Amos 4
New International Version

Israel Has Not Returned to God

4 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan^(A)on Mount Samaria,^(B)
    you women who oppress the poor^(C)and crush the needy^(D)
    and say to your husbands,^(E)“Bring us some drinks!^(F)”
²The SovereignLordhas sworn by his holiness:
    “The time^(G)will surely come
when you will be taken away^(H)with hooks,^(I)
    the last of you with fishhooks.^[a]
³You will each go straight out
    through breaches in the wall,^(J)
    and you will be cast out toward Harmon,^[b]”
declares theLord.
⁴“Go to Bethel^(K)and sin;
    go to Gilgal^(L)and sin yet more.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,^(M)
    your tithes^(N)every three years.^[c]^(O)
⁵Burn leavened bread^(P)as a thank offering
    and brag about your freewill offerings^(Q)—
boast about them, you Israelites,
    for this is what you love to do,”
declares the SovereignLord.

⁶“I gave you empty stomachs in every city
and lack of bread in every town,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares theLord.^(R)

⁷“I also withheld^(S)rain from you
    when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
    but withheld it from another.^(T)
One field had rain;
    another had none and dried up.
⁸People staggered from town to town for water^(U)
    but did not get enough^(V)to drink,
    yet you have not returned^(W)to me,”
declares theLord.^(X)

⁹“Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards,
destroying them with blight and mildew.^(Y)
Locusts^(Z)devoured your fig and olive trees,^(AA)
yet you have not returned^(AB)to me,”
declares theLord.

¹⁰“I sent plagues^(AC)among you
    as I did to Egypt.^(AD)
I killed your young men^(AE)with the sword,
    along with your captured horses.
I filled your nostrils with the stench^(AF)of your camps,
    yet you have not returned to me,”^(AG)
declares theLord.^(AH)

¹¹“I overthrew some of you
as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.^(AI)
You were like a burning stick^(AJ)snatched from the fire,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares theLord.^(AK)

¹²“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,
and because I will do this to you, Israel,
prepare to meet your God.”

¹³He who forms the mountains,^(AL)
    who creates the wind,^(AM)
    and who reveals his thoughts^(AN)to mankind,
who turns dawn to darkness,
    and treads on the heights of the earth^(AO)—
    theLordGod Almighty is his name.^(AP)

Footnotes

Amos 4:2Oraway in baskets, / the last of you in fish baskets
Amos 4:3Masoretic Text; with a different word division of the Hebrew (see Septuagint)out, you mountain of oppression
Amos 4:4Ordays