2 He said, "The LORD roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem. The shepherd's pastures are dried up, and the summit of Carmel withers." 3 This is what the LORD says, "For three sins of Damascus, even four, I will not turn back My wrath, because she threshed Gilead with sledges with iron teeth." 4 "I will send fire upon the house of Hazael and consume the fortresses of Benhadad." 5 "I will break the bar on the gate of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven." The LORD says, "I will cut off from the house of Eden the one who holds the scepter, and exile the people of Aram to Kir." 6 This is what the LORD says, "For three sins of Gaza, even four, I will not turn back My wrath, because she took whole communities captive and sold them to Edom." 7 "So I will send fire upon the wall of Gaza and consume her palaces."

8 "I will also cut off the inhabitant of Ashdod, and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon. I will even unleash My power upon Ekron and the rest of the Philistines will perish," Says the LORD GOD.

9 Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Tyre and for four, I will not revoke its punishment, because they delivered up an entire population to Edom and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood." 10 "So I will send fire upon the wall of Tyre and consume her palaces."

11 Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Edom and for four I will not revoke its punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword, and had no compassion. His anger was severe and he did not relent." 12 "So I will send fire upon Teman and it will consume the palaces of Bozrah."

13 Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of the sons of Ammon, and for four, I will not revoke its punishment, because they ripped open pregnant women of Gilead to enlarge their own borders." 14 "So I will kindle a fire on the wall of Rabbah and it will consume her palaces amid war cries on the day of battle." 15 "Their king will go into exile along with his princes, " says the LORD.

Amos 2 - RWB Paraphrase (16 V)
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1 Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Moab, even four, I will not revoke their punishment, because he burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom." 2 "So I will send fire upon Moab and it will consume the palaces of Kerioth. Moab will die in a tumult, with war cries and the sound of a trumpet." 3 "I will also cut off her judge and slay all her princes," says the LORD.

4 Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Judah, or for four, I will not revoke its punishment, because they rejected the law of the LORD and have not kept His statutes. Their lies have led them astray, just as it did their fathers." 5 "So I will send fire upon Judah and it will consume the palaces in Jerusalem."

6 Thus says the LORD, "For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke its punishment, because they sell the righteous for money and the needy for a pair of sandals." 7 They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son profane My holy name by going in to the same girl. 8 "They lie down beside every altar on garments they have taken in pledge. In the house of their God they drink wine taken as fines."

9 "Yet I am the one who destroyed the Amorite, though his height was like a cedar and his strength as an oak. I destroyed him root and branch." 10 "I brought you up from Egypt and led you through the wilderness for forty years that you might possess the land of the Amorite."

11 "I raised up some of your sons to be prophets and some to be Nazirites, " declares the LORD. 12 "But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets to not prophesy!" 13 "I am weighed down beneath you as a wagon filled with sheaves." 14 "The swift and strong will not be able to escape." 15 "Those holding bows will not be able to stand. Even the horse will not save anyone." 16 "The bravest among the warriors will flee naked on that day," declares the LORD.

Amos 3 - RWB Paraphrase (15 V)
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Reason For Judgments
1 "Hear the word of the LORD spoken against you, O Israel, against the entire family which He brought up from Egypt." 2 "I chose you out of all the families of the earth. So I will punish you for all of your sins."

3 "Do two walk together without planning to?" 4 "Does a lion roar in the thicket when he has no prey? Does he growl in his den when he has caught nothing?" 5 "Is a bird caught in a trap without bait? Does a trap snap shut when there is nothing in it?" 6 "When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to that city, has not the LORD caused it?" 7 "Surely the LORD GOD does nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets."

8 "When a lion roars who would not be afraid? So when the LORD God has spoken it must be prophesied." 9 "Make it known in the palaces of Ashdod and Egypt. Say to them, "Assemble on the mountains of Samaria and see the great tumults and oppression within her. 10 "They do not know how to do what is right", declares the LORD. "They hoard violence and devastation in their palaces."

11 So the LORD says, "An enemy from the surrounding land will overpower you and loot your palaces." 12 Thus says the LORD, "Just as the shepherd snatches from the lion's mouth a couple of legs or a piece of an ear, so will the children of Israel dwelling in Samaria be snatched away, with the corner of a bed and the cover of a couch!"

13 "Listen and then testify against the house of Jacob," says the LORD God of hosts. 14 "When I punish Israel's transgressions, I will destroy the alters of Bethel. The horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground." 15 "I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house. The houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed and the mansions will be demolished," declares the LORD.

Amos 4 - RWB Paraphrase (13 V)
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The People Refuse To Turn To God
1 "Hear this word, you cows of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor and crush the needy. You say to your husbands, 'Bring us wine that we may drink!'" 2 "The LORD GOD has sworn by His holiness that the days are coming when every one of you shall be taken away with hooks." 3 "You will each go out through breaks in the wall, and be cast out toward Harmon," declares the LORD. 4 "Come to Bethel and transgress, to Gilgal and multiply transgression. Bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes every three years." 5 "Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and tell everyone of your freewill offerings, for so you love to do, O Israel!"

