Amos 9:13-15: “Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land, which I have given them, saith Jehovah thy God.” