God's terrible judgments. CHAP. II. Exhortation to repentance with sackcloth for the husband of gloominess, a day of clouds and of her youth.

12 The vine is dried up, and the fig-tree languisheth; the pomegra- 5 Like the noise of chariots on nate-tree, the palm-tree also, and the tops of mountains shall they the apple-tree, even all the trees of leap, like the noise of a flame of the field, are withered: because fire that devoureth the stubble, joy is withered away from the sons as a strong people set in battleof men.

19 O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the 12 T Therefore also now, saith flame hath burned all the trees of the LORD, Turn ye even to me the field. with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

20 The beasts of the field cry also unto thee for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath de- 13 And rend your heart, and not voured the pastures of the wilder-your garments, and turn unto the

Joel prescribeth a fast.

JOEL, The Holy Spirit promised

sanctify a fast, call a solemn as- the LORD your God, and none else. sembly: and my people shall never be

16 Gather the people, sanctify ashamed. the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.

28 1 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see vi sions:

29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.

37 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thy heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where smoke. is their God?

30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of

31 The sun shall be turned into 18 T Then will the LORD be jea-darkness, and the moon into blood, lous for his land, and pity his peo-before the great and the terrible ple. day of the LORD come. 19 Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the hea

then:

20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and

32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be deliver ed: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

CHAP. III. God's severe Judgments, &c. behold, in those days, and

desolate, with his face toward then that time, when I shall bring east sea, and his hinder part ward the utmost sea; and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.

21 Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things.

22 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig-tree and the vine do yield their strength.

23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.

24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.

25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among

you.

again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,

2 I will also gather all nations. and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and wil plead with them there for my peo ple and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

3 And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.

4 Yea, and what have ye to da with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine ? will ye render me a recompense? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head;

5 Because ye have taken my sil ver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly plessant things.

6 The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their

26 And ye shall eat in plenty, border. and be satisfied, and praise the 7 Behold, I will raise them out of name of the LORD your God, that the place whither ye have sold hath dealt wondrously with you: them, and will return your recomand my people shall never be pense upon your own head: ashamed. 8 And I will sell your sons and 27 And ye shall know that I am your daughters into the hand of in the midst of Israel, and that I am the children of Judah, and they

792

God's judgments on CHAP. III. shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it.

91 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:

10 Beat your plough-shares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.

12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.

13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

the Church's enemies. 16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

17 So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

18 1 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.

20 But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.

T AMOS.

CHAP. I. God's Judgments upon Syria, &c. Tamong the herdmen of Tekoa, THE words of Amos, who was which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

2 And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither. 3 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away The punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with hreshing instruments of iron:

4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.

5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabiant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from he house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD. 2 L

34

6 T Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and punishment thereof because they for four, I will not turn away the carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom:

7 But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof:

8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn my hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD.

9 T Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof: because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:

10 But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof.

11 T Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the

793

Judgments upon Moab, &c.

AMOS,

Israel's ingratitude.

punishment thereof: because he wine of the condemned in the did pursue his brother with the house of their god. sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:

12 But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.

13 1 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof: because they have ripped up the women with child, of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border:

14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:

15 And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, saith the LORD."

CHAP. II.

God's Judgments upon Moab, &c. HUS saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:

2 But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet:

3 And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD.

4 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof: because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked:

5 But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.

6 T Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof: because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;

7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:

9 Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.

10 Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilder ness, to possess the land of the Amorite.

11 And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD.

12 But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.

13 Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.

14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself:

15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver kir self: neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.

16 And he that is courageo among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD. CHAP. III. God's Judgments against Isra C HEAR this word that the Lo

hath spoken against you, children of Israel, against th whole family which I brough up from the land of Egypt, ing,

2 You only have I known of t the families of the earth: therefor I will punish you for all your s quities.

3 Can two walk together, exce they be agreed?

4 Will a lion roar in the fores when he hath no prey? will young lion cry out of his den, if have taken nothing?

5 Can a bird fall in a snare u the earth, where no gin is for his shall one take up a snare from t earth, and have taken nothing s all?

6 Shall a trumpet be blown the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in city, and the LORD hath not done it?"

8 And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by 7 Surely the Lord Gop wil every altar, and they drink the do nothing, but he revealeth hi

Israel reproved CHAP. V. for divers sina secret unto his servants the pro-this liketh you, O ye children of phets. Israel, saith the Lord Gon. 8 The lion hath roared, who will 61 And I also have given you not fear? the Lord God hath cleanness of teeth in all your spoken, who can but prophesy? cities, and want of bread in all 9 Publish in the palaces at your places: yet have ye not reAshdod, and in the palaces in the turned unto me, saith the LORD. land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold, the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof. 10 For they know not to do right, saith the LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.

11 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; An adversary there shall be even round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.

12 Thus saith the LORD: As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear: so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.

13 Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,

14 That, in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also visit the altars of Beth-el: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.

15 And I will smite the winterhouse with the summer-house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD.

HE

7 And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.

8 So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

9 I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gar dens and your vineyards and your fig-trees and your olive-trees increased, the palmer-worm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

10 I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

11 I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

12 Therefore, thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.

CHAP. IV. Israel reproved for Oppression, &c. EAR this word, ye kine of 13 For lo, he that formeth the Bashan, that are in the moun-mountains, and createth the wind, tain of Samaria, which oppress the and declareth unto man what is which crush the needy, his thought, that maketh the mornwhich say to their masters, Bring, ing darkness, and treadeth upon and let us drink. the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is h's name.

poor,

2 The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity fish-hooks.

entance

CHAP. V. An Exhortation to Repentance. word which I

stent with shall go out at the H take up against you, even a

breaches, every cow at that which lamentation, O house of Israel. is before her; and ye shall cast them 2 The virgin of Israel is fallen, into the palace, saith the LORD. she shall no more rise: she is for4 1 Come to Beth-el and trans-saken upon her land; there is none gress: at Gilgal multiply trans- to raise her up. gression; and bring your sacrifices 3 For thus saith the Lord GOD; every morning, and your tithes after three years:

5 And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free-offerings: for

The city that went out by a thou sand shall leave a hundred, and that which went forth by a hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.

795