This book is the account of Amos foretelling about God punishing Israel and Judah and other nations, and restoring Israel and Judah. We call this book

Amos

1

1This is the message that Yahweh gave to me, Amos. I am a ◄shepherd/man who takes care of sheep►. I am from near Tekoa town south of Jerusalem. I received this message about Israel in a vision two years before the big earthquake. It was when Uzziah was the king of Judah, and Jeroboam, the son of King Jehoash, was the king of Israel.

2This is what Yahweh said:

“I will roar like a lion [MET];

when I speak from Zion Hill in Jerusalem [DOU], my voice will resemble the sound of thunder.

When that happens, the pastures where you shepherds take care of your sheep will dry up,

and the grass on top of Carmel Mountain will ◄wither/become brown►

because I will cause that no rain will fall.”

Yahweh will punish Syria

3This is also what Yahweh said to me:

“I will punish the people of Damascus, the capital of Syria, because of the many sins that they have committed;

I will not change my mind about punishing them [MTY],

because the cruel things that they did to the people of the Gilead region

were like [MET] people threshing grain using sledges that have ◄iron teeth/sharp iron nails► in them.

4I will cause a fire to burn the palace that King Hazael built and lived in,

the fortress where his son King Ben-Hadad also lived.

5I will cause the gates of Damascus to be broken down;

I will get rid of the king who rules in Aven Valley

and the one who rules in Beth Eden.

And the people of Syria will be captured and taken to the Kir region where they originally lived.”

Yahweh will punish Philistia

6Yahweh also said this to me:

“I will punish the people of the cities in Philistia:

I will punish the people of Gaza city because of the many sins that they have committed;

I will not change my mind about punishing them,

because they captured large groups of people and took them to Edom

and sold them to become the slaves of the people of Edom.

7I will cause a fire to completely burn the walls of Gaza

and also destroy its fortresses.

8I will get rid of the king of Ashdod city

and the king who rules [MTY] in Ashkelon city.

I will also strike/punish the people of Ekron city,

and all the people of Philistia who are still alive will be killed.”

Yahweh will punish Tyre

9Yahweh also said this to me:

“I will punish the people of Tyre city because of the many sins that they have committed;

I will not change my mind about punishing them,

because they also captured large groups of our people and took them to Edom,

disregarding the treaty of friendship that they had made with your rulers.

10So I will cause a fire to completely burn the walls of Tyre

and also destroy its fortresses.”

Yahweh will punish Edom

11Yahweh also said this to me:

“I will punish the people of Edom because of the many sins that they have committed;

I will not change my mind about punishing them,

because they pursued the people of Israel, who descended from Esau’s brother Jacob, and killed them with swords;

they did not act mercifully toward them at all.

They were extremely angry with the people of Israel,

and they continued to be angry with them.

12I will cause a fire to burn Teman district in Edom

and completely burn the fortresses of Bozrah, the biggest city in Edom.”

Yahweh will punish Ammon

13Yahweh also said this to me:

“I will punish the people of Ammon because of the many sins that they have committed;

I will not change my mind about punishing them,

because their soldiers even ripped open the bellies of pregnant women

when their army attacked the Gilead region to gain more territory.

14I will cause a fire to completely burn the walls around Rabbah city

and completely burn its fortresses.

During that battle, their enemies will shout loudly

and the fighting will be like [MET] a fierce/raging wind/storm.

15After the battle, the king of Ammon and his officials will be ◄exiled/forced to go to another country►.”

2

Yahweh will punish Moab

1Yahweh also said this:

“I will punish the people of Moab because of the many sins that they have committed;

I will not change my mind about punishing them,

because they dug up the bones of the king of Edom and burned them completely,

with the result that the ashes became as white as lime.

2So I will cause a fire to completely burn the fortresses of Kerioth city in Moab.

