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Amós 4

BLIVRE · Chapter 4/9

1Ouvi esta palavra, vós vacas de Basã, que estais no monte de Samaria; que oprimis os pobres, que quebrantais os necessitados, que dizeis a seus senhores: Trazei nossa bebida.

2O Senhor DEUS jurou por sua santidade: Eis que vêm dias sobre vós em que vos levarão em ganchos, e a vossos descendentes em anzóis de pesca.

3E saireis pelas brechas cada uma atrás da outra, e sereis lançadas para Harmom, diz o SENHOR.

4Ide a Betel, e transgredi; em Gilgal aumentai as transgressões, e de manhã trazei vossos sacrifícios, vossos dízimos ao terceiro dia.

5E oferecei sacrifício de louvores com lêvedo, e anunciai ofertas voluntárias; pois é assim que quereis, ó filhos de Israel,diz o Senhor DEUS.

6Eu também vos dei bocas vazias em todas vossas cidades, e falta de pão em todos os vossos lugares, contudo não vos convertestes a mim,diz o SENHOR.

7Além disso eu vos retive a chuva três meses antes da colheita; e fiz chover sobre uma cidade, e sobre outra cidade não fiz chover; sobre um campo choveu; mas o outro campo sobre o qual não choveu, se secou;

8De modo que [os moradores de] duas ou três cidades perambulavam até uma cidade para beberem água, mas não se saciavam; contudo não vos convertestes a mim,diz o SENHOR.

9Eu vos feri com ferrugem e doenças nas plantas; a multidão de vossos jardins e vossas vinhas, vossas figueiras e vossas oliveiras o gafanhoto comeu; contudo não vos convertestes a mim,diz o SENHOR.

10Enviei entre vós a pestilência, à maneira do Egito; matei à espada vossos rapazes, e deixei que capturassem vossos cavalos; e fiz subir o mau cheiro de vossos exércitos até vossas narinas; contudo não vos convertestes a mim,diz o SENHOR.

11Transtornei a alguns dentre vós, como quando Deus transtornou a Sodoma e a Gomorra, e fostes como tição escapado do fogo; contudo não vos convertestes a mim, diz o SENHOR.

12Portanto assim farei a ti, ó Israel; e visto que te farei isto, ó Israel, prepara-te para te encontrares com teu Deus.

13Porque eis que ele é que forma os montes, cria o vento, e informa seu pensamento ao ser humano; ele é o que torna a manhã em trevas, e pisa sobre as alturas da terra; EU-SOU, o Deus dos exércitos, é o seu nome.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Amos calls the wealthy women of Samaria 'cows of Bashan' for oppressing the poor, and lists five disasters (famine, drought, blight, war, earthquake) that God sent as warnings which Israel repeatedly ignored.

Explanation

'Cows of Bashan' is a shocking, deliberately offensive comparison: Bashan was famous for its well-fed cattle, and Amos uses the image to describe Samaria's elite women, fattened on luxury, who pressure their husbands to oppress the poor in order to sustain their lifestyle. The refrain repeated five times, 'yet have ye not returned unto me,' is the heart of the chapter: God sent gradual warnings (famine, partial drought, agricultural blight, plague, war) hoping the people would repent, but every warning was ignored. The conclusion is a solemn summons: 'prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.' The lesson for today is to recognize the 'warnings' found in life's hardships as invitations to reflection, not merely as bad luck.

Fun facts

  • Bashan was a fertile region east of the Jordan River, famous since antiquity for raising sturdy cattle — the comparison would have been immediately understood, and felt as an insult, by Israel's elite women.
  • The mention of God destroying them 'as Sodom and Gomorrah' (v. 11) is one of the few references in the Old Testament that uses this specific event as a standard of comparison for divine judgment on an entire nation.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Amós 4:1“Kine of Bashan” is an insulting nickname for the wealthy women of Samaria, compared to the well-fed cattle of the Bashan region, who demanded more drink from their husbands while oppressing the poor.
  2. Amós 4:2A shocking image: the wealthy women of Samaria (“kine of Bashan” from the previous verse) will be taken captive like fish caught on a hook.
  3. Amós 4:3They will file out through the breaches in the destroyed walls, forced to abandon even the luxuries they had accumulated.
  4. Amós 4:4“Come to Beth-el, and transgress” is a sarcastic invitation: Bethel and Gilgal were popular shrines where people went to offer excessive sacrifices, thinking this made up for their everyday injustice — the prophet mocks this kind of empty religiosity.
  5. Amós 4:5A sarcastic invitation to keep performing the same religious rituals as always, since that is really what they enjoy doing — even though it is empty of justice.
  6. Amós 4:6“Yet have ye not returned unto me” repeats several times throughout this chapter, each time after a different plague (famine, drought, crop blight, pestilence); the repetition shows that not even a string of disasters made the people change their ways.
  7. Amós 4:7God recalls having controlled the rain selectively, making it rain on one city and not another, as a specific and personal warning, not a generic drought.
  8. Amós 4:8People from various cities had to wander in search of water without finding enough — even so, the people did not turn back to God.
  9. Amós 4:9One more agricultural plague — excessive heat, blight, and locusts — striking gardens and orchards, and still no change in behavior.
  10. Amós 4:10God sent pestilence as in Egypt (recalling the plagues of the Exodus) and allowed military defeats — even with bodies rotting, the people remained unyielding.
  11. Amós 4:11The comparison with Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19), cities destroyed by fire, shows the severity of the punishment Israel had already partly suffered — and still the people continued as they were.
  12. Amós 4:12After listing all the ignored warnings, God announces that he will now act for good, calling Israel to prepare for this final confrontation.
  13. Amós 4:13A hymn of praise describing God’s power as creator — who forms the mountains and the wind — reinforcing that this is the same God Israel is going to “meet” in judgment.

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