The Book of Amos was written around 760BC, and edited many times after that.
I used Claude to help reconstruct the original Book of Amos. Anything that potentially he, or his followers wrote before 722 when Neo-Assyrians destroyed the kingdom of Israel. Claude did a lot of research, please thank Claude.
- Plain text — the authentic core (probability ≥ 0.80). Strong scholarly consensus this goes back to Amos or his immediate disciples.
- Italic — likely authentic, with caveats (0.60 ≤ P < 0.80). Some scholars dispute, but the majority view is pre-722.
Translation is literal-leaning, in the register of NRSV / a careful Hermeneia rendering. Divine name rendered as YHWH.
Amos 1
¹ The words of Amos
who was among the sheep-breeders from Tekoa
two years before the earthquake
³ Thus says YHWH
For three transgressions of Damascus
and for four, I will not turn it back
because they threshed Gilead with iron threshing-sledges
⁴ And I will send fire on the house of Hazael
and it shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad
⁵ And I will break the bar of Damascus
and cut off the inhabitant from the Valley of Aven
and the one who holds the scepter from Beth-Eden
and the people of Aram shall go into exile to Kir, says YHWH
⁶ Thus says YHWH
For three transgressions of Gaza
and for four, I will not turn it back
because they exiled an entire population, to deliver them up to Edom
⁷ And I will send fire on the wall of Gaza
and it shall devour her palaces
⁸ And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod
and the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon
and I will turn my hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish
says the Lord YHWH
¹³ Thus says YHWH
For three transgressions of the Ammonites
and for four, I will not turn it back
because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead
in order to enlarge their territory
¹⁴ And I will kindle fire on the wall of Rabbah
and it shall devour her palaces
with a war-cry on the day of battle
with a tempest on the day of the whirlwind
¹⁵ And their king shall go into exile
he and his officials together, says YHWH
Amos 2
¹ Thus says YHWH
For three transgressions of Moab
and for four, I will not turn it back
because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime
² And I will send fire on Moab
and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth
and Moab shall die in tumult
with a war-cry, with the sound of the trumpet
³ And I will cut off the ruler from her midst
and all her officials I will slay with him, says YHWH
⁶ Thus says YHWH
For three transgressions of Israel
and for four, I will not turn it back
because they sell the righteous for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals
⁷ those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth
and turn aside the way of the afflicted
a man and his father go in to the same girl
so as to profane my holy name
⁸ And on garments taken in pledge they stretch themselves out
beside every altar
and the wine of those who have been fined they drink
in the house of their god
⁹ Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them
whose height was like the height of cedars
and who was strong as the oaks
and I destroyed his fruit above
and his roots beneath
¹³ Behold, I am pressing down beneath you
as a cart presses down
when full of sheaves
¹⁴ And refuge shall perish from the swift
and the strong shall not retain his strength
and the warrior shall not save his life
¹⁵ And the bowman shall not stand
and the swift of foot shall not escape
and the horseman
shall not save his life
¹⁶ And the stout-hearted among the warriors
shall flee naked on that day — utterance of YHWH
Amos 3
¹ Hear this word that YHWH has spoken against you, O Israelites
² Only you have I known
of all the families of the earth
therefore I will visit upon you
all your iniquities
³ Do two walk together
unless they have agreed?
⁴ Does a lion roar in the forest
when he has no prey?
Does a young lion give forth his voice from his den
unless he has caught something?
⁵ Does a bird fall on a snare on the ground
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground
and take nothing at all?
⁶ If a trumpet is blown in a city
do the people not tremble?
If disaster befalls a city
has YHWH not done it?
⁸ A lion has roared — who will not fear?
The Lord YHWH has spoken
who will not prophesy?
⁹ Proclaim over the palaces in Ashdod
and over the palaces in the land of Egypt
and say: Assemble on the mountains of Samaria
and see the great tumults within her
and the oppressed in her midst
¹⁰ They do not know how to do what is right — utterance of YHWH
those who store up violence and devastation in their palaces
¹¹ Therefore, thus says the Lord YHWH
An adversary, all around the land!
He will bring down your strength from you
and your palaces shall be plundered
¹² Thus says YHWH
As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two shin-bones or a piece of an ear
so shall the Israelites who dwell in Samaria be rescued
with the corner of a couch and a piece of a bed
¹⁴ For on the day I visit the transgressions of Israel upon him
I will also visit upon the altars of Bethel
and the horns of the altar shall be cut off
and fall to the ground
¹⁵ And I will strike down the winter house along with the summer house
and the houses of ivory shall perish, and many houses shall come to an end — utterance of YHWH
Amos 4
¹ Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria
who oppress the poor
who crush the needy
who say to their lords: Bring, and let us drink!
² The Lord YHWH has sworn by his holiness
Behold, days are coming upon you
when he shall carry you off with hooks
and the last of you with fishhooks
³ And through the breaches you shall go out, each woman straight ahead
and you shall be cast out toward Harmon — utterance of YHWH
⁴ Come to Bethel and transgress
to Gilgal — multiply transgression
and bring your sacrifices in the morning
your tithes every three days
⁵ And burn a thank-offering of leavened bread
and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them
for so you love to do, O Israelites
utterance of the Lord YHWH
¹² Therefore
thus will I do to you, O Israel
because I will do this to you
prepare to meet your God, O Israel
Amos 5
¹ Hear this word that I take up over you as a lamentation, O house of Israel
² Fallen, no more to rise
is virgin Israel
forsaken on her land, with none to raise her up
³ For thus says the Lord YHWH
the city that goes out a thousand shall have a hundred left
and the one that goes out a hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel
⁴ For thus says YHWH to the house of Israel
Seek me and live
⁵ But do not seek Bethel
and do not enter Gilgal
and do not cross over to Beersheba
for Gilgal shall surely go into exile
and Bethel shall come to nothing
⁷ those who turn justice to wormwood
and cast righteousness to the ground
¹⁰ They hate the one who reproves in the gate
and the one who speaks the truth they abhor
¹¹ Therefore, because you trample on the poor and take from him a tribute of grain
houses of hewn stone you have built, but you shall not dwell in them
vineyards of delight you have planted
but you shall not drink their wine
¹² For I know how many are your transgressions
and how mighty are your sins
you who afflict the righteous, take a bribe
and turn aside the needy in the gate
¹⁶ Therefore thus says YHWH, God of hosts, the Lord
In all the squares — wailing
and in all the streets they shall say, Alas! Alas!
and they shall summon the farmer to mourning
and to wailing those skilled in lamentation
¹⁷ And in all vineyards — wailing
for I will pass through your midst, says YHWH
¹⁸ Woe to those who long for the day of YHWH!
Why would you have the day of YHWH? It is darkness, and not light
¹⁹ As when a man flees from a lion
and a bear meets him
and he comes home
and rests his hand on the wall
and a serpent bites him
²⁰ Is not the day of YHWH darkness, and not light
and gloom, with no brightness in it?
²¹ I hate, I despise your festivals
and I will not smell your solemn assemblies
²² Even if you offer up to me your burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them
and the well-being offering of your fatlings I will not regard
²³ Take away from me the noise of your songs
and the melody of your harps I will not hear
²⁴ But let justice roll down like waters
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream
²⁷ And I will exile you beyond Damascus
Amos 6
¹ and those secure on the mountain of Samaria
the notables of the foremost of nations
to whom the house of Israel comes
³ you who put far away the day of disaster
and bring near the seat of violence
⁴ those who lie on beds of ivory
and sprawl on their couches
and eat lambs from the flock
and calves from the midst of the stall
⁵ those who improvise to the sound of the harp like David
and devise for themselves instruments of song
⁶ those who drink wine from bowls
and anoint themselves with the finest oils
but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph
⁷ Therefore now they shall go into exile at the head of the exiles
and the revelry of the sprawlers shall pass away
⁸ The Lord YHWH has sworn by himself — utterance of YHWH, God of hosts
I abhor the pride of Jacob
and his palaces I hate
and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it
⁹ And it shall be: if ten men remain in one house, they shall die
¹⁰ And his kinsman, the one who burns him, shall lift him up to bring the bones out of the house
and shall say to whoever is in the innermost part of the house: Is anyone still with you? — and he shall say: No one
and he shall say: Hush!
for one must not invoke the name of YHWH
¹¹ For behold, YHWH is commanding
and the great house shall be smashed to bits
and the small house to fragments
¹² Do horses run on a cliff?
Does one plow the sea with oxen?
Yet you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood
¹³ you who rejoice in Lo-Debar, who say
Have we not by our own strength
taken Karnaim for ourselves?
¹⁴ For behold, I am raising up against you, O house of Israel — utterance of YHWH, God of hosts — a nation
and they shall oppress you from Lebo-Hamath to the Wadi of the Arabah
Amos 7
¹ Thus the Lord YHWH showed me
and behold, he was forming a locust swarm
at the beginning of the sprouting of the latter growth — and behold, the latter growth
was after the king’s mowings
² And it came about, when it had finished eating the vegetation of the land
that I said: O Lord YHWH, forgive, I pray!
How can Jacob stand?
for he is small
³ YHWH relented concerning this
It shall not be, said YHWH
⁴ Thus the Lord YHWH showed me
and behold, the Lord YHWH was summoning a contention by fire
and it devoured the great deep
and was about to devour the land
⁵ And I said: O Lord YHWH, cease, I pray!
How can Jacob stand?
for he is small
⁶ YHWH relented concerning this
This too shall not be
said the Lord YHWH
⁷ Thus he showed me
and behold, the Lord was standing by a wall built with a plumb-line
and in his hand a plumb-line
⁸ And YHWH said to me: What do you see, Amos?
And I said: A plumb-line
And the Lord said: Behold, I am setting a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel
I will no longer pass them by
and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword
By the sword Jeroboam shall die, and Israel
shall surely go into exile from its land
¹² And Amaziah said to Amos: O seer
go, flee away to the land of Judah
and eat bread there
and there prophesy
¹³ But at Bethel
do not prophesy any longer
for it is the king’s sanctuary
and a royal house
¹⁴ Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah
I am not a prophet
nor am I a son of a prophet
for I am a herdsman and a tender of sycamore figs
¹⁵ And YHWH took me
from following the flock
and YHWH said to me
Go, prophesy to my people Israel
¹⁶ And now hear the word of YHWH
you say: Do not prophesy against Israel
and do not preach against the house of Isaac
¹⁷ Therefore thus says YHWH: Your wife shall play the harlot in the city, and your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword
and your land shall be parceled out by the measuring line
and you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel
shall surely go into exile from its land
Amos 8
¹ Thus the Lord YHWH showed me
and behold, a basket of summer fruit
² And he said: What do you see, Amos?
And I said: A basket of summer fruit
And YHWH said to me: The end has come upon my people Israel
I will no longer pass them by
³ And the songs of the temple shall wail on that day
utterance of the Lord YHWH
Many shall be the corpses
in every place — they are cast out — silence!
⁴ Hear this
you who trample on the needy
to bring to ruin the poor of the land
⁵ saying: When will the new moon pass, that we may sell grain?
and the sabbath, that we may open up the wheat?
to make the ephah small and the shekel great
and to falsify deceitful scales
⁶ to buy the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals
and to sell the chaff of the wheat
⁷ YHWH has sworn by the pride of Jacob
Surely I will never forget any of their deeds
⁸ Shall not the land tremble on account of this
and all who dwell in it mourn?
and all of it shall rise up like the Nile
and be tossed about and sink like the Nile of Egypt
⁹ that I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight
¹⁰ And I will turn your festivals into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation
and I will bring sackcloth upon every loins
and baldness on every head
and I will make it like the mourning for an only child
and its end like a bitter day
¹³ On that day the beautiful young women and the young men shall faint from thirst
¹⁴ those who swear by the guilt of Samaria
and say: As your god lives, O Dan
and as the way of Beersheba lives
they shall fall and rise no more
Amos 9
¹ I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said: Strike the capitals so that the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of all of them
and the last of them I will slay with the sword
no fugitive of theirs shall flee
and no escapee of theirs shall escape
² If they dig down to Sheol
from there my hand shall take them
and if they ascend to the heavens
from there I will bring them down
³ And if they hide on the summit of Carmel
from there I will search them out and seize them
and if they conceal themselves from before my eyes on the floor of the sea
from there I will command the serpent and it shall bite them
⁴ And if they go into captivity before their enemies
from there I will command the sword and it shall slay them
and I will set my eyes upon them for harm and not for good
⁷ Are you not like the Cushites to me, O Israelites? — utterance of YHWH
Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt
and the Philistines from Caphtor and Aram from Kir?
⁸ Behold, the eyes of the Lord YHWH are on the sinful kingdom
and I will destroy it
from the face of the earth
⁹ For behold, I am commanding
and I will shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve
and not a pebble shall fall to the ground
¹⁰ By the sword they shall die
all the sinners of my people
those who say: Disaster shall not draw near or come upon us