People will hear soldiers shouting and blowing trumpets loudly

while I am causing Moab to be destroyed

3and while I am getting rid of its king and all its leaders.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it!”

Yahweh will punish Judah

4Yahweh also said this:

“I will also punish the people of Judah because of the many sins that they have committed;

I will not change my mind about punishing them,

because they have rejected what I taught them

and they have not obeyed my commands.

They have been deceived and persuaded to worship false gods,

the same gods that their ancestors worshiped.

5So I will cause a fire to completely burn everything in Judah, including the fortresses in Jerusalem.”

Yahweh will punish Israel

6Yahweh also said this:

“I will punish the people of Israel because of the many sins that they have committed;

I will not change my mind about punishing them,

because they sell righteous people to get a small amount of silver;

they sell poor people, causing them to become slaves,

getting for each of them only the amount of money with which they could buy a pair of sandals.

7It is as though they trample the poor people into the dirt

and do not allow those who are helpless to be treated fairly.

Men and their fathers dishonor me [MTY] by both having sex [EUP] with the same slave girl.

8When poor people borrow money,

the lenders force those people to give to them a piece of clothing for them to keep until he can pay back the money.

But at the end of each day, instead of returning that garment as Yahweh had commanded them to,

they lie down on that garment at the places where they worship their gods!

They fine people,

and with that money they buy wine and drink it in the temples of their gods!

9Long ago, to assist your ancestors, I got rid of the Amor people-group.

They seemed to be as tall as cedar trees

and as strong as oak trees,

but I got rid of them completely,

as easily as someone cuts off [MET] the branches of a tree and then digs out all its roots.

10I brought your ancestors out of Egypt,

and then I led them through the desert for 40 years.

And then I enabled them to conquer/possess the Amor area.

11I chose some of you Israelis to be prophets,

and I chose others to be Nazir-men who were completely dedicated to me.

You people of Israel certainly [RHQ] know that what I have said is true!

12But you commanded the prophets to not speak the messages that I gave to them,

and you persuaded the Nazir-men to drink wine,

which I told them never to do.

13So I will crush you

like [SIM] the wheels of a wagon that is loaded with grain crushes whatever it rolls over.

14Even if you run fast,

you will not escape;

even if you are strong, it will be as though you are weak,

and warriors will be unable to save themselves.

15Even if you are able to shoot arrows well,

you will be forced to retreat [LIT];

even if you run fast or if you ride away on a horse,

you will not be able to save yourself.

16Even warriors who are very brave will drop their weapons

when they try to flee on the day that I get rid of them.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.”

3

Yahweh warned the Israeli people

1“You people of Israel, I brought all your ancestors out of Egypt;

so listen to what I am saying about you.

2From all the people-groups on the earth,

I chose and took care of only you.

That is the reason that I will punish you

for the sins that you have committed.”

The prophets’ task

3Two people certainly cannot [RHQ] walk together

if they have not already agreed about what place they will start walking from.

4A lion certainly does not [RHQ] roar in the bushes/forest

if it has not killed another animal.

It does not [RHQ] growl in its den

if it is not eating the flesh of an animal that it has caught.

5No one can [RHQ] catch a bird

if he does not set a trap for it.

A trap does not spring shut

unless some animal has not sprung the trap.

6Similarly, all the people in a city certainly [RHQ] become afraid

when they hear someone blowing a trumpet

to signal that enemies are attacking.

And when a city experiences disaster,

Yahweh is the one who has caused it [RHQ].

7And whatever Yahweh plans to do,

he tells his prophets about it.

8Everyone certainly becomes terrified [RHQ] when they hear a lion roar,

and if Yahweh the Lord has given messages to prophets like me,

we certainly must [RHQ] proclaim those messages,

even if they cause people to become terrified.

Yahweh will punish Samaria

9I said this to the leaders of Samaria (OR, Yahweh said this to me):

Send this message to the leaders [MET] in Ashdod city and to Egypt:

“Come to the hills of Samaria

and see the way that their ◄leaders/wealthy people► are causing people in that city to be terrified,

and the way that they are causing the people to suffer!”

