Amos
King James Version · 9 chapters · 146 verses · Old Testament
A farmer with something to say about justice
The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa. He was not a professional prophet and says so; he was a shepherd and a tender of sycomore fruit, sent north to a prosperous kingdom at the top of its game. He opens by pronouncing judgment on all the surrounding nations, which would have gone down well, and then turns and does the same to Israel. His complaint is not idolatry but exploitation: selling the poor for a pair of shoes, and singing hymns about it. The line everyone remembers asks for judgment to run down as waters.