New Living Translation

New King James Version

A Vision of God at the Altar

Then I saw a vision of the Lord standing beside the altar. He said,
“Strike the tops of the Temple columns,
so that the foundation will shake.
Bring down the roof
on the heads of the people below.
I will kill with the sword those who survive.
No one will escape!

1

The Destruction of Israel

I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and He said:
“Strike the [a]doorposts, that the thresholds may shake,
And break them on the heads of them all.
I will slay the last of them with the sword.
He who flees from them shall not get away,
And he who escapes from them shall not be delivered.

2

“Even if they dig down to the place of the dead,a
I will reach down and pull them up.
Even if they climb up into the heavens,
I will bring them down.

2

“Though they dig into [b]hell,
From there My hand shall take them;
Though they climb up to heaven,
From there I will bring them down;

3

Even if they hide at the very top of Mount Carmel,
I will search them out and capture them.
Even if they hide at the bottom of the ocean,
I will send the sea serpent after them to bite them.

3

And though they hide themselves on top of Carmel,
From there I will search and take them;
Though they hide from My sight at the bottom of the sea,
From there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them;

4

Even if their enemies drive them into exile,
I will command the sword to kill them there.
I am determined to bring disaster upon them
and not to help them.”

4

Though they go into captivity before their enemies,
From there I will command the sword,
And it shall slay them.
I will set My eyes on them for harm and not for good.”

5

The Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies,
touches the land and it melts,
and all its people mourn.
The ground rises like the Nile River at floodtime,
and then it sinks again.

5

The Lord God of hosts,
He who touches the earth and it melts,
And all who dwell there mourn;
All of it shall swell like [c]the River,
And subside like the River of Egypt.

6

The LORD’s home reaches up to the heavens,
while its foundation is on the earth.
He draws up water from the oceans
and pours it down as rain on the land.
The LORD is his name!

6

He who builds His layers[d] in the sky,
And has founded His strata in the earth;
Who calls for the waters of the sea,
And pours them out on the face of the earth —
The Lord is His name.

7

“Are you Israelites more important to me
than the Ethiopians?b” asks the LORD.
“I brought Israel out of Egypt,
but I also brought the Philistines from Cretec
and led the Arameans out of Kir.

7

“Are you not like the [e]people of Ethiopia to Me,
O children of Israel?” says the Lord.
“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
The Philistines from Caphtor,[f]
And the Syrians from Kir?

8

“I, the Sovereign LORD,
am watching this sinful nation of Israel.
I will destroy it
from the face of the earth.
But I will never completely destroy the family of Israel,d”
says the LORD.

8

“Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom,
And I will destroy it from the face of the earth;
Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
Says the Lord.

9

“For I will give the command
and will shake Israel along with the other nations
as grain is shaken in a sieve,
yet not one true kernel will be lost.

9

“For surely I will command,
And will [g]sift the house of Israel among all nations,
As grain is sifted in a sieve;
Yet not the smallest [h]grain shall fall to the ground.

10

But all the sinners will die by the sword —
all those who say, ‘Nothing bad will happen to us.’
A Promise of Restoration

10

All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword,
Who say, ‘The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.’

11

“In that day I will restore the fallen housee of David.
I will repair its damaged walls.
From the ruins I will rebuild it
and restore its former glory.

11

Israel Will Be Restored

“On that day I will raise up
The [i]tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,
And [j]repair its damages;
I will raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old;

12

And Israel will possess what is left of Edom
and all the nations I have called to be mine.f”
The LORD has spoken,
and he will do these things.

12

That they may possess the remnant of Edom,[k]
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,”
Says the Lord who does this thing.

13

“The time will come,” says the LORD,
“when the grain and grapes will grow faster
than they can be harvested.
Then the terraced vineyards on the hills of Israel
will drip with sweet wine!

13

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
The mountains shall drip with sweet wine,
And all the hills shall flow with it.

14

I will bring my exiled people of Israel
back from distant lands,
and they will rebuild their ruined cities
and live in them again.
They will plant vineyards and gardens;
they will eat their crops and drink their wine.

14

I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;
They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them;
They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.

15

I will firmly plant them there
in their own land.
They will never again be uprooted
from the land I have given them,”
says the LORD your God.

15

I will plant them in their land,
And no longer shall they be pulled up
From the land I have given them,”
Says the Lord your God.

Parallel

New Living Translation

New King James Version

Amos 9

Amos 9