Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say unto their lords, Bring, and let us drink.
The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that they shall take you away with hooks, and your residue with fish-hooks.
And ye shall go out at the breaches, every one straight before her; {The text is obscure.}and ye shall cast yourselves into Harmon, saith Jehovah.
Come to Beth-el, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes every three days;
and {Hebrew: offer by burning.}offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim freewill-offerings and publish them: for this pleaseth you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah.
And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places; yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
And I also 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.
So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: the multitude of your gardens and your vineyards and your fig-trees and your olive-trees hath the palmer-worm devoured: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, {Hebrew: with the captivity of your horses.}and have carried away your horses; and I have made the stench of your camp to come up even into your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
I have overthrown cities among you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a brand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel; and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought; that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth— Jehovah, the God of hosts, is his name.
Querverweise zu Amos 4,1 Amos 4,1
Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock,With fat of lambs,And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats,With the {Hebrew: fat of kidneys of wheat.}finest of the wheat;And of the blood of the grape thou drankest wine.
Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and to them that are secure in the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!
Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Israel, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes—
The fruit of thy ground, and all thy labors, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway;
and they lay themselves down beside every altar upon clothes taken in pledge; and in the house of their God they drink the wine of such as have been fined.
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked:Thou art waxed fat, thou art grown thick, thou art become sleek;Then he forsook God who made him,And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
And he bought the hill {Hebrew: Shomeron.}Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver; and he {Or, fortified the hill}built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill, {Hebrew: Shomeron.}Samaria.
they 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 go unto the same maiden, to profane my holy name:
For he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor;He hath violently taken away a house, {Or, which he builded not}and he shall not build it up.
and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
Many bulls have compassed me;Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
Publish ye {Or, upon}in the palaces at Ashdod, and {Or, upon}in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold what great tumults are therein, and what oppressions in the midst thereof.
Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured {Another reading is, us.}me, he hath crushed {Another reading is, us.}me, he hath made {Another reading is, us.}me an empty vessel, he hath, like a monster, swallowed {Another reading is, us.}me up, he hath filled his maw with my delicacies; he hath cast {Another reading is, us.}me out.
Because ye are glad, because ye rejoice, O ye that plunder my heritage, because ye are wanton as a heifer {Or, at grass}that treadeth out the grain, and neigh as strong horses;
For they know not to do right, saith Jehovah, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
Forasmuch therefore as ye trample upon the poor, and take exactions from him of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink the wine thereof.
Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
Hear this, O ye that would swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail,
saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may {Hebrew: open.}set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;
that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
And a sojourner shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him: for ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.
If thou afflict them at all, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;
and my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
If thou lend money to any of my people with thee that is poor, thou shalt not be to him as a creditor; neither shall ye lay upon him interest.
Beware that there be not a base thought in thy heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou give him nought; and he cry unto Jehovah against thee, and it be sin unto thee.
Thou shalt surely give him, and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him; because that for this thing Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thy work, and in all that thou puttest thy hand unto.
For the poor will never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt surely open thy hand unto thy brother, to thy needy, and to thy poor, in thy land.
Because of the oppression of the poor, because of the sighing of the needy,Now will I arise, saith Jehovah;I will set him in the safety he panteth for.
I know that Jehovah will maintain the cause of the afflicted,And justice for the needy.
Rob not the poor, {Or, for}because he is poor;Neither {Or, crush}oppress the afflicted in the gate:
For Jehovah will plead their cause,And despoil of life those that despoil them.
Remove not the ancient landmark;And enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
For their Redeemer is strong;He will plead their cause against thee.
Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and, behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.
If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in {Or, the state}a province, marvel not at the matter: for one higher than the high regardeth; and there are higher than they.
learn to do well; seek justice, {Or, set right the oppressor}relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Come now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.
How is the faithful city become a harlot! she that was full of justice! righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.
Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water.
Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Therefore saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies;
Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no room, and ye be made to dwell alone in the midst of the land!
Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
For among my people are found wicked men: they watch, as fowlers lie in wait; they set a trap, they catch men.
As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxed rich.
They are waxed fat, they shine: yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness; they plead not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
For thus hath Jehovah of hosts said, Hew ye down {Or, as otherwise read, her trees}trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.
if ye oppress not the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your own hurt:
In thee have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the sojourner; in thee have they wronged the fatherless and the widow.
In thee have they taken bribes to shed blood; thou hast taken interest and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.
The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yea, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the sojourner wrongfully.
Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
And they covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks, neither shall ye walk haughtily; for it is an evil time.
And I said, Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: is it not for you to know justice?
ye who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;
who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron.
and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the sojourner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.
But they refused to hearken, and {Or, turned a stubborn shoulder}pulled away the shoulder, and {Or, made their ears heavy See Isaiah 6:10.}stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the sojourner from his right, and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts.
Come now, ye rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you.
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.
Your gold and your silver are rusted; and their rust shall be for a testimony {Or, unto}against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Ye have laid up your treasure in the last days.
Behold, the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
Ye have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure; ye have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter.
Ye have condemned, ye have killed the righteous one; he doth not resist you.