6 "I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town. Yet you have not returned to Me, " declares the LORD. 7 "I withheld the rain while there were still three months until harvest. Then I would send rain only on some of the cities." 8 "So two or three cities would stagger to another city for a drink of water, but not be satisfied. Still you would not return to Me." 9 "I smote you with a hot wind and mildew. Caterpillars devoured your gardens, vineyards, fig trees and olive trees. Yet you have not returned to Me, " declares the LORD. 10 "I sent plagues on you like I sent on Egypt. I slew your men with the sword and captured your horses. The stench of the carnage rose up in your nostrils, and yet you did not return to Me, " declares the LORD. 11 "I overthrew you the way I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a firebrand snatched from the fire. Still you did not return to Me." 12 "So, prepare to meet your God, O Israel." 13 "Behold, the One who formed the mountains and created the wind, knows the thoughts of men. He makes the dawn become darkness and walks on the high places of the earth. His name is the LORD God of hosts."

COMMENT: God can read our thoughts. Nothing is hidden from Him.

Amos 5 - RWB Paraphrase (27 V)
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Amos Mourns For Israel
1 "Hear this, O house of Israel. I take up this lament concerning you." 2 "Virgin Israel has fallen and will not rise again. She lies neglected and there is no one to raise her up." 3 For the LORD God says, "No matter what size the city who sends out soldiers, nine out of ten will not return." 4 For the LORD has said to Israel, "Look to Me that you may live." 5 "Do not depend on Bethel, Gilgal or Beersheba. None of these shall escape their trouble." 6 "Seek the LORD and live, or He will sweep through the house of Joseph like a fire that will devour, and Bethel will have no one to put it out." 7 "For they have turned justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the earth."

8 "It is the LORD who made Pleiades and Orion, who turns blackness into dawn and brings the darkness of night. He calls forth the waters of the sea and pours them out over the land."

COMMENT: When Jesus calmed the sea it was evidence that He was the one who had made the sea.

9 "He flashes forth with destruction on the strong and brings the fortified city to ruin." 10 "You hate the one who reproves you in court and despise those who tell the truth."

11 "You have trampled on the poor and forced him to give you grain. Therefore, you will not live in the stone mansions you have built. You have planted pleasant vineyards, but you will not drink their wine." 12 "Your transgressions are many and your sins are great. You have distressed the righteous, accepted bribes, and deprived the pour of their justice in court." 13 "For this reason the prudent keep silent, for it is an evil time."

14 "Seek good rather than evil. Thus may the LORD God of hosts be with you." 15 "Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the court! Perhaps the LORD God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph."

16 Hear what the LORD God of hosts says, "There will be wailing in all the streets and cries of anguish in every public square. The farmers will be summoned to weep and the mourners to wail." 17 "Wailing will be heard in every vineyard, because I have passed through your midst, " says the LORD. 18 "Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD! What do you think will be the result for you? That will be a day of darkness rather than light." 19 "It will be like when a man runs from a lion and is met by a bear, or when he enters his house and leans against a wall he will be bitten by a snake." 20 "Will not the day of the LORD be darkness instead of light, a day of deep gloom?"

21 "I hate and reject your festivals. I have no delight in your solemn assemblies." 22 "Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. I will not even look at the best of your peace offerings." 23 "Away with your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. It is all noise to Me."

24 "Instead, let justice roll down like water and righteousness like an ever flowing stream."

25 "Did you present sacrifices and grain offerings to Me in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel?" 26 "But you have borne the tabernacle of Moloch and Chiun, your images, the star of your god, made by your own hands." 27 "Therefore, " the LORD God of hosts says, "I will send you into exile beyond Damascus."

Amos 6 - RWB Paraphrase (14 V)
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Israel's Pride Despised By God
1 "Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, notable men of the first of the nations, to whom all Israel came!" 2 "Go look at Calneh. Then go see Hamath the great. Next go down to Gath of the Philistines. Is your land better than theirs?" 3 "You believe the evil day is far off while the time of your judgment approaches." 4 "Those who live in luxury and eat only the best of their flocks and herds," 5 "who strum on their harps like David and compose on musical instruments," 6 "who drink wine in bowls while anointing themselves with the finest oils, yet are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph."

7 "These shall be first to go into exile. Their good times are about to end." 8 "The LORD GOD of hosts has sworn by Himself, saying, 'I abhor the pride of Jacob, and hate his strongholds. I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.'." 9 "And it will be that if ten men are left in one house, they will die." 10 "Those carrying out a man's bones will ask if anyone is left alive in the house, and if the answer is, 'No,' he will say, 'Keep quiet, for the name of the LORD is not to be mentioned.'." 11 "For it is by the LORD's command that the house has been smashed to bits."

12 "Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow in that place with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood." 13 "You rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar and say, 'Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?'" 14 "Behold, O house of Israel, I am going to raise up a nation against you, " declares the LORD God of hosts, "And they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath To the brook of the Arabah."

