And Amaziah, the son of Joash, king of Judah, lived after the death of Jehoash, son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, fifteen years. Then they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish, and slew him there. And they brought him upon horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem, with his fathers in the city of David. And all the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.

In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash, king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, began to reign. He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath unto the sea of the Arabah; according to the word of Yahweh, the God of Israel, which He spake by the hand of His servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet who was of Gath-Hepher. For Yahweh saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter; for there was not any left, shut up nor at large, to be a helper for Israel. But Yahweh had not said that He would blot out the name of Israel from under Heaven; and He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joash.1

With this statement of the territory already recovered for Israel by Jeroboam II. and his exultant acclaim of the young king as the future saviour of the whole nation, the Ephraimite author E closes his roll of the Heroes of Israel.

THE POEMS OF THE PROPHET AMOS

I. THE JUDGMENT TO COME UPON THE SURROUNDING NATIONS,
BUT CHIEFLY UPON GUILTY ISRAEL

(Am. i, 3-15; ii, 1-3, 6-16)1

Thus saith Yahweh:

For three offenses of Damascus and for four, I will not revoke it,
Because they have harrowed Gilead

with harrows of iron.

So I will send fire into the House of Hazael
That shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad;
Will break the bar of Damascus and cut off
The dweller in Bikath-Aven,
And him that holdeth the sceptre
And the people of Aram shall go into exile

Thus saith Yahweh:

from Beth-eden;

unto Kir, saith Yahweh.

I will not revoke it,
to deliver them to Edom.

For three offenses of Gaza and for four,
Because they bore into exile a whole people
So I will send fire upon the wall of Gaza
And it shall devour the palaces thereof;
I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod
And him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon;
I will turn my hand against Ekron,
and the remnant

Of the Philistines shall perish, saith Yahweh.

Thus saith Yahweh:

For three offenses of Tyre and for four,
Because they delivered up a whole

I will not revoke it, captivity unto Edom,

And remembered not the brotherly covenant.
So I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre,
And it shall devour the palaces thereof.

Thus saith Yahweh:

For three offenses of Edom and for four, I will not revoke it,
Because he pursued his brother with the sword, and cast off pity,
And his anger did tear perpetually

And he kept his wrath for ever.

So I will send fire upon Teman;

The palaces of Bozrah.

Thus saith Yahweh:

For three offenses of Ammon and for four,
Because they have ripped up in Gilead

it shall devour

I will not revoke it,
the pregnant women

That they might enlarge their borders.
So I will kindle a fire on the wall of Rabbah
And it shall devour the palaces thereof,
With shouting in the day of battle,

With a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
And their king shall go into exile,

Together, saith Yahweh.'

he and the princes

1 Superscription by P (ch. i, 1). "The words of Amos who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake." Verse 2a is borrowed by P from Joel iv, 16a; and 2b is paraphrased from Joel 10 & 12, where they will be found. They are therefore here omitted.

Thus saith Yahweh:

For three offenses of Moab and for four, I will not revoke it,
Because he burned the bones of the king of Edom, desecrating the dead.
So I will send fire upon Moab; it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth.
I will cut off the ruler from their midst and will slay

All his nobles with him, saith Yahweh.

Thus saith Yahweh:

For three offenses of Israel and for four, I will not revoke it,
Because they sell the righteous for silver, the needy for a pair of shoes;
That pant after the dust of the earth
on the head of the poor,

And turn aside the way of the humble.

A man and his father go in to the same maid, to profane My holy name;
They lie down beside every altar upon clothes taken in pledge,
And in the house of their god they drink the wine of the fined.

Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them,

Whose height was like that of cedars; he was strong as the oaks.
Yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from beneath.
I brought you out of the land of Egypt
And led you forty years in the wilderness,

To possess the land of the Amorites.

I raised up of your sons for prophets, of your youth for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O Children of Israel? saith Yahweh.

But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink,

Ye commanded the prophets: Prophesy not!

Behold, I will make your place to groan

As a cart groans that is full of sheaves.

Flight shall not avail the swift, the strong shall not use his strength, The swift of foot shall not escape, nor shall he that rideth a horse. Nor shall the warrior deliver himself, nor shall he that handleth the bow. The courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith Yahweh.

II. THE COMING JUDGMENT WILL BE SURE AND THOROUGH
(Amos iii, 1-15)

Hear this word that Yahweh hath spoken against you, O Children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought out of the land of Egypt, saying:

You only have I known
Therefore will I visit upon you

Will two walk together
Will a lion roar in the forest
Will a lion-cub cry from his den
Will a bird fall into a snare
Shall the trumpet blare in the city
Shall evil befall a city
Surely Yahweh will do nothing

of all the families of the earth, all your iniquities.

except they be agreed?
when he hath no prey?
if he have taken nothing?
if there is no bait set for it?
and people not be afraid?
and Yahweh hath not done it?
that He doth not reveal
the Prophets!

His purpose unto His servants,

The lion hath roared;

The God Yahweh has spoken;

who will not fear?
who can but prophesy?

Proclaim on the palaces of Ashdod, and over the palaces of Egypt; Gather ye on the mount of Samaria and see the manifold tumults

And the oppressions in their midst;

For they know not how to do right who store up violence and robbery In their palaces, saith Yahweh.