10Yahweh says that the people there do not know how to do things that are right.

Their homes are filled with valuable things that they have stolen or taken violently from others.

11So Yahweh our God says that soon their enemies will come

and tear down their ◄defenses/high city walls►

and take away those valuable things.

12Yahweh has declared this:

“When a lion attacks a sheep,

sometimes a shepherd will be able to snatch from the lion’s mouth

only two legs or an ear of the sheep.

Similarly, only a few people from Samaria will escape,

and they will be able to rescue only a part of a couch and a part of a bed.”

13The Commander of the armies of angels said this:

“Proclaim this message about the descendants [MTY] of Jacob:

14When I, Yahweh, punish the people of Israel

because of the sins that they have committed,

I will cause the altars at Bethel town to be destroyed;

even the projections at the corners of the altars will be cut off and fall to the ground.

15I will cause the houses that they live in during the ◄winter/rainy season► and those in which they live during the ◄summer/dry season► to be torn down.

Beautiful big houses and houses that are decorated with ivory will be destroyed.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it!”

4

The Israelis have not returned to God

1You wealthy women of Samaria have grown fat like [MET] the fat cows of the Bashan region.

You oppress poor people

and you cause needy people to suffer.

And you say to your husbands,

“Bring us more wine to drink!”

2But Yahweh our God has said this:

“Because I am holy, I solemnly promise this:

It will soon be the time when you all will be taken to another country;

your enemies will take you away as though they are’add* using sharp hooks [DOU] to grab you.

3Your enemies will drag you out through breaks/holes in your city walls,

and they will throw you outside the city.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it!

4Go to Bethel and Gilgal towns where many people worship me

and sin more and more [SAR]!

I say that not because I want you to do it,

but because it is what you have always been doing!

Offer sacrifices on the morning after you arrive,

and bring me ◄a tithe/one tenth► of your crops the next day.

5Bring offerings of bread to thank me,

and other offerings that are not required/commanded,

and boast about these offerings that you bring,

because that is what you like to do,

but you do it to impress others, not to please me.

That is certainly true, because I, Yahweh, have said it.

6I am the one who caused there to be no food in any of your cities and towns [DOU],

but you rejected me in spite of that.

7When it was still three months before the time of harvesting crops,

at the time when your crops needed rain the most,

I prevented rain from falling.

Sometimes I allowed rain to fall on some towns

and prevented it from falling on other towns.

Rain fell on some fields,

but it did not fall on other fields,

with the result that the soil in those fields where it did not rain dried up.

8People would stagger from one town to another town to find water,

but they could not even get enough water to drink,

but in spite of that, you have not returned to me.

That is certainly true because I, Yahweh, have said it!

9I caused your grain fields to dry up;

I caused your gardens and vineyards to be struck/destroyed by ◄blight/hot winds► and mildew.

I sent locusts to eat the leaves on your fig trees and olive trees,

but in spite of that, you rejected me.

That is certainly true because I, Yahweh, have said it!

10I caused you to experience ◄plagues/severe sicknesses►

like the plagues that I sent to the people of Egypt.

I caused many of your young men to die in battles.

I allowed your enemies to capture your horses.

Many of your soldiers were killed,

and I caused your camps to be filled with the smell/stink of their decaying corpses.

But in spite of that, you rejected me.

That is certainly true, because I, Yahweh, have said it!

11I got rid of many of you,

like I got rid of the people in Sodom and Gomorrah.

Those of you who did not die were like [SIM] a burning stick that was snatched from a fire so that it would not burn completely.

But in spite of that, you rejected me.

That is certainly true, because I, Yahweh, have said it!

12So now, you people of Israel, I am going to punish you.

Prepare to stand in front of me, your God, when I judge you!

