2The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness,
         “Behold, the days are coming upon you
         When they will take you away with meat hooks,
         And the last of you with fish hooks.

3“You will go out through breaches in the walls,
         Each one straight before her,
         And you will be cast to Harmon,” declares the LORD.

4“Enter Bethel and transgress;
         In Gilgal multiply transgression!
         Bring your sacrifices every morning,
         Your tithes every three days.

5“Offer a thank offering also from that which is leavened,
         And proclaim freewill offerings, make them known.
         For so you love to do, you sons of Israel,”
         Declares the Lord GOD.

6“But I gave you also cleanness of teeth in all your cities
         And lack of bread in all your places,
         Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the LORD.

7“Furthermore, I withheld the rain from you
         While there were still three months until harvest.
         Then I would send rain on one city
         And on another city I would not send rain;
         One part would be rained on,
         While the part not rained on would dry up.

8“So two or three cities would stagger to another city to drink water,
         But would not be satisfied;
         Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the LORD.

9“I smote you with scorching wind and mildew;
         And the caterpillar was devouring
         Your many gardens and vineyards, fig trees and olive trees;
         Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the LORD.

10“I sent a plague among you after the manner of Egypt;
         I slew your young men by the sword along with your captured horses,
         And I made the stench of your camp rise up in your nostrils;
         Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the LORD.

11“I overthrew you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
         And you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze;
         Yet you have not returned to Me,” declares the LORD.

12“Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
         Because I will do this to you,
         Prepare to meet your God, O Israel.”

13For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind
         And declares to man what are His thoughts,
         He who makes dawn into darkness
         And treads on the high places of the earth,
         The LORD God of hosts is His name.

NASB ©1995

American Standard Version
The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that they shall take you away with hooks, and your residue with fish-hooks.

Douay-Rheims Bible
The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness, that lo, the days shall come upon you, when they shall lift you up on pikes, and what shall remain of you in boiling pots.

Darby Bible Translation
the Lord Jehovah hath sworn by his holiness, that behold, days shall come upon you, when he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fish-hooks;

English Revised Version
The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that they shall take you away with hooks, and your residue with fish hooks.

Webster's Bible Translation
The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fish-hooks,

World English Bible
The Lord Yahweh has sworn by his holiness that behold, "The days shall come on you that they will take you away with hooks, and the last of you with fish hooks.

Young's Literal Translation
Sworn hath the Lord Jehovah by His holiness, That lo, days are coming upon you, And he hath taken you away with hooks, And your posterity with fish-hooks.Preparation for Advent
Westminster Abbey. November 15, 1874. Amos iv. 12. "Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel." We read to-day, for the first lesson, parts of the prophecy of Amos. They are somewhat difficult, here and there, to understand; but nevertheless Amos is perhaps the grandest of the Hebrew prophets, next to Isaiah. Rough and homely as his words are, there is a strength, a majesty, and a terrible earnestness in them, which it is good to listen to; and specially good now that Advent draws near, and we have …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

April 3 Evening
Ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning.--AMOS 4:11. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?--We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.--The wages of sin is death; but the gift …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Smitten in Vain
'Come to Beth-el, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years: 5. And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings; for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God. 6. And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places; yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the Lord. 7. And also I have withholden the rain …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

God's Controversy with Man. Rev. Charles Prest.
"Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel; and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel."--AMOS iv. 12. This chapter refers to the condition of Israel at the time of this prophecy, and to the expostulation and threatened procedure of God concerning the nation. God's people had revolted from Him; they had sunk into idolatry; they had been often reproved, but had hardened their necks, and therefore the Lord, after recapitulating the calamities which had befallen them, …
Knowles King—The Wesleyan Methodist Pulpit in Malvern

The Helpless State of the Sinner under Condemnation.
1, 2. The sinner urged to consider how he can be saved from this impending ruin.--3. Not by any thing he can offer.--4. Nor by any thing he can endure.--5. Nor by any thing hr can do in the course of future duty.--6-8. Nor by any alliance with fellow-sinners on earth or in hell.--9. Nor by any interposition or intercession of angels or saints in his favor. Hint of the only method to be afterwards more largely explained. The lamentation of a sinner in this miserable condition. 1. SINNER, thou hast …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul

Whether a Preparation or Disposition for Grace is Required on the Part of Man
Whether a Preparation or Disposition for Grace is required on the part of man We proceed to the second article thus: 1. It seems that no preparation or disposition for grace is required on the part of man. For the apostle says (Rom. 4:4): "Now to him that worketh [40] is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt." But a man could not of his own free will prepare himself for grace, unless by an operation. The meaning of grace would then be taken away. 2. Again, a man who walks in sin does not …
Aquinas—Nature and Grace

Whether the Notional Acts Proceed from Something?
Objection 1: It would seem that the notional acts do not proceed from anything. For if the Father begets the Son from something, this will be either from Himself or from something else. If from something else, since that whence a thing is generated exists in what is generated, it follows that something different from the Father exists in the Son, and this contradicts what is laid down by Hilary (De Trin. vii) that, "In them nothing diverse or different exists." If the Father begets the Son from Himself, …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether by Penance one Sin Can be Pardoned Without Another?
Objection 1: It would seem that by Penance one sin can be pardoned without another. For it is written (Amos 4:7): "I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city; one piece was rained upon: and the piece whereupon I rained not, withered." These words are expounded by Gregory, who says (Hom. x super Ezech.): "When a man who hates his neighbor, breaks himself of other vices, rain falls on one part of the city, leaving the other part withered, for there are some men who, …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether any Preparation and Disposition for Grace is Required on Man's Part?
Objection 1: It would seem that no preparation or disposition for grace is required on man's part, since, as the Apostle says (Rom. 4:4), "To him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned according to grace, but according to debt." Now a man's preparation by free-will can only be through some operation. Hence it would do away with the notion of grace. Objection 2: Further, whoever is going on sinning, is not preparing himself to have grace. But to some who are going on sinning grace is given, as is …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Sovereignty of God in Administration
"The LORD hath prepared His Throne In the heavens; and His Kingdom ruleth over all" (Psa. 103:19). First, a word concerning the need for God to govern the material world. Suppose the opposite for a moment. For the sake of argument, let us say that God created the world, designed and fixed certain laws (which men term "the laws of Nature"), and that He then withdrew, leaving the world to its fortune and the out-working of these laws. In such a case, we should have a world over which there was no intelligent, …
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God

The River of Egypt, Rhinocorura. The Lake of Sirbon.
Pliny writes, "From Pelusium are the intrenchments of Chabrias: mount Casius: the temple of Jupiter Casius: the tomb of Pompey the Great: Ostracine: Arabia is bounded sixty-five miles from Pelusium: soon after begins Idumea and Palestine from the rising up of the Sirbon lake." Either my eyes deceive me, while I read these things,--or mount Casius lies nearer Pelusium, than the lake of Sirbon. The maps have ill placed the Sirbon between mount Casius and Pelusium. Sirbon implies burning; the name of …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

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