Two Kingdoms · c. 760–735 BC
Chapter 15
Amos and Hosea
But let justice roll on like rivers,and righteousness like a mighty stream.
For parents
This chapter tells how King Uzziah is struck with leprosy in the temple (2 Chronicles 26:16–21), and how the kings of Israel are killed one after another by the men who take their thrones, while Assyria carries people away as captives (2 Kings 15:8–31). One sentence says that King Menahem cut open the pregnant women of a town that would not open its gates to him (15:16). The Lord tells the prophet Hosea to marry “a woman of prostitution”, and later to love a woman who has committed adultery, whom Hosea buys (Hosea 1:2–3; 3:1–3), and Amos tells a priest that his wife will be a prostitute and his children will be killed (Amos 7:17). The wording is plain and soft.
When was sixteen years old, all the people of Judah took him and made him king in the place of his father, . Uzziah rebuilt and won it back for Judah. After that, the king died and joined his ancestors.
In 2 Kings he is mostly called Azariah. He began to reign in ’s twenty-seventh year as king of Israel, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother, Jecoliah, came from Jerusalem. Like his father Amaziah, he did what was right in the Lord’s eyes. But the were not taken away; the people went on sacrificing and burning at them.
Uzziah made up his mind to seek God in the days of Zechariah, a man who understood the vision of God. And as long as he sought the Lord, God made him succeed.
He went out and fought the , tearing down the walls of , of Jabneh and of . He built towns in the region of Ashdod and in other parts of Philistine country. God helped him against the Philistines, the Arabians who lived in Gur Baal, and the Meunim. The paid Uzziah tribute, the payment a weaker people makes to a stronger one. People heard of him as far away as the entrance of , because he grew very strong.
Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate and at the turn of the wall, and he made them strong. He built towers out in the wilderness too, and dug many , because he had a great many animals in the lowlands and on the plain. He kept farmers and vineyard workers in the hills and in the rich fields, because he loved farming.
Uzziah also had an army ready for war, which went out to fight in groups. Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer counted them, with Hananiah, one of the king’s captains, in charge. There were 2,600 heads of families, all mighty warriors. Under them was an army of 307,500 men, who fought with great power to help the king against the enemy.
Uzziah got the whole army ready with shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows, and stones to throw with . In Jerusalem he made devices that skilled men had invented. They were set on the towers and along the tops of the walls, for shooting arrows and great stones. His name became known far away, because he was given wonderful help until he was strong.
But once Uzziah was strong, he grew proud, and his pride led him to do wrong. He sinned against the Lord his God: he went into the Lord’s temple to burn incense on the of incense.
the followed him in, along with eighty of the Lord’s priests. They were brave men, and they stood up to King Uzziah. “It isn’t your place, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord,” they said. “That is for the priests, the sons of , who have been set apart to burn incense. Get out of the , because you have been unfaithful. You will get no honor from the Lord God for this.”
Uzziah became angry. He had a in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, his forehead broke out in . It happened right there in the Lord’s house, in front of the priests, beside the altar of incense.
Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and there was leprosy on his forehead. They quickly pushed him out. And he hurried to get out himself, because the Lord had struck him.
King Uzziah had leprosy to the day of his death. He lived in a house set apart because of it, since he was cut off from the Lord’s house. His son looked after the king’s household and ruled the people of the land.
was one of the herdsmen of , in Judah. His book gives the words he saw “concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.” He said:
The Lord will roar from and raise his voice from Jerusalem.The shepherds’ pastures will mourn,and the top of will dry up.
These are some of the words the Lord gave Amos for Israel:
I hate, I despise your feasts,and I can’t stand your holy gatherings.Though you offer me your and ,I won’t accept them.I won’t even look at the of your fat animals.Take the noise of your songs away from me!I won’t listen to the music of your harps.But let justice roll on like rivers,and righteousness like a mighty stream.
Then the Lord showed Amos this: the Lord stood beside a wall built with a plumb line, and he held a plumb line in his hand. A plumb line is a cord with a weight on the end; builders hang it beside a wall to see whether the wall stands straight. “Amos,” the Lord asked, “what do you see?”
“A plumb line,” said Amos.
Then the Lord said, “See, I will set a plumb line in the middle of my people Israel. I won’t pass them by any more. Isaac’s high places will be left empty, and Israel’s holy places will be left in ruins. And I will rise against Jeroboam’s family with the sword.”
Then , the priest of , sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos has plotted against you right among the people of Israel. The land can’t bear all his words. This is what Amos says: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword. Israel will surely be led away from its land as captives.’”
Amaziah also said to Amos, “You , go! Run away to the land of Judah. Make your living there, and prophesy there. But don’t prophesy at Bethel ever again, because it is the king’s sanctuary, a royal house!”
Amos answered Amaziah, “I wasn’t a , and I wasn’t a prophet’s son. I was a herdsman, and I grew . The Lord took me from following the flock and told me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’
“So now listen to the Lord’s word. You say, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel, and don’t preach against the people of Isaac.’ So the Lord says this: ‘Your wife will be a in the city, and your sons and your daughters will be killed by the sword. Your land will be measured out with a line and divided up. You yourself will die in a land that is . And Israel will surely be led away from its land as captives.’”
The book of begins with the Lord’s word that came to Hosea the son of Beeri “in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, , and , kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.”
When the Lord first began to speak through Hosea, the Lord told him, “Go, take a woman of prostitution as your wife, and take children of unfaithfulness, because the land has been deeply unfaithful. It has left the Lord.”
