It may be necessary to make clear the relationship of this verse to the previous one. Verse 7 says that Israel really does not have as special a position as it thinks, and verse 8 goes on to show that God is not going to keep back from punishing it. The false idea that the people have a special relationship to God is not going to save them. To show how these ideas fit together it would be possible to say in English: “You certainly don’t think I will save you any more than the Ethiopians, do you? No, I brought the Philistines from Crete and the Syrians from Kir, just like I brought you up out of Egypt! In fact, as your LORD, I am watching you; I am going to destroy your sinful nation—I’m going to sweep it off the ground.”
Behold. See 2.13; 6.14.
The eyes of the Lord GOD are upon/I, the Sovereign LORD, am watching. In many languages God cannot say eyes of the Lord GOD, referring to himself (see 4.11, 12). He can speak of “my eyes” or “look, the eyes of me, the Lord GOD, are fixed upon…” or I … am watching. The meaning is that God is watching because he expects wrong to be done. He does not trust Israel. In English this feeling could be conveyed by “I am keeping my eye on you.”
The sinful kingdom/this sinful kingdom of Israel. It is not very clear what exactly is meant by the sinful kingdom. It may be this sinful kingdom of Israel, which seems likely in the context, or “every sinful kingdom,” which would include Israel. A possible translation would be “your country (or you people in Israel), which does/do evil things” or “your sinful nation.”
And I will destroy it from the surface of the ground/and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Some English translations use idioms like from the face of the earth and “wipe it off the face of the earth” (New English Bible; see also Jerusalem Bible). The meaning is complete destruction so that there is no one left on earth. There may be a similar idiom in some languages, or else the translation could be “I will destroy you and remove you from the earth.” This should be made very strong, even though the next line contradicts it. That is part of the dramatic and emotional force here.
Except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob/But I will not destroy all the descendants of Jacob. In the middle of this sub-section, in which the LORD says that he will punish his own people, the Israelites, comes a dramatic qualification that not everyone will be destroyed. In one way it is like a parenthesis, but should not be placed in parentheses because it is very prominent with its central position and the way it contrasts with what comes before and after. One way of showing this would be to make it a separate paragraph (Translating Amos, Section 2.3). In any case, the translator should be careful to show the connection with what goes before in the translation.
The house of Jacob/the descendants of Jacob. In this case there does not seem to be any particular reason for translating Jacob rather than “Israel.” Readers should not be led to think that two different groups of people are being discussed.
Says the LORD. Good News Translation has omitted this, no doubt because the LORD is speaking and continues to speak. However, it helps to emphasize the dramatic contrast here and should be kept, especially, if this part of the verse is in a separate paragraph. It may be better as a separate sentence: “It is I, the LORD, who says so” or “It is I, the LORD, who promises this.”
Quoted with permission from de Waard, Jan & Smalley, William A. A Handbook on Amos. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1979. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .