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Amos 4
New King James Version

### God’s Punishments Have Not Reformed Israel

4 Hear this word, you (A)cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria,
Who oppress the (B)poor,
Who crush the needy,
Who say to [a]your husbands, “Bring wine, let us (C)drink!”
2 (D)The Lord God has sworn by His holiness:
“Behold, the days shall come upon you
When He will take you away (E)with fishhooks,
And your posterity with fishhooks.
3 (F)You will go out through broken walls,
Each one straight ahead of her,
And you will [b]be cast into Harmon,”
Says the Lord.

4 “Come(G) to Bethel and transgress,
At (H)Gilgal multiply transgression;
(I)Bring your sacrifices every morning,
(J)Your tithes every three [c]days.
5 (K)Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven,
Proclaim and announce (L)the freewill offerings;
For this you love,
You children of Israel!”
Says the Lord God.

### Israel Did Not Accept Correction

6 “Also I gave you [d]cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
And lack of bread in all your places;
(M)Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord.

7 “I also withheld rain from you,
When there were 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 “I(N) blasted you with blight and mildew.
When your gardens increased,
Your vineyards,
Your fig trees,
And your olive trees,
(O)The locust devoured them;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord.

10 “I sent among you a plague (P)after 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 (Q)Sodom 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,
(R)Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

13 For behold,
He who forms mountains,
And creates the [e]wind,
(S)Who declares to man what [f]his thought is,
And makes the morning darkness,
(T)Who treads the high places of the earth—
(U)The Lord God of hosts is His name.

#### Footnotes

1. Amos 4:1 Lit. their masters or lords
2. Amos 4:3 Or cast them
3. Amos 4:4 Or years, Deut. 14:28
4. Amos 4:6 Hunger
5. Amos 4:13 Or spirit
6. Amos 4:13 Or His

#### Cross references

1. Amos 4:1 : Ps. 22:12; Ezek. 39:18
2. Amos 4:1 : Amos 2:6
3. Amos 4:1 : Prov. 23:20
4. Amos 4:2 : Ps. 89:35
5. Amos 4:2 : Jer. 16:16; Ezek. 29:4; Hab. 1:15
6. Amos 4:3 : Ezek. 12:5
7. Amos 4:4 : Ezek. 20:39; Amos 3:14
8. Amos 4:4 : Hos. 4:15
9. Amos 4:4 : Num. 28:3; Amos 5:21, 22
10. Amos 4:4 : Deut. 14:28
11. Amos 4:5 : Lev. 7:13
12. Amos 4:5 : Lev. 22:18; Deut. 12:6
13. Amos 4:6 : 2 Chr. 28:22; Is. 26:11; Jer. 5:3; Hag. 2:17
14. Amos 4:9 : Deut. 28:22; Hag. 2:17
15. Amos 4:9 : Joel 1:4, 7; Amos 7:1, 2
16. Amos 4:10 : Ex. 9:3, 6; Lev. 26:25; Deut. 28:27, 60; Ps. 78:50
17. Amos 4:11 : Gen. 19:24, 25; Deut. 29:23; Is. 13:19; Jer. 49:18; Lam. 4:6
18. Amos 4:12 : Jer. 5:22
19. Amos 4:13 : Ps. 139:2; Dan. 2:28
20. Amos 4:13 : Mic. 1:3
21. Amos 4:13 : Is. 47:4; Jer. 10:16

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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