1 Hear this word, you acows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the bpoor, Who crush the needy, Who say to1 your husbands, “Bring wine, let us cdrink!”
2aThe Lord God has sworn by His holiness: “Behold, the days shall come upon you When He will take you away bwith fishhooks, And your posterity with fishhooks.
3aYou will go out through broken walls, Each one straight ahead of her, And you will1 be cast into Harmon,” Says the Lord.
4 “Comea to Bethel and transgress, At bGilgal multiply transgression; cBring your sacrifices every morning, dYour tithes every three1 days.
5aOffer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, Proclaim and announce bthe freewill offerings; For this you love, You children of Israel!” Says the Lord God.
Israel Did Not Accept Correction
6 “Also I gave you1 cleanness of teeth in all your cities, And lack of bread in all your places; aYet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord.
7 “I also withheld rain from you, When therewere still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, And where it did not rain the part withered.
8 So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, But they were not satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord.
9 “Ia blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased, Your vineyards, Your fig trees, And your olive trees, bThe locust devoured them; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord.
10 “I sent among you a plague aafter the manner of Egypt; Your young men I killed with a sword, Along with your captive horses; I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord.
11 “I overthrew some of you, As God overthrew aSodom and Gomorrah, And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the Lord.
12 “Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel; Because I will do this to you, aPrepare to meet your God, O Israel!”
13 For behold, He who forms mountains, And creates the1 wind, aWho declares to man what1 his thought is, And makes the morning darkness, bWho treads the high places of the earth— cThe Lord God of hosts is His name.
The Lord—the same Hebrew as "masters" (Amos 4:1). Israel's nobles say to their master or lord, Bring us drink: but "the Lord" of him and them "hath sworn," etc.
by his holiness—which binds Him to punish the guilty (Psalms 89:35).
he will take yon away—that is God by the instrumentality of the enemy.
with hooks—literally, "thorns" (compare II Chronicles 33:11). As fish are taken out of the water by hooks, so the Israelites are to be taken out of their cities by the enemy (Ezekiel 29:4; compare Job 41:1-2; Jeremiah 16:16; Habakkuk 1:15). The image is the more appropriate, as anciently captives were led by their conquerors by a hook made to pass through the nose (II Kings 19:28), as is to be seen in the Assyrian remains.
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Amos 4:2:
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