Amos 9

1 I saw the Lord standing over the altar. He said,

“Strike the place of atonement, and the gateways will shake. Cut through the heads of them all. I will kill those who remain with the sword. No one who flees will escape, and no one trying to save himself will be rescued.

2 Even if they dig down into Hades, my hand will drag them up from there. Even if they climb into heaven, I will bring them down from there.

3 Even if they hide on the top of Carmel, I will search them out and take them from there. Even if they sink from my sight into the depths of the sea, I will command the serpent there, and it will bite them.

4 Even if they go into captivity before their enemies, I will command the sword there, and it will kill them. I will set my eyes firmly against them for harm, not good.”

5 The Lord, the Lord God Almighty, touches the land and shakes it, and everyone living in it will mourn. Its destruction will rise like a river and fall like the river of Egypt.

6 He builds his ascent into heaven and establishes his promise on the earth. He calls for the water of the sea and pours it over the face of the earth. The Lord God Almighty is his name.

7 “Are you not like the Ethiopians’ children to me, people of Israel?” says the Lord. “Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Cappadocia, and the Arameans from the pit?

8 Look, the Lord God’s eyes are on the kingdom of sinners, and I will remove it from the face of the earth. But I will not completely remove the house of Jacob,” says the Lord.

9 “Look, I give the command. I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet no fragment will fall to the earth.

10 All the sinners among my people will die by the sword, those who say, ‘Harm will certainly not come near or happen to us.’”

11 “On that day I will raise up David’s fallen tent. I will rebuild its fallen parts, raise up the parts that were torn down, and rebuild it as in ancient days,

12 so that those who remain of humanity and all the nations called by my name may earnestly seek me,” says the Lord God, who does these things.

13 “Look, days are coming,” says the Lord, “when the threshing will overtake the grape harvest, and the grape will ripen at seedtime. The mountains will drip sweetness, and all the hills will be planted together.

14 I will bring back the captives of my people Israel. They will rebuild the devastated cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine. They will plant gardens and eat their fruit.

15 I will plant them on their land, and they will never again be uprooted from the land I gave them,” says the Lord God Almighty.