Part 587 (2/2)

6:9. And if there remain ten men in one house, they also shall die.

6:10. And a man's kinsman shall take him up, and shall burn him, that he may carry the bones out of the house; and he shall say to him that is in the inner rooms of the house: Is there yet any with thee?

6:11. And he shall answer: There is an end. And he shall say to him: Hold thy peace, and mention not the name of the Lord.

6:12. For behold the Lord hath commanded, and he will strike the greater house with breaches, and the lesser house with clefts.

6:13. Can horses run upon the rocks, or can any one plough with buffles?

for you have turned judgment into bitterness, and the fruit of justice into wormwood.

6:14. You that rejoice in a thing of nought: you that say: Have we not taken unto us horns by our own strength?

6:15. But behold, I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel, saith the Lord the G.o.d of hosts; and they shall destroy you from the entrance of Emath, even to the torrent of the desert.

Amos Chapter 7

The prophet sees, in three visions, evils coming upon Israel: he is accused of treason by the false priest of Bethel.

7:1. These things the Lord G.o.d shewed to me: and behold the locust was formed in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter rain, and lo, it was the latter rain after the king's mowing.

The locust, etc... These judgments by locusts and fire, which, by the prophet's intercession, were moderated, signify the former invasions of the a.s.syrians under Phul and Theglathphalasar, before the utter desolation of Israel by Salmanasar.

7:2. And it came to pa.s.s, that when they had made an end of eating the gra.s.s of the land, I said: O Lord G.o.d, be merciful, I beseech thee: who shall raise up Jacob, for he is very little?

7:3. The Lord had pity upon this: It shall not be, said the Lord.

7:4. These things the Lord G.o.d shewed to me: and behold the Lord called for judgment unto fire, and it devoured the great deep, and ate up a part at the same time.

7:5. And I said: O Lord G.o.d, cease, I beseech thee, who shall raise up Jacob, for he is a little one?

7:6. The Lord had pity upon this. Yea this also shall not be, said the Lord G.o.d.

7:7. These things the Lord shewed to me: and behold the Lord was standing upon a plastered wall, and in his hand a mason's trowel.

7:8. And the Lord said to me: What seest thou, Amos? And I said: A mason's trowel. And the Lord said: Behold, I will lay down the trowel in the midst of my people Israel. I will plaster them over no more.

7:9. And the high places of the idol shall be thrown down, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste: and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.

7:10. And Amasias the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying: Amos hath rebelled against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.

7:11. For thus saith Amos: Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall be carried away captive out of their own land.

Jeroboam shall die by the sword... The prophet did not say this; but that the Lord would rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword: which was verified, when Zacharias, the son and successor of Jeroboam, was slain by the sword. 4 Kings 15.10.

7:12. And Amasias said to Amos: Thou seer, go, flee away into the land of Juda: and eat bread there, and prophesy there.

7:13. But prophesy not again any more in Bethel: because it is the king's sanctuary, and it is the house of the kingdom.

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