eng_aiv Amundson Interpretive Version Amos Amos Amos Amos Amos id=eng_aiv name=Amundson Interpretive Version (AIV) status=draft spec=USFM-USX 3.1.1 export=2026-11-02 char:add=translator-addition-italic char:wj=words-of-Jesus-as-received-unmapped note:f=footnotes para:r=parallel-passage-references para:d=psalm-superscriptions Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors (Jeremiah 12:14–17) The words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders1.1 Or sheep breeders from Tekoa—that which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash1.1 Joash is a variant of Jehoash king of Israel, two years1.1 Or during the two years before the earthquake. And he said: “YHWH roars from Zion, and from Jerusalem He gives forth His voice. And the pastures of the shepherds withers and the head of Carmel mourn.” Thus says YHWH: “Over three transgressions of Damascus, even over four, I will not turn back—1.3 Or I will not revoke the punishment; also in verses 6, 9, 11, and 13 over their threshing Gilead with sledges of iron. And I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, and it will devour the citadels of Ben-hadad. And I will break the bar of Damascus, and I will cut off the ruler1.5 Or the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven1.5 Aven means wickedness. and the one holding a scepter from Beth-eden, and the people of Aram will be removed to Kir,” says YHWH. Thus says YHWH: “Over three transgressions of Gaza, even over four, I will not turn back— over their taking captive a whole captivity, delivering them up to Edom. And I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza, and it will devour her citadels. And I will cut off the ruler from Ashdod, and the one holding the scepter from Ashkelon. And I will turn My hand upon Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,” says the Lord YHWH. Thus says YHWH: “Over three transgressions of Tyre, even over four, I will not turn back— over their delivering up the whole captivity to Edom, and they did not remember the covenant of brotherhood! And I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, and it will devour her citadels.” Thus says YHWH: “Over three transgressions of Edom, even over four, I will not turn back— over his pursuing with the sword his brother, and he destroyed his compassion and tore perpetually with his anger, and his wrath he guarded forever! And I will send a fire on Teman, and it will devour the citadels of Bozrah!” Thus says YHWH: “Over three transgressions of the sons of Ammon, even over four, I will not turn back— over their ripping open the pregnant women of Gilead, so that they might enlarge their border! And I will kindle a fire upon the wall of Rabbah, and it will devour her citadels, with a shout in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind! And their king will go into exile—1.15 Possibly Milcom will go into exile; Milcom, also called Molech, was god of the Ammonites; see Leviticus 18:21 and 1 Kings 11:7. he and his princes together,” says YHWH. Judgment on Moab, Judah, and Israel Thus says YHWH: “Over three transgressions of Moab, even over four, I will not turn back—2.1 Or I will not revoke the punishment; also in verses 4 and 6 over his burning the bones of the king of Edom to lime! And I will send a fire on Moab, and it will devour the citadels of Kerioth; and Moab will die with a roar, with shouting, with the voice of the shofar. And I will cut off the judge from her midst, and all her princes I will kill with him,” says YHWH. Thus says YHWH: “Over three transgressions of Judah, even over four, I will not turn back— over their rejecting the law of YHWH, and they did not keep His commandments, and their lies have led them astray, after which their fathers have walked! And I will send a fire on Judah, and it will devour the citadels of Jerusalem.” Thus says YHWH: “Over three transgressions of Israel, even over four, I will not turn back— over their selling the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals. They pant after the dust of the earth on the heads of the poor, out of their way they stretch aside the humble, and a man and his father go into the same girl, in order to defile the name of My holiness. And on clothes taken in pledge they stretch out beside every altar, and the wine of those having been fined2.8 Or the wine obtained through fines they drink in the house of their God.2.8 Or of their gods And I—I have destroyed the Amorite before their faces, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the Oaks; and I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath. And I brought you⁺ up from the land of Egypt, and I led you⁺ in the wilderness forty years, to possess the land of the Amorite. And I raised up some of your⁺ sons as prophets, and some of your⁺ young men as Nazirites. Indeed, Is it not thus, O sons of Israel?” An utterance of YHWH. “And the Nazirites you⁺ made to drink wine, and regarding the prophets you⁺ commanded, saying, ‘You⁺ will not prophesy.’ Behold, I am going to press you⁺ under, as a cart full of sheaves presses down. And flight will perish from the swift, and the strong will not strengthen his power, and the mighty will not deliver his soul. And the one handling the bow will not stand, and the one swift in his feet will not escape, and the one riding a horse will not deliver his soul; and the strong in his heart among the mighty ones will flee naked on that day,” a declaration of YHWH. Witnesses against Israel Hear this word that YHWH has spoken against you⁺, O sons of Israel, against all the family that I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying: “Only you⁺ have I known3.2 Or chosen from all of the families of the earth; upon thus I will visit punishment on you⁺ for all your⁺ iniquities.” Can two walk together, unless they have agreed?3.3 Or unless they have an appointment to meet Does a lion roar in the forest and no prey is unto him? Does a young lion give forth his voice from his den, unless he has captured? Does a bird fall into a trap on the earth and no snare is unto it? Does a trap spring up from the ground and it has captured no prey? If a shofar is blown in the city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not YHWH sent it? Surely the Lord YHWH will not do a thing, that unless He reveals His plan to His servants the prophets. A lion has roared— who will not fear? The Lord YHWH has spoken— who will not prophesy? Let it be heard in the citadels of Ashdod, and in the citadels in the land of Egypt, and say: “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see great tumults in her midst, and the oppressed among her.” “And they know not to do right—” a declaration of YHWH “Those storing up violence and plunder in their palaces.” Therefore, thus says the Lord YHWH: “An enemy3.11 Or An adversary will surround the land, and he will bring down from you your strongholds and plunder your citadels.” Thus says YHWH: “As a shepherd delivers from the mouth of a lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so will be delivered the sons of Israel, those dwelling in Samaria, with the corner of a bed, or the cushion of a couch!3.12 Or so will the Israelites be snatched away, those who sit in Samaria on the edge of their beds and in Damascus on their couches Hear and testify against the house of Jacob, a declaration of the Lord YHWH, the God of Hosts, that on the day of my visiting punishment for the transgressions of Israel upon him, then will I visit punishment on the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar will be cut off, and they will fall to the ground. And I will destroy the house of winter with the house of summer, and the houses of ivory will perish, and the great houses will be swept away,” a declaration of YHWH. Punishment Brings No Repentance Hear this word, O cows of Bashan who are on the mountain of Samaria, those oppressing the poor, those crushing the needy, those saying to their lords, “Bring in, and let us drink!” The Lord YHWH has sworn by His holiness that, “Behold, the days are coming upon you⁺ and He will lift you⁺ up with hooks, and what is left of you⁺ with hooks for fishing! And through the breaches you⁺ will go out, each woman straight ahead of her, and you⁺ will be cast out to Harmon,4.3 That is, possibly Mount Hermon” a declaration of YHWH. “Go to Bethel and rebel, at Gilgal multiply rebelling, and bring your⁺ sacrifices in the morning, your⁺ tithes every three days.4.4 Or years And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and call out the freewill offerings—proclaim that— for this you⁺ love, O sons of Israel,” a declaration of the Lord YHWH. “Also I have given to you⁺ cleanness of teeth4.6 That is, with empty stomachs in all your⁺ cities, and lack of bread in all your⁺ stations, and you⁺ have not returned to Me,” a declaration of YHWH. “Also I have withheld from you⁺ the rain while still were three months until the harvest. And I made it rain on one city, and on one city I did not send rain; the one portion was rained on, and the portion where it did not rain upon it withered. And they would stagger off two or three cities to one city, to drink water, and they were not satisfied— and still you⁺ have returned not to Me!” An utterance of YHWH. “I struck you⁺ with blight and with mildew in your growing your⁺ gardens and your⁺ vineyards and your⁺ fig trees and your⁺ olive trees. The locust devoured and you⁺ have not returned to Me,” a declaration of YHWH. “I sent among you⁺ a plague in the manner of Egypt; I killed your⁺ young men with the sword, along with the captivity of your⁺ horses. And the stench of your⁺ camps I even made come up to your⁺ nostrils! And you⁺ have not returned to Me,” a declaration of YHWH. “I overthrew some among you⁺, like the overthrow by God of Sodom and Gomorrah, and you⁺ were like a firebrand4.11 Or a burning stick delivered from the burning— and you⁺ have not returned to Me,” a declaration of YHWH. “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel, because this I am doing to you: Prepare to meet your God, O Israel! For, behold, the One forming mountains and creating the wind, and the One declaring to man what His thoughts, and the One making the morning darkness, and the One treading on the high places of the earth, YHWH, God of Hosts, is His name.” A Lamentation against Israel Hear this word that I take up against you⁺ as a lamentation, O house of Israel: “She has fallen; she will not again rise, the virgin of Israel— for she lies forsaken on her land, with no one to raise her up.” For thus says the Lord YHWH: “The city marching out as a thousand will have left a hundred, and the one marching out as a hundred will have left ten of the house of Israel.” A Call to Repentance (Joel 1:13–20; Zephaniah 2:1–3; Luke 13:1–5) For thus says YHWH to the house of Israel: “Seek Me and live! And do not seek Bethel, and do not come to Gilgal, and do not cross over to Beersheba; for Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will come to Aven!5.5 That is, will come to nothing, a reference to Beth-aven, a derogatory term for Bethel; see Hosea 4:15. Seek YHWH and live, lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, with no one to quench it in Bethel. You who are turning justice into wormwood and laying to rest righteousness in the earth— the One making the Pleiades and Orion, and the One turning into the morning the shadow of death, and making the day dark as night, the One calling to the waters of the sea, and pouring them over the face of the earth— YHWH is His name— the One flashing destruction upon the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress. They hate the one reproving in the gate, and the one speaking virtuously, they abhor. Therefore, because of your⁺ treading down upon the poor, and the tribute of grain you⁺ take from him— you⁺ have built houses of hewn stone, and you⁺ will not dwell in them; you⁺ have planted vineyards of delight, and you⁺ will not drink their wine. Indeed, I know how many are your⁺ transgressions and how mighty your⁺ sins— you afflicting the righteous, taking bribes, and stretching aside the poor at the gate. Therefore, the one acting prudently at that time will keep silent, for it is an evil time. Seek good and not evil, so that you⁺ may live; and it will come to pass that YHWH, God of Hosts, is with you⁺, as you⁺ have spoken. Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate! Perhaps YHWH God of Hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.” Woe to Rebellious Israel (Acts 7:39–43) Therefore, thus says YHWH God of Hosts, the Lord: “In all the public squares will be wailing, and in all the streets they will say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ And they will call the farmer to mourning, and those knowing lamentation to wailing, and in all the vineyards wailing, for I will pass over in your midst!” Says YHWH. Woe to those desiring the day of YHWH, for what is this to you⁺—the day of YHWH? It is darkness and not light, as when a man flees from a lion and a bear meets him, or he comes into the house and leans his hand on the wall, and a snake bites him. Is not the day of YHWH darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it? “I hate—I despise—your⁺ feast s, and I do not savor in your⁺ solemn assemblies! Even though burnt offerings and grain offerings you⁺ send up to Me, l will not accept them, and the peace offering of your⁺ fatlings I will not regard. Turn aside from Me the noise of your songs, and the music of your harps I will not hear. And let justice roll like the waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Sacrifices and offerings did you⁺ bring near to Me in the wilderness those forty years, O house of Israel? You⁺ have taken along Sikkuth your⁺ king and Kaiwan your⁺ idols, the star of your⁺ gods that you⁺ have made for yourselves. 