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| 1 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, Who [are] in the mountain of Samaria, Who are oppressing the poor, Who are bruising the needy, Who are saying to their lords: 'Bring in, and we do drink.' |
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| 2 Sworn hath the Lord Jehovah by His holiness, That lo, days are coming upon you, And he hath taken you away with hooks, And your posterity with fish-hooks. |
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| 3 And [by] breaches ye go forth, A woman [at that] over-against her, And ye have cast down the high place, An affirmation of Jehovah. |
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| 4 Enter ye Beth-El, and transgress, At Gilgal multiply transgression, And bring in every morning your sacrifices, Every third year your tithes. |
Three years – Three Days - NASB, RVIC, DARBY, JPS |
| 5 And perfume with leaven a thank-offering, And proclaim willing gifts, sound ye! For so ye have loved, O sons of Israel, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. |
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| 6 And I also I have given to you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, And lack of bread in all your places, And ye have not turned back unto Me, an affirmation of Jehovah. |
I – God
Cleanness of teeth – Indicating no food has been in their mouth, thus this is idiomatic for a lack of food.
Amos 8:9
Cause the sun to go down at noon – The light of the Gospel will not shine brightly, even during the presence of the Sun of Righteousness (Our returned Lord Jesus.)
I will darken the earth – God will permit darkness to come on those who will not see.
In the clear day – The term "clear day" means "bright" or "luminary," indicating the light of the Gospel is shining bright and yet the symbolic earth ("organized society under religious restraint") will not receive it.
In addition to the rather obvious symbolical references here there is yet another interesting literal fulfillment of this prophecy.
Br. Julian T. Gray explains this in his work "Which Is the True Chronology."
If we consider this from its literal standpoint, what clearly is being described is a Solar Eclipse. When we consider the time frame (not speaking of the end of the Gospel Age) it seems clear that there was only one eclipse of the Sun in that region during that time, i.e., the one recorded by the Babylonians as having taken place June 15, 763 B.C.
Br. Gray goes through the setting and explains how this lines up with biblical events and with history. He then concludes by comparing which of the various Bible chronologies match this astronomical event. - There is only one. The chronology used by Pastor Russell as presented to us in "The Time is at Hand." |
| 7 And I also I have withheld from you the rain. While yet three months to harvest, And I have sent rain on one city, And on another city I do not send rain, One portion is rained on, And the portion on which it raineth not withereth. |
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| 8 And wandered have two or three cities, Unto the same city to drink water, And they are not satisfied, And ye have not turned back unto Me, An affirmation of Jehovah. |
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| 9 I have smitten you with blasting and with mildew, The abundance of your gardens and of your vineyards, And of your figs, and of your olives, Eat doth the palmer-worm, And ye have not turned back unto Me, An affirmation of Jehovah. |
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| 10 I have sent among you pestilence by the way of Egypt, I have slain by sword your choice ones, With your captive horses, And I cause the stink of your camps to come up even into your nostrils, And ye have not turned back unto Me, An affirmation of Jehovah. |
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| 11 I have overturned among you, Like the overturn by God of Sodom and Gomorrah, And ye are as a brand delivered from a burning, And ye have not turned back unto Me, An affirmation of Jehovah. |
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| 12 Therefore, thus I do to thee, O Israel, at last, Because this I do to thee, Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. |
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| 13 For, lo, the former of mountains, and creator of wind, And the declarer to man what [is] His thought, He is making dawn obscurity, And is treading on high places of earth, Jehovah, God of Hosts, [is] His name!
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