‘Amos (Amo) 9

1 I sawAdonaistanding beside the altar, and he said,

“Strike the tops of the columns until the thresholds shake!

Smash them to pieces on the heads of all the people!

Those who remain I will kill with the sword;

not one of them will succeed in fleeing,

not one of them will escape.

2 If they dig down to Sh’ol,

my hand will haul them out;

if they climb up to heaven,

I will bring them down.

3 If they hide themselves on the top of the Karmel,

I will search them out and capture them there;

If they hide from me at the bottom of the sea,

I will order the serpent to bite them there.

4 If their enemies herd them into exile,

I will order the sword to kill them there.

I will fix my gaze on them

for harm and not for good.”

5 ForAdonaiElohim-Tzva’ot

is the one who can melt the earth with his touch,

and make all who live on it mourn.

It will all rise, just like the Nile,

and then subside, like the Nile in Egypt.

6 He builds his upper rooms in heaven

and establishes his sky-vault over the earth.

He summons the waters of the sea

and pours them out over the earth.

Adonaiis his name.

7 “People of Isra’el, are you any different

from the Ethiopians to me?” asksAdonai.

“True, I brought Isra’el up from Egypt,

but I also brought the P’lishtim from Kaftor,

and Aram from Kir.

8 Look, the eyes ofAdonaiElohim

are on the sinful kingdom.

I will wipe it off the face of the earth,

yet I will not completely destroy

the house of Ya‘akov,” saysAdonai.

9 “For when I give the order,

I will shake the house of Isra’el,

there among all theGoyim,

as one shakes with a sieve,

letting no grain fall to the ground.

10 All the sinners among my people

who say, ‘Disaster will never overtake us

or confront us,’ will die by the sword.

11 “When that day comes, I will raise up

the fallensukkahof David.

I will close up its gaps, raise up its ruins

and rebuild it as it used to be,

12 so that Isra’el can possess

what is left of Edom

and of all the nations bearing my name,”

saysAdonai, who is doing this.

13 “The days will come,” saysAdonai,

“when the plowman will overtake the reaper

and the one treading grapes the one sowing seed.

Sweet wine will drip down the mountains,

and all the hills will flow with it.

14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Isra’el;

they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities;

they will plant vineyards and drink their wine,

cultivate gardens and eat their fruit.

15 I will plant them on their own soil,

no more to be uprooted

from their land, which I gave them,”

saysAdonaiyour God.

Yo’el(Jol) 1

1 The word ofAdonaithat came to Yo’el the son of P’tu’el:

2 “Hear this, you leaders!

Listen, all who live in the land!

Has anything like this ever happened in your days,

or in your ancestors’ days?

3 Tell your children about it,

and have them tell it to theirs,

and have them tell the next generation.

4 What the cutter-worms left, the locusts ate;

what the locusts left, the grasshoppers ate;

what the grasshoppers left, the shearer-worms ate.

5 Wake up, drunkards, and weep!

wail, all you who drink wine,

because the juice of the grape

will be withheld from your mouth.

6 For a mighty and numberless nation

has invaded my land.

His teeth are lion’s teeth;

his fangs are those of a lioness.

7 He has reduced my vines to waste,

my fig trees to splinters —

he plucked them bare, stripped their bark

and left their branches white.”

8 Lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth

for the husband of her youth!

9 Grain offering and drink offering are cut off

from the house ofAdonai.

Thecohanimare mourning,

those who are servingAdonai.

10 The fields are ruined, the ground is grieving;

for the grain is ruined, the new wine dried up,

and the olive oil is wretched.

11 Despair, you farmers; lament, vinedressers,

over the wheat and the barley —

the harvest from the fields is lost.

12 The vines have withered, the fig trees wilted,

also the pomegranate, date-palm and apple tree —

all the trees in the fields have withered,

and the people’s joy has withered away.

13 Cohanim, put on sackcloth, and weep!

Wail, you who serve at the altar!

Come, lie in sackcloth all night long,

you who serve my God!

For the grain offering and drink offering are withheld

from the house of your God.

14 Proclaim a holy fast,

call for a solemn assembly,

gather the leaders

and all who live in the land

to the house ofAdonaiyour God,

and cry out toAdonai,

15 “Oh no! The Day!

The Day ofAdonaiis upon us!

As destruction fromShaddai

it is coming!

