel, with its capital at Samaria, and the southern kingdom, Judah, with its capital at Jerusalem. Amos is addressing the northern kingdom.

2Out of all the families on earth, you are the only one I have known in this way. So I will punish you for all the wrong you have done.

2You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

Note"Known" translates a Hebrew verb whose range runs from knowing about something to acknowledging someone as your own, singling one party out for a close, formal, binding relationship. It does not mean God was unaware other nations existed.

3Can two people walk together unless they have agreed to?

3Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

NoteVerses 3 to 8 are a chain of questions, each expecting an obvious answer of yes or no. Each one pairs a thing you can observe with the cause that must lie behind it: you do not get the one without the other.

4Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Does a young lion growl in his den if he has caught nothing?

4Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?

5Can a bird be caught in a trap on the ground if no trap was set for it? Does a trap snap shut from the ground when it has caught nothing at all?

5Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?

NoteThe Hebrew trapping terms here are uncertain. The word behind "trap set for it" may mean the bait, or the throwing-stick that sprang a net. The picture in both halves of the verse is a bird-net that does not close on nothing.

6If the alarm trumpet sounds in a city, do the people not shake with fear? If disaster comes to a city, has the LORD not brought it?

6Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

NoteThe trumpet is the shofar, a ram's horn. It was sounded from the walls as a public alarm when an enemy force was sighted, so hearing it meant an attack was already coming. "Disaster" translates a Hebrew word that covers both moral wrongdoing and physical calamity; here it means calamity (war, siege, plague, famine), not wickedness. The older King James word "evil" misleads modern readers on this point.

7The Lord GOD does nothing at all without first telling his plan to his servants the prophets.

7Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

NoteThe King James "secret" is a Hebrew word for the private council of a king: the inner circle where plans are settled before being made public. The picture is of decisions passed on to the prophets in advance of their being carried out.

8The lion has roared. Who will not be afraid? The Lord GOD has spoken. Who can do anything but speak his message?

8The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?

Note"Prophesy" here means speaking aloud a message one has been given, not chiefly foretelling the future. The comparison is that a prophet can no more stay silent after God speaks than a person can stay calm when a lion roars nearby.

9Announce this at the strongholds of Ashdod and at the strongholds in the land of Egypt. Say: Gather on the hills around Samaria. Look at the great uproar inside her, and at the people being crushed there.

9Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.

NoteAshdod was one of the five main Philistine cities, on the coast southwest of Israel; Egypt was the old imperial power to the south. Both were foreign nations with no stake in Israel's own religion, and they are summoned to stand and watch, as onlookers or witnesses. (Some ancient Greek copies read "Assyria" rather than "Ashdod.") Samaria, Israel's capital, stood on a hill ringed by higher ground, so spectators on those hills would be looking down into the city. "Strongholds" (King James "palaces") translates a word for the fortified great house of a ruler or wealthy family, part residence, part treasury, part citadel.

10They do not know how to do what is right, says the LORD. They pile up in their strongholds the goods they took by violence and robbery.

10For they know not to do right, saith the LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.

11So this is what the Lord GOD says: An enemy will surround the land. He will pull down your defenses, and your strongholds will be looted.

11Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.

12This is what the LORD says: A shepherd may pull two leg bones or a scrap of an ear from a lion's mouth. That is how much will be saved of the Israelites who live in Samaria, sitting in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus on a couch.

12Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.

NoteShepherds were held liable for animals lost from a flock, and a shepherd could clear himself of the charge of stealing one by producing the remains, a couple of leg bones or a torn ear, as proof that a predator had taken it. The rescued scraps are worthless; they only show the animal is gone. The Hebrew of the last clause is obscure. The words rendered "corner of a bed" and "in Damascus on a couch" may describe expensive furniture, and the word read as "Damascus" may instead be the name of a fabric or a part of a couch.

13Listen, and speak out as a witness against the family of Jacob, says the Lord GOD, the God of armies.

13Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,

Note"The house of Jacob" means the descendants of Jacob, that is, the nation, "house" in the sense of household or family line. "God of hosts" (rendered here "God of armies") is a standing title; "hosts" translates a word for massed ranks, understood variously as Israel's fighting men, the heavenly powers, or the stars.

14On the day I punish Israel for their sins, I will also punish the altars at Bethel. The horns of the altar will be cut off and will fall to the ground.

14That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.

NoteBethel was the chief royal sanctuary of the northern kingdom, set up by its kings so that worshipers would not travel south to Jerusalem. The horns were four projections, one at each upper corner of the altar; blood from sacrifices was smeared on them, and a person in danger of death could claim protection by taking hold of them. Cutting them off puts the altar out of use and removes that refuge.

15I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house. The houses decorated with ivory will be destroyed, and the great houses will come to an end, says the LORD.

15And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD.

NoteWealthy Israelites kept two residences, a sheltered one for winter and a cooler one for summer. "Houses of ivory" refers to buildings and furniture faced with carved ivory panels, a display of great wealth; carved ivory of exactly this kind has been dug up at Samaria.