5.26 LXX You have taken along the tabernacle of Molech and the star of your god Rephan And I will send you⁺ into exile beyond Damascus,”5.27 Cited in Acts 7:42–43 says YHWH—the God of Hosts is His name! Woe to Those at Ease in Zion (Luke 6:24–26) Woe to those at ease in Zion, and in Mount Samaria, leaders of the foremost of the nations; the house of Israel comes to them. Cross over to Calneh and see, and go from there to Hamath the great, and go down to Gath of the Philistines— are you better than these kingdoms, or is their territory greater than your⁺ territory— who are putting away the day of disaster, and who cause to come near the seat of violence, those laying down on beds of ivory and stretching out on their couches, and eating lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall, those singing foolishly over the mouth of the harp, like David, devising for themselves all manner of song; those drinking from bowls of wine, and with the finest ointments they anoint themselves— and they are not grieved over the breach of Joseph! Therefore now they will be removed at the head of the captives, and will be turned aside the feasting and lounging. The Pride of Israel The Lord YHWH has sworn by Himself, a declaration of YHWH, the God of Hosts, “I abhor the pride of Jacob, and his citadels I hate! And I will deliver up the city and its fullness.” And if ten men should remain in a single house, then It will come to pass that they also will die. And his loved one lifts him up, even his burner, to bring out the bones from the house; and he will say to the one inside the house, “Are there any with you?” And he will say, “None.” And he will say, “Hush, for must not make mention of the name of YHWH.” For behold, YHWH is giving a command, and He will strike the great house to pieces, and the little house to bits! “Do horses run on the rock? Or does one plow there6.12 Or Does one plow the sea with the oxen? Yet you⁺ have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood, being glad in Lo-debar, saying, ‘Is it not by our own strength that we have taken for ourselves Karnaim?6.13 Lo-debar means nothing.’ 6.13 Karnaim means horn, a symbol of strength. For behold, I am raising up against you⁺ a nation, O house of Israel,” a declaration of YHWH, the God of Hosts, “And they will oppress you⁺ from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah!” The Locusts, Fire, and Plumb Line (Joel 2:1–11) Thus the Lord YHWH showed me: And behold, he is forming locusts at the beginning of the coming up of the latter growth, and behold, the late crop after the mowings of the king.7.1 LXX A swarm of locusts coming from the east; and, behold, one grasshopper, king Gog. And it came to pass, when it had finished eating the grass of the land, that I said, “Lord YHWH, forgive, please! How can Jacob arise, for he is small?” YHWH relented concerning this: “It will not come to pass,” said YHWH. Thus has the Lord YHWH shown me: And behold, the Lord YHWH was calling to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and it was devouring the portion. And I said, “Lord YHWH, cease, please! How can Jacob arise, for he is small?” YHWH relented concerning this: “It also will not come to pass,” said the Lord YHWH. Thus He has shown me: And behold, the Lord was standing by a wall true to plumb, and in His hand was a plumb line. And YHWH said to me: “What are you seeing, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.” And the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel; I will not continue any longer to pass over him. And the high places of Isaac will be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste; and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.” Amaziah Accuses Amos And Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying: “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos has said: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go into exile away from his land!’” And Amaziah said to Amos: “Seer, go! Flee for yourself to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there. And at Bethel you will not continue to prophesy anymore, for it is the sanctuary of the king, and it is the house of the kingdom.” And Amos answered and said to Amaziah, “I was not7.14 Or I am not a prophet, nor was I the son7.14 Or nor am I the son of a prophet, but I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees. And YHWH took me away from following the herd, and YHWH said to me: ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’ And now, hear the word of YHWH: You are saying, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not drop against the house of Isaac.’ Therefore, thus says YHWH: ‘Your wife will be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. And your land will be divided by a line and You will die in an unclean land,7.17 Or on pagan soil and Israel will surely go into exile away from his land!’” The Basket of Summer Fruit Thus the Lord YHWH has shown me: And behold, a basket of summer fruit.8.1 Or ripe fruit; also in verse 2 And He said, “What are you seeing, Amos?