Famine (Amos 8:11-14)

11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not

The Fate of Those Who Oppress the Poor (Amos 8:4-10)

4 Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, 5 saying, “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”—skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, 6 buying the poor with silver and the needy for a

An Evil Time (Amos 5:10-17)

10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth. 11 You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you

The Women of Samaria (Amos 4:1-5)

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!” 2 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness:  “The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks. 3 You will each go straight out

Ending Complacency (Amos 3:9-15)

9 Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod and to the fortresses of Egypt: “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria; see the great unrest within her and the oppression among her people.” 10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord, “who store up in their fortresses what they have plundered and looted.” 11 Therefore this is

Israel’s Fate (Amos 2:13-16)

13 “Now then, I will crush you as a cart crushes when loaded with grain. 14 The swift will not escape, the strong will not muster their strength, and the warrior will not save his life. 15 The archer will not stand his ground, the fleet-footed soldier will not get away, and the horseman will not save his life. 16 Even the

Judgment of Israel (Amos 2:6-8)

6 This is what the Lord says: “For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent. They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. 7 They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use

The Main Themes of the Book of Amos

Several themes dominate the book of Amos. First, Amos shows God as universal ruler, who is not only the God of Israel but of all the world. He controls all that happens, great and small. While polytheism dominated in much of the region, including Israel and Judah, Amos is a strict monotheist. A close reading

Introduction to Amos, Part II: Israel during His Lifetime

Amos was born in the southern kingdom of Judah but went to the northern kingdom of Israel in the first half of the 8th century BC. At that time, Jeroboam ruled in Israel and Uzziah in Judah. We do not know, however, when Amos began to prophesy or how long he did so. He seems

26th Sunday, Year C, 1st Reading (Amos 6:1, 4-7)

Woe to you who are complacent in Zion … 4 You lie on beds adorned with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves. 5 You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. 6 You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the