16 The food is cut off before our very eyes,

also joy and gladness from the house of our God.

17 The seed-grain is rotting in its furrows;

the granaries are deserted, the barns in ruins;

because the grain has withered.

18 How the animals groan!

The herds of cattle are perplexed,

because they have no pasture.

The flocks of sheep bear the punishment, too.

19 Adonai, I cry out to you!

For the fire has consumed the pastures in the desert,

and the flame set ablaze all the trees in the fields.

20 Even the wild animals

come to you, panting,

because the streambeds have dried up,

and fire has consumed the pastures in the desert.”

Yo’el(Jol) 2

1 “Blow theshofarin Tziyon!

Sound an alarm on my holy mountain!”

Let all living in the land tremble,

for the Day ofAdonaiis coming! It’s upon us! —

2 a day of darkness and gloom,

a day of clouds and thick fog;

a great and mighty horde is spreading

like blackness over the mountains.

There has never been anything like it,

nor will there ever be again,

not even after the years

of many generations.

3 Ahead of them a fire devours,

behind them a flame consumes;

ahead the land is like Gan-‘Eden,

behind them a desert waste.

From them there is no escape.

4 They look like horses,

and like cavalry they charge.

5 With a rumble like that of chariots

they leap over the mountaintops,

like crackling flames devouring stubble,

like a mighty horde in battle array.

6 At their presence the peoples writhe in anguish,

every face is drained of color.

7 Like warriors they charge,

they scale the wall like soldiers.

Each one keeps to his own course,

without getting in the other’s way.

8 They don’t jostle each other,

but stay on their own paths;

they burst through defenses unharmed,

without even breaking rank.

9 They rush into the city,

they run along the wall,

they climb up into the houses,

entering like a thief through the windows.

10 At their advance the earth quakes,

and the sky shakes,

the sun and moon turn black,

and the stars stop shining.

11 Adonaishouts orders to his forces —

his army is immense, mighty,

and it does what he says.

For great is the Day ofAdonai, fearsome,

terrifying! Who can endure it?

12 “Yet even now,” saysAdonai,

“turn to me with all your heart,

with fasting, weeping and lamenting.”

13 Tear your heart, not your garments;

and turn toAdonaiyour God.

For he is merciful and compassionate,

slow to anger, rich in grace,

and willing to change his mind about disaster.

14 Who knows? He may turn, change his mind

and leave a blessing behind him,

[enough for] grain offerings and drink offerings

to present toAdonaiyour God.

15 “Blow theshofarin Tziyon!

Proclaim a holy fast,

call for a solemn assembly.”

16 Gather the people; consecrate the congregation;

assemble the leaders; gather the children,

even infants sucking at the breast;

let the bridegroom leave his room

and the bride the bridal chamber.

17 Let thecohanim, who serveAdonai,

stand weeping between the vestibule and the altar.

Let them say, “Spare your people,Adonai!

Don’t expose your heritage to mockery,

or make them a byward among theGoyim.

Why should the peoples say, ‘Where is their God?’”

18 ThenAdonaiwill become jealous for his land

and have pity on his people.

19 Here is howAdonaiwill answer his people:

“I will send you grain, wine and olive oil,

enough to satisfy you;

and no longer will I make you

a mockery among theGoyim.

20 No, I will take the northerner away,

far away from you,

and drive him to a land

that is waste and barren;

with his vanguard toward the eastern sea

and his rearguard toward the western sea,

his stench and his rottenness will rise,

because he has done great things.”

21 Don’t fear, O soil; be glad! rejoice!

forAdonaihas done great things.

22 Don’t be afraid, wild animals;

for the desert pastures are green,

the trees are putting out their fruit,

the fig tree and vine are giving full yield.

23 Be glad, people of Tziyon!

rejoice inAdonaiyour God!

For he is giving you

the right amount of rain in the fall,

he makes the rain come down for you,

the fall and spring rains — this is what he does first.

24 Then the floors will be full of grain

and the vats overflow with wine and olive oil.

25 “I will restore to you the years that the locusts ate,

the grasshoppers, shearer-worms and cutter-worms,

my great army that I sent against you.

26 You will eat until you are satisfied

and will praise the name ofAdonaiyour God,

who has done with you such wonders.

Then my people will never again be shamed.

27 You will know that I am with Isra’el

and that I amAdonaiyour God,

and that there is no other.