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” And YHWH said to me: “The end has come for My people Israel! I will not continue anymore to pass over him.” “And they will wail the songs8.3 Or the singing women of the temple8.3 Or the palace on that day,” a declaration of the Lord YHWH. “Many a corpse in every place is strewn! Silence!” Hear this, those swallowing up the needy and causing to cease the poor of the land, saying, “When will the New Moon pass, so that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath, that we may trade wheat, making small the ephah and making large the shekel,8.5 Or reducing the measure and increasing the price and cheating with scales of deceit, to acquire the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, even selling the chaff with the wheat?” YHWH has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “I will not forget to the end any of their works. Over this, will the land not quake, and all dwelling in it will mourn? And all of it will rise up like the River and it will surge and subside like the River of Egypt. And it will come to pass in that day, a declaration of the Lord YHWH, that I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will bring darkness to the earth in the daytime light. And I will turn your⁺ feasts to mourning, and all your⁺ songs to lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth over all loins, and baldness on every head, and I will set it like mourning for an only son, and its end like a day most bitter! Behold, the days are coming, a declaration of the Lord YHWH, and I will send a famine on the land: Not a famine of bread and not a thirst for water, but rather of hearing the words of YHWH. And they will wander from sea to sea, and they will roam about from the north to the east, seeking the word of YHWH, and they will not find it. On that day, the beautiful virgins will faint— and the young men—from thirst. Those swearing by the guilt of Samaria, and having said, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’ and ‘as lives the way8.14 Or the god of Beersheba,’ they will fall, and they will not rise again!” The Destruction of Israel I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the doorposts and the thresholds will shake, and break them on the head of them all, and the last of them I will kill with the sword. No one fleeing can flee from them, and no fugative will escape from them. If they dig into Sheol, from there my hand will take them, and if they go up to the heavens, from there I will bring them down. And if they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search and will take them; and if they hide from My eyes at the bottom of the sea, from there I will command the serpent,9.3 Hebrew nachash; translated in most cases as snake and it will bite them! And if they go into captivity before the face of their enemies, from there I will command the sword, and it will kill them; and I will set My eyes on them for harm and not for good!” And the Lord YHWH of Hosts— the One touching the earth and it melts, and all those dwelling on it mourn, and all of it swells like the River, and it sinks like the River of Egypt, the One building His upper chambers in the heaven, and having founded His vault upon the earth, the One calling to the waters of the sea, and He pours them out upon the face of the earth— YHWH is His name! “Are you⁺ not like the sons of the Cushites to Me, O sons of Israel?” An utterance of YHWH. “Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor,9.7 That is, people from the upper Nile region and Aram from Kir? 9.7 That is, Crete Behold, the eyes of the Lord YHWH are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth— except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob.” An utterance of YHWH. “For behold, I am giving the command, and I will shake among all the nations the house of Israel, as it is shaken in a sieve, and not a pebble will fall to the ground. By the sword they will die— all the sinful ones of My people, those saying, ‘This evil will not come near or meet with us.’” A Promise of Restoration (Acts 15:5–21) “On that day I will raise up the tent of David that has fallen, and I will wall up its breaches, and its ruins I will raise up, and I will rebuild it as in the days of old, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all of the nations that My name is called over them,”9.12 Hebrew; LXX so that the remnant of men, and all the nations that bear My name, may earnestly seek Me; cited in Acts 15:16–18 a declaration of YHWH, the One doing this. “Behold, the days are coming,” says YHWH, “And the one plowing will draw near to the one reaping, and the one treading the grapes to the one drawing out the seed, and the mountains will drip sweet wine, and all the hills will flow with it. And I will turn back the captivity of My people Israel,9.14 Or restore the fortunes of My people Israel and they will rebuild the cities that are desolate and will dwell in them, and they will plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they will make gardens and eat of their fruit. And I will plant them in their land, and they will not be uprooted anymore from the land that I have given to them,” says YHWH your God.