So Hosea went and married , the daughter of Diblaim. She became pregnant and gave him a son.
The Lord told Hosea, “Name him , because in a little while I will make the family of pay for the blood spilled at . I will bring the kingdom of Israel to an end, and when that day comes, I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.”
Gomer became pregnant again and had a daughter. The Lord told Hosea to call her , meaning “not loved”. “I will no longer have mercy on the people of Israel,” he said, “or forgive them in any way. But I will have mercy on the people of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God. I won’t save them by bow or sword or battle, or by horses or horsemen.”
When Lo-Ruhamah was old enough to stop nursing, Gomer became pregnant again and had a son. The Lord told Hosea to call him , meaning “not my people”. “You are not my people,” he said, “and I will not be yours.”
In Uzziah’s thirty-eighth year as king of Judah, Jeroboam’s son began to reign over Israel. He reigned in for six months and did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes, as his ancestors had done. He kept on in the sins of , who made Israel sin. son of Jabesh plotted against Zechariah, struck him down in front of the people, killed him, and took his place as king.
The rest of what Zechariah did is written in the records of the kings of Israel. This was what the Lord had told Jehu: “Your sons will sit on Israel’s throne to the fourth generation.” And it came true.
Shallum son of Jabesh began to reign in Uzziah’s thirty-ninth year, and he reigned in Samaria for a month. Then son of Gadi went up from , came to Samaria, and struck Shallum down there. He killed him and took his place as king. The rest of what Shallum did, and the plot he made, is written in the records of the kings of Israel.
Then Menahem attacked and everyone in it, and the lands around it, from Tirzah. He attacked it because its people didn’t open their gates to him. And he cut open all the women there who were pregnant.
Menahem son of Gadi was king of Israel for ten years, ruling from Samaria. His reign began in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah. He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes, and as long as he lived he kept on in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.
When king of came against the land, Menahem paid him a thousand of silver, about thirty-three tons, so that Pul would help him keep a firm hold on the kingdom. Menahem took the money from Israel, from all its wealthy men. Each of them had to pay fifty of silver, a little over a pound, to give to the king of Assyria. And so the king of Assyria turned back and didn’t stay in the land.
The rest of what Menahem did is written in the records of the kings of Israel. Menahem died and joined his ancestors, and his son reigned in his place.
In the fiftieth year of Uzziah king of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem began a two-year reign over Israel, in Samaria. He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes and kept on in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who made Israel sin. Then Pekahiah’s captain, son of Remaliah, plotted against him. Pekah attacked Pekahiah in Samaria, in the stronghold of the king’s palace, with Argob and Arieh, and he had fifty men of with him. He killed Pekahiah and reigned in his place. The rest of what Pekahiah did is written in the records of the kings of Israel.
In the fifty-second year of Uzziah king of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah began a twenty-year reign over Israel, in Samaria. He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes and kept on in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.
In Pekah’s days, king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead and , all the land of , and carried their people away to Assyria as captives.
Then son of Elah made a plot against Pekah son of Remaliah. He attacked Pekah, killed him, and reigned in his place, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah. The rest of what Pekah did is written in the records of the kings of Israel.
The rest of what Uzziah did is written in the records of the kings of Judah; 2 Chronicles says that the prophet son of Amoz wrote it all down, from first to last. Uzziah died and joined his ancestors, and they buried him with his ancestors in David’s city. 2 Chronicles says they buried him in the field of burial that belonged to the kings, because they said, “He has leprosy.” And his son Jotham reigned in his place.
Jotham was twenty-five when he became king of Judah. That was back in Pekah’s second year as king of Israel. Jotham reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and his mother was Jerusha, Zadok’s daughter. He did what was right in the Lord’s eyes, following all that his father Uzziah had done. 2 Chronicles adds that he did not go into the Lord’s temple, and that the people still did wrong.
But the high places were not taken away; the people went on sacrificing and burning incense at them. Jotham built the Upper Gate of the Lord’s house, and he built a great deal on the wall of . Up in the hills of Judah he built towns, and out in the forests he built fortresses and towers.
He fought the king of the Ammonites and defeated them. That year the Ammonites gave him a hundred talents of silver, over three tons, along with ten thousand cors of wheat and ten thousand cors of barley, about sixty thousand bushels of each. They gave him the same in the second year and in the third. So Jotham grew mighty, because he kept his ways in order in the presence of the Lord his God.
The rest of what Jotham did, all his wars and his ways, is written in the records of the kings of Judah and Israel. It was in those days that the Lord began sending king of and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah.
Jotham died and joined his ancestors. He was buried with them in David’s city, and his son Ahaz reigned in his place.
The Lord said to Hosea, “Go again and love a woman loved by another, a woman who has committed . Love her the way the Lord loves the people of Israel, even while they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.”
So Hosea bought her for himself, for fifteen pieces of silver and a and a half of barley, about nine bushels.
He told her, “You will stay with me many days. Don’t be a prostitute, and don’t sleep with any other man. And I will be the same toward you.”
“This is because the people of Israel will live many days without a king or a prince,” Hosea says, “without sacrifice or sacred stone, without or idols. Afterward the people of Israel will come back and seek the Lord their God, and David their king. And in the last days they will come with trembling to the Lord and to his blessings.”
Later in his book, Hosea gives these words of the Lord:
When Israel was a child, I loved him.I called my son out of Egypt.I taught to walk.I took them by their arms,but they didn’t know that I healed them.I drew them with cords of a man, with ties of love,and I was to them like those who lift up the on their necks,and I bent down to him and fed him.