I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, “Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape. 2Though they dig into the grave, there my hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, there I will bring them down. 3Though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out there; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it will bite them. 4Though they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it will kill them. I will set my eyes on them for evil, and not for good. 5For the Lord YAHWEH1 All-Powerful is he who touches the land and it melts, and all who dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise up wholly like the River, and will sink again, like the River of Egypt. 6It is he who builds his chambers in the heavens, and has founded his vault on the earth; he who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the surface of the earth; YAHWEH is his Name. 7Are you not like the children of the Ethiopians to me, children of Israel?” says YAHWEH. “Haven’t I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? 8Behold, the eyes of the Lord YAHWEH are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Yaqub,” says YAHWEH. 9“For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall on the earth. 10All the sinners of my people will die by the sword, who say, ‘Evil will not overtake nor meet us.’ 11In that day I will rebuild the fallen tent of Dawud. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins, and build it as it used to be; 12that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations who are called by my Name,” says YAHWEH who does this.2
13“Behold, the days come,” says YAHWEH,
“That the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
And the one treading grapes him who sows seed;
And sweet wine will drip from the mountains,
And flow from the hills.
14I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel,
And they will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them;
and they will plant vineyards, and drink wine from them.
They shall also make gardens,
And eat the fruit of them.
15I will plant them on their land,
And they will no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them,”
says YAHWEH your God.3
- 9:5 YAHWEH, the name God revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.” ↩︎
- 9:11-12 Quoted in the Injil, Acts 15:16-17. James the half-brother of ‘ISA Ibn Maryam was leading the 1st century church in Jerusalem, that is, the community of followers of ‘ISA AL-MASIH which up to that point primarily came from a Jewish background. Many new followers were from foreign nations and had not been circumcised in accordance with Jewish custom. There were differing opinions, but then James appealed to the successful preaching of the Apostle Peter (or Simeon) among non-Jews, as well as these verses in the prophet Amos (from the well-known Greek translation) as evidence that foreigners were definitely welcome in the new community of followers of ‘ISA AL-MASIH. In Acts 15:15-17 James says: “Simeon has reported how God first visited the foreigners, to take out of them a people for his name. This agrees with the words of the Prophets. As it is written, ‘After this I will return and rebuild the fallen tent of Dawud. I will rebuild its ruins, and restore it; that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the nations who are called by my Name, says the LORD, who does all these things.'” ↩︎
- 9:15 God, English translation of elohim. Elohim (Hebrew) is related to allah (Arabic) and alaha (Syriac), all of which translate as “God,” and refer to the one true God. ↩︎