Amos 4:1 Cross References - ISV

¹ Judgment on the Women of Israel “Listen to this message, you fat cows from Bashan, who live on the Samaritan mountains, who oppress the poor, who rob the needy, and who constantly ask your husbands for one more drink!”

²¹ “You are not to wrong or oppress an alien, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
²² “You are not to mistreat any widow or orphan. ²³ If you do mistreat them, they’ll certainly cry out to me, and I’ll immediately hear their cry. ²⁴ And I’ll be angry and will kill you with swords, and your wives will become widows and your children orphans.
²⁵ “If you loan money to my people, to the poor among you, don’t be like a creditor to them and don’t impose interest on them.

⁹ Be careful not to think this wicked thought to yourselves: ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is drawing near,’ and you show ill will toward your poor relative and not give to him. He may then call to the LORD on account of you, and you will be guilty of sin. ¹⁰ You must certainly give to him and not feel regret for doing so. Because of this, the LORD your God will bless all your works and everything you do. ¹¹ Since poor people won’t cease to exist in the land, therefore I’m commanding you: Be sure to be generous to your poor and needy relatives in your land.”

³³ “A people whom you don’t know will devour what your land and labor produces. You’ll be only oppressed and discouraged continuously

¹⁴ with curds from cattle and with milk from sheep, with the fat of lambs, with rams from Bashan, with the fat of goats, with the finest of wheat— and from the juice of grapes you drank wine.
¹⁵ Israel’s RebellionJacob dined until satisfied; Jeshurun grew fat and kicked. He grew fat, coarse, and gross, so that he abandoned the God who made him and spurned the Rock that was his salvation.

²⁴ He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, fortified the hill, and named the city Samaria after Shemer, the former owner of the hill.

¹⁹ because he has crushed and abandoned the poor; he has seized a house that he didn’t build.

⁵ “Because the poor are being oppressed, because the needy are sighing, I will now arise,” says the LORD, “I will establish in safety those who yearn for it.”

¹² Many bulls have surrounded me; the vicious bulls of Bashan have encircled me.

¹² I know that the LORD will act on behalf of the tormented, providing justice for the needy.

²² Don’t rob the poor person because he is poor, and don’t crush the helpless in court, ²³ for the LORD will plead their case and ruin the lives of those who ruin them.

¹⁰ Don’t move ancient boundaries or invade fields belonging to orphans; ¹¹ for strong is their Redeemer who will take up their case against you.

¹ On the Abuse of AuthorityNext I turned to consider all kinds of oppression that exists on earth. Look at the tears of the oppressed— there is no one to comfort them. Power is on the side of their oppressors; so they have no comforters.

⁸ The Use and Abuse of WealthDon’t be surprised when you see the poor oppressed and the violent perverting both justice and verdicts in a province, for one high official watches another, and there are ones higher still over them.

¹⁷ Learn to practice what is good; seek justice, alleviate oppression, defend orphans in court, and plead the widow’s case. ¹⁸ “Please come, and let’s reason together,” implores the LORD. “Even though your sins are like scarlet, they’ll be white like snow. Though they’re like crimson, they’ll become like wool. ¹⁹ If you’re willing and obedient, you’ll eat the best that the land produces; ²⁰ but if you refuse and rebel, you’ll be devoured by the sword, because the LORD has spoken.”
²¹ Diagnosis and Judgment“How the faithful city has become a whore, she who used to be filled with justice! Righteousness used to reside within her, but now only murderers live there. ²² Your silver has become dross, your best wine is diluted with water. ²³ Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. All of them are lovers of bribes and are runners after gifts. They don’t bring justice to orphans, and the widow’s case never comes up for review in their court.”
²⁴ Restoration and RedemptionTherefore this is what the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies, the one who is Israel’s Mighty One, declares: “Now I’ll get relief from his enemies and avenge myself on his foes.

⁸ Judgment on Land Barons“How terrible it will be for you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you have settled yourselves alone in the middle of the land!”

⁶ Isn’t this the fast that I have been choosing: to loose the bonds of injustice, and to untie the cords of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

²⁶ “Evil men are found among my people. They lie in wait like someone who traps birds. They set a trap, but they do so to catch people. ²⁷ Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are filled with treachery. This is how they have become prominent and rich, ²⁸ and have grown fat and sleek. There is no limit to their evil deeds. They don’t argue the case of the orphan to secure justice. They don’t defend the rights of the poor. ²⁹ ‘Should I not punish them for this?’ asks the LORD. ‘Should I not avenge myself on a nation like this?’

⁶ Instructions for the AttackersFor this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: “Cut down trees and set up siege works against Jerusalem. It is the city to be judged, and there is oppression throughout the entire city.

