7:14. And Amos answered and said to Amasias: I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet: but I am a herdsman plucking wild figs.
I am not a prophet... That is, I am not a prophet by education: nor is prophesying my calling or profession: but I am a herdsman, whom G.o.d was pleased to send hither to prophesy to Israel.
7:15. And the Lord took me when I followed the flock, and the Lord said to me: Go, prophesy to my people Israel.
7:16. And now hear thou the word of the Lord: Thou sayest, thou shalt not prophesy against Israel, and thou shalt not drop thy word upon the house of the idol.
The house of the idol... Viz., of the calf worshipped in Bethel.
7:17. Therefore thus saith the Lord: Thy wife shall play the harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be measured by a line: and thou shalt die in a polluted land, and Israel shall go into captivity out of their land.
Amos Chapter 8
Under the figure of a hook, which bringeth down the fruit, the approaching desolation of Israel is foreshewed for their avarice and injustices.
8:1. These things the Lord shewed to me: and behold a hook to draw down the fruit.
8:2. And he said: What seest thou, Amos? And I said: A hook to draw down fruit. And the Lord said to me: The end is come upon my people Israel: I will not again pa.s.s by them any more.
8:3. And the hinges of the temple shall screak in that day, saith the Lord G.o.d: many shall die: silence shall be cast in every place.
8:4. Hear this, you that crush the poor, and make the needy of the land to fail,
8:5. Saying: When will the month be over, and we shall sell our wares: and the sabbath, and we shall open the corn: that we may lessen the measure, and increase the sicle, and may convey in deceitful balances,
8:6. That we may possess the needy for money, and the poor for a pair of shoes, and may sell the refuse of the corn?
8:7. The Lord hath sworn against the pride of Jacob: surely I will never forget all their works.
8:8. Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein: and rise up altogether as a river, and be cast out, and run down as the river of Egypt?
8:9. And it shall come to pa.s.s in that day, saith the Lord G.o.d, that the sun shall go down at midday, and I will make the earth dark in the day of light:
8:10. And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation: and I will bring up sackcloth upon every back of yours, and baldness upon every head: and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the latter end thereof as a bitter day.
8:11. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will send forth a famine into the land: not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord.
8:12. And they shall move from sea to sea, and from the north to the east: they shall go about seeking the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.
8:13. In that day the fair virgins, and the young men shall faint for thirst.
8:14. They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say: Thy G.o.d, O Dan, liveth: and the way of Bersabee liveth: and they shall fall, and shall rise no more.
Amos Chapter 9
The certainty of the desolation of Israel: the restoring of the tabernacle of David, and the conversion of the Gentiles to the church; which shall flourish for ever.
9:1. I saw the Lord standing upon the altar, and he said: Strike the hinges, and let the lintels be shook: for there is covetousness in the head of them all, and I will slay the last of them with the sword: there shall be no flight for them: they shall flee, and he that shall flee of them shall not be delivered.
9:2. Though they go down even to h.e.l.l, thence shall my hand bring them out: and though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down.
9:3. And though they be hid in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them away from thence: and though they hide themselves from my eyes in the depth of the sea, there will I command the serpent and he shall bite them.
9:4. And if they go into captivity before their enemies, there will I command the sword, and it shall kill them. And I will set my eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.
9:5. And the Lord the G.o.d of hosts is he who toucheth the earth, and it shall melt: and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up as a river, and shall run down as the river of Egypt.
9:6. He that buildeth his ascension in heaven, and hath founded his bundle upon the earth: who calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth, the Lord is his name.
His ascension... That is, his high throne.-Ibid. His bundle... That is, his church bound up together by the bands of one faith and communion.
9:7. Are not you as the children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel, saith the Lord? did not I bring up Israel, out of the land of Egypt: and the Philistines out of Cappadocia, and the Syrians out of Cyrene?
As the children of the Ethiopians... That is, as black as they, by your iniquities.
9:8. Behold the eyes of the Lord G.o.d are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth: but yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.
9:9. For behold I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, as corn is sifted in a sleve: and there shall not a little stone fall to the ground.
9:10. All the sinners of my people shall fall by the sword: who say: The evils shall not approach, and shall not come upon us.
9:11. In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, that is fallen: and I will close up the breaches of the walls thereof, and repair what was fallen: and I will rebuild it as in the days of old.
9:12. That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all nations, because my name is invoked upon them: saith the Lord that doth these things.
9:13. Behold the days come, saith the Lord, when the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed: and the mountains shall drop sweetness, and every hill shall be tilled.
Shall overtake, etc... By this is meant the great abundance of spiritual blessings; which, as it were, by a constant succession, shall enrich the church of Christ.
9:14. And I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel: and they shall build the abandoned cities, and inhabit them: and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine of them: and shall make gardens, and eat the fruits of them. And I will plant them upon their own land: and I will no more pluck them out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy G.o.d.
THE PROPHECY OF ABDIAS
ABDIAS, whose name is interpreted THE SERVANT OF THE LORD, is believed to have prophesied about the same time as OSEE, JOEL, and AMOS: though some of the Hebrews, who believe him to be the same with ACHAB"s steward, make him much more ancient. His prophecy is the shortest of any in number of words, but yields to none, says ST. JEROME, in the sublimity of mysteries. It contains but one chapter.
Abdias Chapter 1
The destruction of Edom for their pride: and the wrongs they did to Jacob: the salvation and victory of Israel.
1:1. The vision of Abdias. Thus saith the Lord G.o.d to Edom: We have heard a rumour from the Lord, and he hath sent an amba.s.sador to the nations: Arise, and let us rise up to battle against him.
1:2. Behold I have made thee small among the nations: thou art exceeding contemptible.