Then my people will never again be shamed.

Yo’el(Jol) 3

1 “After this, I will pour out

my Spirit on all humanity.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions;

2 and also on male and female slaves

in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

3 I will show wonders in the sky and on earth —

blood, fire and columns of smoke.

4 The sun will be turned into darkness

and the moon into blood

before the coming of the great

and terrible Day ofAdonai.”

5 At that time, whoever calls

on the name ofAdonaiwill be saved.

For in Mount Tziyon and Yerushalayim

there will be those who escape,

asAdonaihas promised;

among the survivors will be those

whomAdonaihas called.

Yo’el(Jol) 4

1 “For then, at that time, when I restore

the fortunes of Y’hudah and Yerushalayim,

2 I will gather all nations and bring them down

to the Valley of Y’hoshafat [Adonaijudges].

I will enter into judgment there

for my people, my heritage Isra’el,

whom they scattered among the nations;

then they divided my land.

3 They drew lots for my people,

traded boys for whores,

sold girls for wine to drink.

4 “Moreover, what have you against me,

Tzor, Tzidon, all parts of P’leshet?

Are you paying me back for something I did?

If you’re paying me back for something I did,

then easily, quickly, I’ll pay you back

right on your own head.

5 You took my silver and gold.

You brought my good treasures into your temples.

6 The people of Y’hudah and Yerushalayim

you sold to the Greeks, so that you could remove them

far away from their land.

7 I will rouse them from the place where you sold them

and pay you back right on your own head —

8 I will sell your sons and daughters

to the people of Y’hudah;

and they will sell them to the men of Sh’va,

a nation far off; forAdonaihas spoken.

9 “Proclaim this among the nations:

‘Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors!

Let all the fighting men approach and attack.’

10 Hammer your plow-blades into swords

and your pruning-knives into spears.

Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’

11 Hurry, come, you surrounding nations,

gather yourselves together!”

Bring your warriors down,Adonai!

12 “Let the nations be roused and come up

to the Valley of Y’hoshafat [Adonaijudges].

For there I will sit to judge

all the surrounding nations.”

13 Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe;

come, and tread, for the winepress is full.

The vats are overflowing,

for their wickedness is great.

14 Such enormous crowds

in the Valley of Decision!

For the Day ofAdonaiis upon us

in the Valley of Decision!

15 The sun and moon have grown black,

and the stars have stopped shining.

16 Adonaiwill roar from Tziyon,

he will thunder from Yerushalayim,

the sky and the earth will shake.

ButAdonaiwill be a refuge for his people,

a stronghold for the people of Isra’el.

17 “You will know that I amAdonaiyour God,

living on Tziyon my holy mountain.”

Then Yerushalayim will be holy,

and foreigners will pass through her no more.

18 Then, when that time comes,

the mountains will drip with sweet wine,

the hills will flow with milk,

all the streambeds of Y’hudah will run with water,

and a spring will flow from the house ofAdonai

to water the Sheetim Valley.

19 But Egypt will be desolate

and Edom a desert waste,

because of the violence done to the people of Y’hudah,

because they shed innocent blood in their land.

20 Y’hudah will be inhabited forever,

Yerushalayim through all generations.

21 “I will cleanse them of bloodguilt

which I have not yet cleansed,”

forAdonaiis living in Tziyon.

Hoshea (Hos) 1

1 This is the word ofAdonaithat came to Hoshea the son of Be’eri during the reigns of ‘Uziyah, Yotam, Achaz and Y’chizkiyah, kings of Y’hudah, and during the reign of Yarov‘am the son of Yo’ash, king of Isra’el.

2 Adonai’s opening words in speaking to Hoshea were to instruct Hoshea,

“Go, marry a whore,

and have children with this whore;

for the land is engaged in flagrant whoring,

whoring away fromAdonai.”

3 So he went and married Gomer the daughter of Divlayim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

4 Adonaisaid to him, “Call him Yizre‘el, because in only a short time I will punish the house of Yehu for having shed blood at Yizre‘el; I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Isra’el.

5 When that day comes, I will break the bow of Isra’el in the Yizre‘el Valley.”

6 She conceived again and bore a daughter.Adonaisaid to him, “Name her Lo-Ruchamah [unpitied], for I will no longer have pity on the house of Isra’el. By no means will I forgive them.

7 But I will pity the house of Y’hudah; I will save them not by bow, sword, battle, horses or cavalry, but byAdonaitheir God.”

8 After weaning Lo-Ruchamah, she conceived and bore a son.

9 Adonaisaid, “Name him Lo-‘Ammi [not-my-people], because you are not my people, and I will not be your [God].

Hoshea (Hos) 2

1 “Nevertheless, the people of Isra’el will number as many as the grains of sand by the sea, which cannot be measured or counted; so that the time will come when, instead of being told, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said to them, ‘You are the children of the living God.’

2 Then the people of Y’hudah and the people of Isra’el will be gathered together; they will appoint for themselves one leader; and they will go up out of the land; for that will be a great day, [the day] of Yizre‘el.

3 “Say to your brothers, ‘Ammi[My People]!’

and to your sisters, ‘Ruchamah[Pitied]!’

4 Rebuke your mother, rebuke her;

for she isn’t my wife, and I’m not her husband.

She must remove her whoring from her face,

and her adulteries from between her breasts.

5 Otherwise, I will strip her naked

and place her as she was the day she was born,

make her like a desert, place her like a dry land

and kill her with thirst.

6 I will have no pity on her children,

for they are children of whoring —

7 their mother prostituted herself,

she who conceived them behaved shamelessly;

she said, ‘I will pursue my lovers,

who give me my food and water,

wool, flax, olive oil and wine.’

8 Therefore, I will block her way with thorns

and put up a hedge so she can’t find her paths.

9 She will pursue her lovers but not catch them.

She will seek them but won’t find them.

Then she will say, ‘I will go

and return to my first husband;

because things were better for me then

than they are now.’

10 For she doesn’t know it was I who gave her

the grain, the wine and the oil;

I who increased her silver and gold,

which they used for Ba‘al.

11 So I will take back my grain at harvest-time

and my wine in its season;

I will snatch away my wool and flax,

given to cover her naked body.

12 Now I will uncover her shame,

while her lovers watch;

and no one will save her from me.

13 I will end her happiness,

her festivals,Rosh-Hodesh, andshabbats,

and all her designated times.

14 I will ravage her vines and fig trees,

of which she says, ‘These are my wages

that my lovers have given me.’

But I will turn them into a forest,

and wild animals will eat them.

15 I will punish her for offering incense

on the feast days of theba‘alim,

when she decked herself with her earrings and jewels,

pursuing her lovers and forgetting me,” saysAdonai.

16 “But now I am going to woo her —

I will bring her out to the desert

and I will speak to her heart.

17 I will give her her vineyards from there

and the Akhor Valley as a gateway to hope.

She will respond there as she did when young,

as she did when she came up from Egypt.

18 “On that day,” saysAdonai

“you will call meIshi[My Husband];

you will no longer call meBa‘ali[My Master].

19 For I will remove the names

of theba‘alimfrom her mouth;

they will never again be mentioned by name.

20 When that day comes, I will make

a covenant for them

with the wild animals, the birds in the air

and the creeping things of the earth.

I will break bow and sword,

sweep battle from the land,

and make them lie down securely.

21 I will betroth you to me forever;

yes, I will betroth you to me

in righteousness, in justice,

in grace and in compassion;

22 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness,

and you will knowAdonai.

23 When that day comes,

I will answer,” saysAdonai

“I will answer the sky,

and it will answer the earth;

24 the earth will answer the corn, wine and oil,

and they will answerYizre‘el[God will sow].

25 I will sow her for me in the land.

I will have pity onLo-Ruchamah[Unpitied];

I will say toLo-‘Ammi[Not-My-People], ‘You are my people’;

and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

Hoshea (Hos) 3

1 Adonaisaid to me, “Go once more, and show love to [this] wife [of yours] who has been loved by her boyfriend, to this adulteress — just asAdonailoves the people of Isra’el, even though they turn to other gods and love the raisin cakes [offered to them].”

2 So I bought her back for myself with fifteen pieces of silver and eight bushels of barley .

3 Then I told her, “You are to remain in seclusion for a long time and be mine. You are not to be a prostitute, and you are not to be with any other man; and I won’t come in to have sex with you either.”

4 For the people of Isra’el are going to be in seclusion for a long time without a king, prince, sacrifice, standing-stone, ritual vest or household gods.

5 Afterwards, the people of Isra’el will repent and seekAdonaitheir God and David their king; they will come trembling toAdonaiand his goodness in theacharit-hayamim.

Hoshea (Hos) 4

1 Hear the word ofAdonai,

people of Isra’el!

ForAdonaihas a grievance

against the inhabitants of the land:

there is no truth, no faithful love

or knowledge of God in the land;

2 only swearing and lying, killing and stealing

and committing adultery!

They break all bounds, with one blood crime

following another.

3 Therefore the land mourns,

and everyone living there languishes,

wild animals too, and the birds in the air;

even the fish in the sea are removed.

4 But no one should quarrel or rebuke,

because your people are having to quarrel with thecohen.

5 Therefore you will stumble by day,

and the prophet will stumble with you at night.

“I will destroy your mother.

6 My people are destroyed for want of knowledge.

Because you rejected knowledge,

I will also reject you ascohenfor me.

Because you forgot theTorahof your God,

I will also forget your children.

7 The more they increased in number,

the more they sinned against me.

I will change their glory into shame.

8 They feed on the sin of my people

and are greedy for their crimes.

9 But thecohenwill fare

no better than the people;

I will punish him for his ways

and pay him back for his deeds.

10 They will eat but not have enough

and consort with whores but have no children,

because they stopped listening toAdonai.

11 Whoring and wine, both old and new,

take away my people’s wits.

12 My people consult their piece of wood,

their diviner’s wand speaks to them;

for the spirit of whoring makes them err,

they go off whoring, deserting their God.

13 They sacrifice on the mountain peaks

and offer incense on the hills

under oaks, poplars and pistachio trees;

because they give good shade.

Therefore your daughters behave like whores,

And your daughters-in-law commit adultery.

14 I won’t punish your daughters when they act like whores,

or your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery;

because the men are themselves going off with whores

and sacrificing with prostitutes.

Yes, a people without understanding

will come to ruin.”

15 If you, Isra’el, prostitute yourself,

still Y’hudah has no need to incur such guilt.

Don’t go to Gilgal or up to Beit-Aven,

and don’t swear, “AsAdonailives.”

16 For Isra’el is stubborn as a stubborn cow;

willAdonainow feed them like a lamb in a big pasture?

17 Efrayim is joined to idols;

let him alone!

18 When they finish carousing, they start their whoring;

their rulers deeply love dishonor.

19 The wind will carry them off in its wings

and their sacrifices bring them nothing but shame.

Hoshea (Hos) 5

1 “Hear this,cohanim!

Pay attention, house of Isra’el!

Listen, house of the king!

For judgment is coming to you.

You have become a snare for Mitzpah

and a net spread on Tavor.

2 The rebels have deepened their slaughter,

and I am rejected by all of them.

3 “I know Efrayim;

Isra’el is not hidden from me;

for now, Efrayim, you are a whore;

Isra’el is defiled.”

4 Their deeds will not allow them

to return to their God,

for the spirit of whoring is in them,

and they don’t knowAdonai.

5 Isra’el’s arrogance will testify in his face;

Isra’el and Efrayim will stumble in their crimes;

Y’hudah too will stumble with them.

6 With their flocks and herds

they will go in search ofAdonai.

But they won’t find him;

he has withdrawn from them.

7 They have betrayedAdonai,

by fathering foreign children.

Now within the month the invaders

will devour their lands.

8 “Blow theshofarin Giv‘ah,

a trumpet at Ramah;

sound an alarm at Beit-Aven:

‘Behind you, Binyamin!’

9 Efrayim will be laid waste

when the day for punishment comes;

I am announcing to the tribes of Isra’el

what will surely happen.

10 The leaders of Y’hudah are like men

who move boundary stones;

I will pour my fury out

upon them like water.

11 Efrayim is oppressed, crushed by the judgment,

because he deliberately sought out futility.

12 Therefore I am like a moth to Efrayim

and like rottenness to the house of Y’hudah.

13 When Efrayim saw his sickness

and Y’hudah his wound,

Efrayim went to Ashur

and sent envoys to a warring king;

but he can’t heal you

or cure your wound.

14 For to Efrayim I will be like a lion,

and like a young lion to the house of Y’hudah —

I will tear them up and go away;

I will carry them off, and no one will rescue.

15 I will go and return to my place,

till they admit their guilt and search for me,

seeking me eagerly in their distress.”