13I created the mountains,

and I created winds.

I reveal to humans what I am thinking.

I sometimes cause the daylight to become dark like the night.

I rule over everything;

I even walk on the highest mountains on the earth!

I am the Commander of the armies of angels!”

5

The people of Israel must repent

1You people [MTY] of Israel, listen to this funeral song that I will sing about you:

2“You are like [MET] a young woman,

but in spite of that, you will certainly be struck down

and you will never get up again!

You will lie on the ground, abandoned,

and there will be no one to help you stand up.”

3This is what Yahweh the Lord says to the people [MTY] of Israel:

“When your enemies attack you,

and when 1,000 of your soldiers will go to a battle,

there will be only 100 who will survive.

When 100 soldiers march out from a city to fight,

there will be only ten who will remain alive.”

4Yahweh continues to say to the people [MTY] of Israel:

“You Israeli people, return to me!

If you do that, you will continue to remain alive.

5Do not go to Bethel to seek my help;

do not go to Gilgal to worship;

do not even go to Beersheba,

because your enemies will drag away the people of Gilgal to other countries,

and Bethel will be completely destroyed.”

6So, come to Yahweh;

if you do that, you will remain alive.

If you do not do that,

Yahweh will descend on you descendants [MTY] of Joseph like [SIM] a fire;

that fire will burn everything in Bethel,

and ◄nothing/no one► will be able to save that town.

7You people distort what is fair/right and cause people to think that it is something that is very bitter;

you treat good things as though they are evil.

8Do you know who created all the groups of stars

and put them in their places?

Each morning he causes the darkness to become the dawn,

and each evening he causes the daylight to become darkness.

He scoops up water from the oceans to become clouds,

and then he dumps the water from the clouds onto the earth.

The one who does those things is named Yahweh.

9He causes strong soldiers to be killed,

and causes the ◄high walls around/fortresses of► cities to be torn down.

10He is the one who will punish you

because you hate those who challenge anyone who tries to make unjust decisions,

and you hate those who tell the truth in your courts.

11You oppress poor people and force them to pay big taxes.

You have built big stone mansions for yourselves,

but you will not be able to live in them.

You have planted vineyards,

but there will not be any grapes for you to harvest to make wine.

12I know all of your sins

and the terrible crimes that you have committed.

You oppress righteous/honest people,

and you accept bribes.

You do not allow judges to treat poor people justly.

13This is a time when many people do evil things,

so people who have good sense say nothing when they hear about such things being done.

14In order to remain alive,

you must stop doing what is wrong, and start doing what is right.

If you do that, the Commander of the armies of angels will be with you

like you claim that he always is.

15Love what is good, and hate what is evil!

Try to cause judges in your courts to make decisions that are right/fair!

If you do those things, perhaps the Commander of the armies of angels

will act mercifully toward you descendants of Joseph who are still alive.

16“Because I, Yahweh, will punish you for your sins, this is what I have solemnly declared:

People will be wailing loudly in every street,

and people will be very sorrowful in every plaza.

Farmers will be summoned to come and weep,

along with the other official mourners who will wail for those who have died.

17People will be wailing in your vineyards,

because I will punish you [IDM] severely.

That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it!”

The day of punishment

18Terrible things will happen to you who desire that it will soon be the day when Yahweh will punish your enemies,

because that will be a day of darkness, not of light.

19At that time, when you try to run from a lion,

you will face a bear.

When you run into your house to be safe,

and you put your hand on a wall,

it will be bitten by a snake.

20That day, when he punishes people, will certainly be [RHQ] a very dark day [MET],

without even a little bit of light.

21Yahweh says, “I hate your religious celebrations

and the times when you gather to worship me;

I detest them [DOU].

22Even if you bring me offerings that will be completely burned on the altar and offerings of grain,

I will no longer accept them.

Even if you bring me offerings to renew/maintain fellowship with me,

I will not pay any attention to them.

