Amos 4:1-8

Israel Has Not Returned to God 1Hear 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!”

2The 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. Or away in baskets, / the last of you in fish baskets

3You will each go straight out through breaches in the wall, and you will be cast out toward Harmon, Masoretic Text; with a different word division of the Hebrew (see Septuagint) out, you mountain of oppression ” declares the LORD .

4“Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years. Or days

5Burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings— boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do,” declares the Sovereign LORD .

6“I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD .

7“I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up.

8People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD .