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 4,12 Amos 4,12
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.
For thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live;
but seek not Beth-el, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Beth-el shall {Or, become vanity (Hebrew: Aven)}come to nought.
Seek Jehovah, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and it devour, and there be none to quench it in Beth-el.
Ye who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth,
seek him that maketh the Pleiades and Orion, and turneth {Or, deep darkness}the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth (Jehovah is his name);
that {Or, causeth destruction to flash forth}bringeth sudden destruction upon the strong, so that destruction cometh upon the fortress.
They hate him that reproveth in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
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.
For I know how manifold are your transgressions, and how mighty are your sins— ye that afflict the just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the needy in the gate from their right.
Therefore he that is prudent shall keep silence in such a time; for it is an evil time.
Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live; and so Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be with you, as ye say.
Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish justice in the gate: it may be that Jehovah, the God of hosts, will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
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.
Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will spare no man.
And {Or, refuge shall fail the swift}flight shall perish from the swift; and the strong shall not strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver {Hebrew: his soul (or, life).}himself;
Ye have not gone up into the {Or, breaches}gaps, neither built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of Jehovah.
I saw the Lord standing {Or, upon}beside the altar: and he said, Smite the capitals, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: {Or, he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered}there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.
Though they dig into Sheol, thence shall my hand take them; and though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.
And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and it shall bite them.
And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.
And I sought for a man among them, that should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.
I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart; and there will I devour them like a lioness; the wild beast shall tear them.
Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art with him in the way; lest haply the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge {Some ancient authorities omit deliver thee.}deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
Therefore be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Who then is the faithful and wise {Greek: bondservant.}servant, whom his lord hath set over his household, to give them their food in due season?
Blessed is that {Greek: bondservant.}servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath.
But if that evil {Greek: bondservant.}servant shall say in his heart, My lord tarrieth;
and shall begin to beat his fellow-servants, and shall eat and drink with the drunken;
the lord of that {Greek: bondservant.}servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not,
and shall {Or, severely scourge him}cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their {Or, torches}lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
And five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
For the foolish, when they took their {Or, torches}lamps, took no oil with them:
but the wise took oil in their vessels with their {Or, torches}lamps.
Now while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
But at midnight there is a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Come ye forth to meet him.
Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their {Or, torches}lamps.
And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our {Or, torches}lamps are going out.
But the wise answered, saying, Peradventure there will not be enough for us and you: go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage feast: and the door was shut.
Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour.
But of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
Take ye heed, watch {Some ancient authorities omit and pray.}and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
It is as when a man, sojourning in another country, having left his house, and given authority to his {Greek: bondservants.}servants, to each one his work, commanded also the porter to watch.
Watch therefore: for ye know not when the lord of the house cometh, whether at even, or at midnight, or at cockcrowing, or in the morning;
lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Or what king, as he goeth to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and asketh conditions of peace.
And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, This poor widow cast in more than they all:
for all these did of their superfluity cast in unto the gifts; but she of her want did cast in all the living that she had.
And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and offerings, he said,
As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in which there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
And they asked him, saying, Teacher, when therefore shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when these things are about to come to pass?
And he said, Take heed that ye be not led astray: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am he; and, The time is at hand: go ye not after them.
And when ye shall hear of wars and tumults, be not terrified: for these things must needs come to pass first; but the end is not immediately.
Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;
and there shall be great earthquakes, and in divers places famines and pestilences; and there shall be terrors and great signs from heaven.
But before all these things, they shall lay their hands on you, and shall persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, {Greek: you being brought.}bringing you before kings and governors for my name's sake.
It shall turn out unto you for a testimony.
Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate beforehand how to answer:
for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand or to gainsay.
But ye shall be {Or, betrayed}delivered up even by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and friends; and some of you {Or, shall they put to death}shall they cause to be put to death.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
And not a hair of your head shall perish.
In your {Or, stedfastness}patience ye shall win your {Or, lives}souls.
But when ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand.
Then let them that are in Judæa flee unto the mountains; and let them that are in the midst of her depart out; and let not them that are in the country enter therein.
For these are days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
Woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! for there shall be great distress upon the {Or, earth}land, and wrath unto this people.
And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all the nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
And there shall be signs in sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the billows;
men {Or, expiring}fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on {Greek: inhabited earth.}the world: for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draweth nigh.
And he spake to them a parable: Behold the fig tree, and all the trees:
when they now shoot forth, ye see it and know of your own selves that the summer is now nigh.
Even so ye also, when ye see these things coming to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh.
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all things be accomplished.
Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
But take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a snare:
for so shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of all the earth.
But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
When they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall in no wise escape.
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you {Some ancient authorities read as thieves.}as a thief:
Whence come wars and whence come fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your pleasures that war in your members?
Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and {Greek: are jealous.}covet, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war; ye have not, because ye ask not.
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it in your pleasures.
Ye {That is, who break your marriage vow to God.}adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God.
Or think ye that the scripture {Or, saith in vain}speaketh in vain? {Or, The Spirit which he made to dwell in us he yearneth for even unto jealous envy. Compare Jeremiah 3:14; Hosea 2:19 f. Or, That Spirit which he made to dwell in us yearneth for us even unto jealous envy.}Doth the spirit which {Some ancient authorities read dwelleth in us.}he made to dwell in us long unto envying?
But he giveth {Greek: a greater grace.}more grace. Wherefore the scripture saith, {Proverbs 3:34.}God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.
Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded.
Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall exalt you.
Remember therefore how thou hast received and didst hear; and keep it, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.