23So, stop singing noisy/loud songs!

I will not listen when you play harps.

24Instead, your continually acting justly/fairly and righteously should be never stop,

like [SIM] the water in a river that never stops flowing.

25You Israeli people [MTY], your ancestors wandered through the desert for 40 years;

and during that time, they never brought any sacrifices and offerings to me!

26But they carried the two idols that they had made—

the idols of Succoth, the god that they considered to be their king,

and Kaiwan, the image of the star that they worshiped.

27Therefore, now I will force you to go to a country that is far beyond Damascus!

That will surely happen because I, the Commander of the armies of angels, have said it!”

6

Israel will be punished

1Terrible things will happen to you people in Jerusalem who are not worried about anything,

and also to you leaders who live on Samaria Hill who think that you are safe.

You think that [IRO] you are the most important people in the world,

people to whom Israeli people [MTY] go to get help.

2But go to Calneh city and see what happened there.

Then go to see the great city Hamath and see what happened there.

Then go down to Gath city in Philistia and see what happened to their city walls.

Your land/country is certainly not [RHQ] larger or more powerful than their countries were,

but they were all destroyed.

3You are trying to not think about a day when you will experience disasters,

when your enemies will come and violently attack you.

4You lie on beds decorated with expensive ivory,

and on soft couches.

You eat the tender meat of lambs

and fat calves.

5You create/compose new songs

and play them on your harps like King David did.

6You drink entire bowlfuls of wine

and you put expensive oils/perfumes on your bodies,

but you do not grieve about your country of Israel [MTY], which is about to be destroyed.

7Your feasting and lounging on soft couches will soon end,

and you will be among the first ones to be forced by your enemies to go ◄into exile/to another country►.

Yahweh detests the Israelis for being very proud

8Yahweh the Lord has solemnly declared this:

“I hate the people of Israel because they are very proud;

I detest their fortresses.

I will enable their enemies to capture their capital city

and everything in it.”

9When that happens, if there are ten people in one house, they will all die. 10If a relative who ◄has the task of/is responsible for► burning their corpses comes to the house and inquires of anyone who is still hiding there, “Is there anyone here with you?”, and that person replies “No,” the one who inquired will say, “Be quiet! We must not mention the name of Yahweh, lest he cause us also to be killed!”

11Terrible things like that will happen because Yahweh has commanded that large houses in Israel must be smashed into pieces,

and small houses must be smashed into tiny bits.

12Horses certainly do not [RHQ] run on big rocks,

and certainly people do not [RHQ] plow the sea with oxen.

But you have done things that no one should do:

You have distorted what is fair/right and caused it to be considered like poison [MET];

you have changed what is right and consider it to be like things that are bitter.

13You are proud because you have captured Lo-Debar town,

and you have said, “We captured Karnaim by our own power!”

14But the Commander of the armies of angels declares,

“I will cause another nation to attack you people [MTY] of Israel;

they will ◄oppress you/cause you to suffer► all the way from Hamath Pass in the northwest

to the Dead Sea in the southeast.”

7

Visions that Yahweh gave to Joel

1Yahweh our God showed me in a vision that he was going to send locusts to destroy our crops. It was going to happen right after the king’s share of the hay had been harvested/cut and before the rest of the hay was ready to be harvested. 2And in the vision I saw those locusts come, and they ate everything that was green. Then I cried out, “Yahweh our Lord, please forgive us! We Israeli people are very helpless; ◄how will we be able to survive [RHQ]?/we willnot be able to survive!►”

3So Yahweh changed his mind and said, “That will not happen.”

4Then this is what Yahweh our Lord showed me in another vision: He was calling to a fire to come and punish his people. In the vision I saw that the fire dried up the ocean and also burned everything on the land. 5Then I cried out again, “Yahweh our Lord, I plead with you, please stop this! We Israeli people are very helpless; how will we be able to survive [RHQ]?”