⁶ and if you don’t oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, and don’t shed an innocent person’s blood in this place, and if you don’t follow other gods to your own harm,

¹¹ “Though you rejoice, though you exult, you plunderers of my inheritance, though you skip around like a heifer in the grass and neigh like stallions,

²⁷ Put all her bulls to the sword, let them go down to the slaughter. How terrible for them because their day has come, the time of their judgment.

³⁴ Judah’s Complaint against Babylon“King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has devoured me and crushed me. He set me down like an empty vessel. He swallowed me like a monster, and filled his belly with my delicacies. Then he washed me away.

⁷ They’ve treated mothers and fathers among you with contempt. They’ve oppressed the foreigner among you. They’ve maltreated the orphan and the widow among you.

¹² They take bribes among you to shed blood. You’ve taken usury and exacted interest. You’ve gained control over your neighbor through extortion. And you’ve forgotten me,” declares the Lord GOD.

²⁷ Her princes within her are like wolves tearing their prey apart. They shed blood, destroying souls, and make unjust gain.

²⁹ The people of the land were vigorously oppressive and took possession of plunder by violence. They’ve afflicted the poor and the needy and unjustly treated the foreigner.

¹⁸ You’ll eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the world’s princes, drinking the blood of these rams, lambs, goats, bulls, all of them fattened as if they’re from Bashan, fit for slaughter!

³ They cast lots for my people— they sold a young boy in exchange for a prostitute, and a girl for wine, so they could drink.”

⁶ A Warning to IsraelThis is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Israel —and now for a fourth— I will not turn away; because they sold the righteous for money, and the poor for sandals, ⁷ moving quickly to rub the face of the needy in the dirt. Corrupting the ways of the humble, a man and his father go to the same woman, deliberately defiling my holy name. ⁸ They lay down beside every altar, on garments pledged as collateral, drinking wine paid for through fines imposed by the temple of their gods.

⁹ Announce this in the fortified citadels of Ashdod, and in the fortified citadels of the land of Egypt. Tell them, ‘Gather together on the mountains of Samaria; look at the great misery among the citadels, along with the oppression within Egypt.’ ¹⁰ Because they do not know how to act right,” declares the LORD, “they are filling their strongholds with treasures that they took from others by violence into their fortified citadels.”

¹¹ ‘Therefore, since you trample the poor continuously, taxing his grain, building houses of stone in which you won’t live and planting fine vineyards from which you won’t drink—

¹ Mourning for the House of Israel “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, to those who rest on the mountain of Samaria— the famous men of the nations to whom the house of Israel came!

⁴ “Hear this, you who are swallowing up the needy, who intend to make the poor of the land fail, ⁵ and who are saying, ‘When will the New Moon fade so we may sell grain, and the Sabbath conclude so we may market winnowed wheat?— shortchanging the measure, raising the price, falsifying the scales by treachery, ⁶ buying the poor for cash, and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling chaff mixed in with the wheat.’

¹ God’s Warning to His People “Woe to those who are crafting iniquity, planning evil well into the night! When morning’s light comes, they carry out their plans because they have the power to do so. ² They covet fields and seize them; they covet houses, and grab them, too. They harass the valiant man, along with his household, an individual and his estate. ³ “Therefore this is what the LORD says, ‘I’m crafting evil against this family, from which you can’t escape. You won’t strut around arrogantly, because the times are evil.’

¹ “He will say, ‘Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you officials of the house of Israel! You should know justice, should you not?— ² you who despise good and love evil, who tear off the skin of my people, along with the flesh from their bones. ³ You eat the flesh of my people, flaying their skin from them. You break their bones, chopping them in pieces like meat for a pot, like meat destined for a soup kettle.’

¹⁰ You are not to wrong the widow, orphans, the foreigner, or the poor, and you are not to plan evil against each other. ¹¹ But they refused to pay attention, turned their backs, and stopped listening.

⁵ The Judgment of God“I’ll come near to you for judgment. I’ll be a witness, quick to speak against sorcerers, against adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who defraud the laborer of his wage, against those who defraud the widow and the orphan, against those who deprive the alien of justice, and against those who don’t fear me,” says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

¹ Advice for Rich PeopleNow listen, you rich people! Cry and moan over the miseries that are overtaking you. ² Your riches are rotten, your clothes have been eaten by moths, ³ your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be used as evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasures in these last days. ⁴ Look! The wages that you kept back from the workers who harvested your fields are shouting out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. ⁵ You have lived in luxury and pleasure on earth. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and murdered the one who is righteous, even though he did not rebel against you.