Amos 7 - RWB Paraphrase (17 V)
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Amos Sees A Swarm Of Locust
1 "The LORD God showed me that He was forming a swarm of locust for the spring crop when it sprouts. It will be right after the king does his mowing." 2 "It came about that when the locust had finished eating the grass of the land, I said, 'Lord God, pardon my asking. But how can Jacob recover from this, for he is small.'." 3 "So the LORD changed His mind and said, 'I will not do this.'"

4 "Then the LORD God showed me that He was calling for a judgment of fire to dry up the great deep and devoured the land." 5 "I said, 'Lord GOD, please stop! How can Jacob stand, for he is small?'" 6 The LORD changed His mind about this, and said, "This too shall not be."

7 Then the LORD stood by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand.

COMMENT: This represents judgment, a measuring of each person, or more likely, Israel as a whole.

8 He said, "What do you see, Amos?" I said, "A plumb line." Then the LORD said, "I am about to put a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel. I will no longer spare them." 9 "The high places of Isaac will be destroyed and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined. I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with My own sword."

10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has spoken against you to all Israel. We cannot bear what he is saying." 11 "He says that you will die by the sword and Israel will be taken into exile." 12 Amaziah then sent word to Amos, saying, "Flee to the land of Judah, and eat your bread and do your prophesying there!" 13 "No longer prophesy at Bethel, for it is a sanctuary of the king and his royal residence."

14 Amos replied to Amaziah, saying, "I am not a prophet or the son of a prophet. I am a herdsman and I gather figs." 15 "But the LORD called me from following the flock and told me to go prophesy to His people." 16 "Now hear what the LORD says to you. Since you are telling me I must not prophesy against Israel." 17 "Your wife shall become a harlot in the city. Your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword. Your land will be divided up and parceled out and you will die upon foreign soil. And Israel will certainly go into exile."

Amos 8 - RWB Paraphrase (14 V)
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Amos Sees A Basket Of Fruit
1 The LORD God showed me a basket of summer fruit. 2 He asked me what is saw. I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the LORD said to me, "The end has come upon My people Israel. I will spare them no longer." 3 "The songs in the palace will be replaced by wailing on that day. Many bodies will lie everywhere, and they will be cast forth in silence." 4 "Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and the humble of the land." 5 "You ask, 'When will the new moon be over, so that we may sell the grain?' You look forward to the end of the Sabbath so that you can open the wheat market. You falsify your sales with dishonest scales." 6 "You buy the helpless for money, and the needy for a pair of sandals. You sell the sweepings with the wheat."

7 The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob, "Surely I will never forget any of their works." 8 "Because of this the land will quake and everyone who dwells in it will mourn? Indeed, all of it will rise up like the Nile, and be tossed about and subside like the river of Egypt." 9 The LORD GOD says, "In that day I will make the sun go down at noon to darken the earth in broad daylight." 10 "I will turn your festivals into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will place sackcloth on everyone and make every head bald. It will be like a time of bitter mourning as at the death of an only son." 11 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD GOD, "When I will send a famine on the land. It will not be a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the LORD's words." 12 "People will stagger from sea to sea and from the north to the east. They will go to and for seeking the word of the LORD, but they will not find it." 13 "In that day the beautiful young men and women will faint from thirst." 14 "Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria, or say, 'As surely as the god of Dan lives,' or, 'As surely as the god of Beersheba lives,' these will fall and never rise again."

Amos 9 - RWB Paraphrase (15 V)
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Israel Will Be Destroyed
1 I saw the LORD standing by the altar. He said, "Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Bring them down on the heads of all the people. Any who survive I will kill with the sword. Not one will escape." 2 "Though they dig down to Sheol, I will reach down and bring them up. Even if they ascend to heaven, I will bring them down from there." 3 "If they hide on the top of Carmel, I will search them out and bring them from there. And though they conceal themselves from Me on the floor of the sea, I will command the serpent to bite them." 4 "If their enemies take them into captivity, I will command the sword to slay them in that place. I will set My eyes against them for evil and not for good."

5 The LORD God of hosts, who makes the earth melt when He touches it, causes all who live in it to mourn. The whole land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt.

6 "He builds His upper chambers in the heaven and casts His vaulted dome over the earth. It is He who calls for the waters of the sea to pour out over the face of the earth. The LORD is His name." 7 "Are you not as sons of Ethiopia to Me, O children of Israel?" Saith the lord."have I not brought Israel up from Egypt? And the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?" 8 "Surely the eyes of the LORD God are on the sinful kingdom. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not totally destroy the house of Jacob," declares the LORD. 9 "For I will give the command, and shake the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, but not a grain will fall to the earth." 10 "All of My people who are sinners will die by the sword. Some may think this calamity will not overtake them."

11 "On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair it. I will rebuild it as it once was." 12 "I will do this that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name," says the LORD who makes this happen.

13 "Behold, days are coming when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the one treading grapes will overtake him who sows seed, when the mountains will drip sweet wine and all the hills will be dissolved." 14 "I will restore those of My people Israel taken captive. They will rebuild the ruined cities to live in. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine. They will make gardens and eat the fruit." 15 "I will plant them on their land they shall not be uprooted from the land I have given them," says the LORD God.

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9