6So Yahweh changed his mind again, and said, “That also will not happen.”

7Then Yahweh showed me another vision. I saw him standing beside a wall. It was very straight because it had been built using a ◄plumb line/cord with a weight on one end to determine if walls are vertically straight►. Yahweh had the plumb line in his hand. 8Yahweh asked me, “Amos, what do you see?”

I replied, “A plumb line.”

Then Yahweh said, “Look, I am going to use a plumb line among my Israeli people, to show that they are like a wall that is not straight. I will not change my mind again about punishing them.

9The places on hills where the descendants of [MTY] Isaac worship idols will be destroyed.

And the other important shrines in Israel will also be destroyed.

And I will enable your enemies to attack your people with swords

and they will get rid of King Jeroboam and all his descendants.”

Amaziah criticized Amos

10Then Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, sent a message to Jeroboam, the King of Israel. In the message he said, “Amos is plotting against you among the Israeli people [MTY]. I am worried that the people of this country will not be able to refute his words. 11This is what he is saying:

‘Jeroboam will soon be killed by someone using a sword,

and the people of Israel will be ◄exiled/forced to leave their land and go to another country►.’”

12Then Amaziah came to me and said, “You prophet, get out of here! Go back to the country of Judah! Earn money to buy food to be able to live there, and do your prophesying there! 13Do not prophesy anymore here at Bethel, because this is where the national temple, the king’s temple, is!”

14I replied to Amaziah, “I was previously not a prophet, and my father was not a prophet; I was a shepherd. I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. 15But Yahweh took me away from taking care of my sheep, and he said to me, ‘Go to Israel and prophesy to my people there!’

16You said to me, ‘Do not prophecy saying terrible things will happen to the people of Israel;

stop saying those things!’

17Therefore listen to what Yahweh says about you:

‘Your wife will become a prostitute in this city,

and your sons and daughters will be killed by your enemies’ swords.

Others will measure your land

and divide it up among themselves;

and you yourself will die in a foreign country.

And the people of Israel will certainly be forced to leave their country and go ◄into exile/to live in another country►.’”

8

A vision of ripe fruit

1Yahweh showed me in a vision a basket full of ripe fruit. 2He asked me, “Amos, what do you see?”

I replied, “A basket of very ripe fruit.”

He said, “That indicates that it almost the end for my Israeli people. I will not change my mind again about punishing them.

3Soon, instead of singing in the temple, they will be wailing. There will be corpses everywhere [HYP]. So, remain silent (OR, Everyone will be silent). These things will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it!”

Israel will be destroyed

4It is as though you people trample on needy people,

and you destroy the poor people.

5You habitually say,

“We wish that [RHQ] the new moon festival would end soon,

in order that restrictions on doing business during the festival will be ended

and we can sell grain.

We wish that the Sabbath would end soon,

in order that we will again be permitted to sell our wheat”—

and when you sell it,

you charge a big price for it,

and you cheat people by using scales that do not weigh correctly.

6You sell wheat that you have swept up from the floor, and as a result it is mixed with dirt.

Those who are needy and poor [DOU] and who do not have money to buy things,

you cause them to become your slaves

by buying them with the small amount of silver with which you could buy a pair of sandals!

7Yahweh has declared, “Although you are very proud of being descendants [MTY] of Jacob, I solemnly declare that I will not forget the evil things that you have done.

8Because of those evil things, your country will certainly [RHQ] soon be shaken,

and all of you will mourn.

It will be as though it will repeatedly rise and fall

like [SIM] the Nile River that gets full of water and overflows it banks

and then settles back into its riverbed.

9On the day when I punish my people,

I will cause the sun to set at noontime,

and the entire earth will be dark in the daytime.

10I will cause your religious celebrations to become times when you mourn;

instead of singing, everyone will be weeping.

Because of what I will do, all of you will wear rough sackcloth and shave your heads

to show that you are sorrowing.

