And swept away before you all the Amorites,
Whose height was like the cedars, and their strength like oaks;
Yet I destroyed their fruit above and roots beneath.
I raised up some of your sons to be prophets
And some of your youths to be Nazarites.
Is not this so, O Israel?
But the Nazirites you made to drink wine,
And commanded the prophets: 'Cease preaching!"
It is I who will press down upon you
As presses a cart full of sheaves.
There shall be no escape for the swift,
The strongest shall find his strength futile,
The warrior shall not save his life,
Nor shall the skilled bowman stand,
Nor the fleet of foot get away,
Nor the mounted escape alive;
And the bravest of all heroes
Naked shall flee on that day!
159. THE SOURCE OF THE PROPHET'S AUTHORITY
Hear this word that Jehovah has spoken against you, O Israelites:
You alone have I known of all races on earth,
I will punish you, therefore, for all your misdeeds.
Do two walk together unless they agree?
Does a lion roar in the forest without prey?
Or a young lion growl in his den without spoil?
Does a bird fall to earth if there is no net?
Does a trap spring up from the ground and catch noth-
ing?
When a trumpet is blown, will the people not tremble?
Can ruin strike a city and Jehovah not have caused it?
Surely Jehovah the Lord makes no plan
That he does not reveal to his servants the prophets.
The lion has roared; who does not fear?
Jehovah has spoken; who can but prophesy?
160. THE CRIMES THAT UTTERLY DESTROY A NATION
Proclaim on the towers in Ashdod,
And over Egypt's palaces;
Gather on Samaria's hilltops,
And there see confusion manifold,
In its midst, acts of oppression!
For they know not how to do right,
They keep heaping up in their palaces
The fruits of violence and robbery.
Therefore Jehovah declares:
‘A foe shall invest the land,
And your wall of defense be thrown down,
And your palaces shall all be plundered.
As a shepherd saves from a lion's jaws
Two shin-bones or the tip of an ear,
So shall the Israelites be saved-
They who sit there in Samaria
On the corner of a couch
Or on a silken divan!'
'Hear and warn the house of Jacob,'
Declares Jehovah, the God of hosts,
‘On the day when I punish Israel's crimes,
I will also destroy the altars of Bethel,
The horns of the altar shall be broken,
They shall fall in ruins upon the ground.
I will smite the winter and summer houses;
The houses of ivory too shall crumble,
And the palaces be swept away.'-
Jehovah has spoken.
Listen, you cows of Bashan,
There on Samaria's hilltop,
Who oppress the poor
And crush the needy;
You who say to your husbands,
'Bring plenty that we may drink!'
Jehovah has sworn by his holiness:
'Behold the days are coming,
When you shall be taken with hooks,
The last of you with fish-hooks.
Through the breaches you shall go,
As captives, cast out naked.'
Jehovah has spoken.
161. THE ONLY WAY TO WIN DIVINE APPROVAL
Seek Jehovah and live,
Lest a fire break out in Israel,
And devour, with none to quench it.
You who turn justice to wormwood,
Casting righteousness to the ground,
And hate him who protests in court,
And loathe one who speaks the truth,
Because you tread down the poor,
And exact from them taxes in grain,
You may build yourselves homes of hewn stone,
But you shall not live in them.
You may set out charming vineyards,
But you shall not drink their wine.
For I know your many crimes,
And how heinous are your sins,
You foes of the righteous, you bribe-takers!
Who deprive the poor of their rights!
Therefore at such a time
The prudent man keeps silent,
For it is an evil day.
Seek good and not evil, that you may live,
That Jehovah, the God of hosts,
May be with you as you claim.
Hate evil and love what is good,
In the courts establish justice;
Perhaps Jehovah of hosts
Will be kind to the remnant of Israel.
Alas! you who long for the day of Jehovah!
What is the day of Jehovah to you?
It is darkness, without any light;
As when one flees from a lion,
And then a bear confronts him,
Or as when one goes into his house,
And lays his hand on the wall,
And a serpent is there to bite him!
Shall Jehovah's day not be darkness,
Utter darkness with no ray of light?
I hate, I despise your festivals,
And take no delight in your feasts,
Though you bring to me burnt-offerings.
I will not accept your gifts,
Nor look at the beasts you offer.
Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not hear the strum of your harps;
But let justice roll on as a flood,
And right as a rushing stream!
162. THE BETRAYERS OF THE NATION
Woe to the careless rulers of Zion,
The confident ones on Samaria's hilltop,
The lords of the first of all the nations,
To whom the Israelites resort!
They recline on ivory couches,
And lie sprawled upon their divans,
They eat the lambs from the flock,
And calves from out the stall.
Like David they chant to the lyre,
They invent new musical instruments,
They drink wine by the bowlful,
And anoint themselves with fine oils.
They weep not over Israel's ruin!.
So now they shall go into exile,
At the head of a line of captives,
And the revellers' din shall cease.
Can horses run on a cliff?
Does one plow the sea with oxen,
That you turn justice to poison,
And the fruit of uprightness to wormwood?
You who rejoice over nothing,
And boast, 'Have we not by our strength
Made ourselves now irresistible?'
Jehovah of hosts declares:
'I am raising up against you,
O house of Israel, a nation,
To harass you from Hamath's pass
To the brook on the edge of the desert.'
163. THE REJECTION OF AMOS'S MESSAGE
The Lord Jehovah showed me,
And I saw him forming locusts,
When the aftergrowth scarce was up.
And when they were making an end
Of devouring the grass of the land,
I said, 'O Jehovah, forgive!
How can Jacob stand this,
For indeed he is so small?'
At this Jehovah relented;
'It shall not be,' he declared.
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