I will cause that time to be like when people mourn after an only son has died.

All of you will be extremely sad all of that day.”

11And Yahweh our God says this:

“It will soon be the time when I will cause something to be very scarce [MET] throughout the country.

But it will not be a time when there is no food or water;

it will instead be a time when there will be no messages from me for anyone to hear.

12People will stagger from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean Sea,

and wander from the north to the east,

searching for a message from me,

but there will not be any.

13At that time,

even beautiful young women and strong young men will faint

because of being very thirsty.

14Those who ◄make oaths/solemnly promise to do something► using the names of their shameful gods of Samaria,

and those who solemnly promise to do something using the name of the god of Dan,

and those who solemnly promise to do something using the name of the god of Beersheba,

will all die;

and they will never live again.”

9

Israel will be punished

1Yahweh showed me another vision. In the vision, I saw him standing next to the altar. He said,

“Shake the tops of the pillars of the temple,

until they become loose and fall down,

so that even the foundation will shake.

Then cause the pieces of the temple to fall down on the people who are inside.

I will kill with a sword anyone who tries to flee;

no one will escape.

2If they dig deep pits in the ground,

or if they try to climb up to the sky

in order to escape,

I will reach out and grab them.

3If they go to the top of Carmel Mountain to escape,

I will search for them and seize them.

If they try to hide from me at the bottom of the sea,

I will command the huge sea monster to bite them.

4If their enemies capture them and force them to go to other countries,

I will command that they be killed there with swords.

I am determined [IDM] to get rid of them, not to help them.”

5When the Commander of the armies of angels touches the earth, it melts,

and all over the earth many people die, and the others mourn for them.

It is as though Yahweh causes the earth repeatedly to rise and fall

like [SIM] the Nile River rises and falls.

6He builds his beautiful palace in heaven,

and sets/causes the sky to be like a dome over the earth.

He scoops up the water from the ocean and puts it into clouds,

and then empties the clouds onto the earth.

His name is Yahweh.

7And Yahweh says, “You people of Israel,

you are certainly [RHQ] now no more important to me than the people of Ethiopia.

I brought your ancestors here from Egypt,

but I also brought the people of Philistia from Crete Island,

and I brought the people of Syria from the Kir region.

8I [SYN], Yahweh the Lord, have seen that you people in the kingdom of Israel are very sinful,

so I will ◄destroy you/wipe you off the earth►.

But I will not get rid of all you descendants [MTY] of Jacob.

That is what will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.

9When I command it, it will be as though I will shake you Israeli people who are living in various nations,

like [MET] a farmer shakes a sieve to separate the stone pebbles from the grain,

in order that they do not fall on the ground with the grain.

10From among my people,

all you sinful people who say, ‘We will not experience disasters; nothing evil will happen to us,’

will be killed by your enemies’ swords.”

Yahweh promised to restore Israel

11“The kingdom over which King David ruled has been destroyed, like [MET] a house that collapsed and then became ruins.

But some day I will cause it to be a kingdom again.

I will cause it to prosper again

just like it did previously.

12When that happens, your armies will seize/capture the remaining part of Edom region again,

and they will also seize the land in other nations that previously belonged to me [MTY].

I, Yahweh, have said that I will do these things,

and I will certainly cause them to happen.

13There will be a time when your crops will grow very well.

Very soon after the crops are harvested,

farmers will plow the ground to plant more crops in it again,

and soon after the vineyards are planted,

farmers will harvest grapes and tread on them to make wine.

And because there will be a lot of wine,

it will seem as though wine is flowing down from the hills [DOU].

14I will cause you, my Israeli people, to prosper again.

You will rebuild your towns and live in them.

You will plant vineyards and then drink the wine made from the grapes that grows in them.

15I will enable you to live [MET] in your land again,

the land that I gave to your ancestors,

and never again will you be forced to leave it.

That is what will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.”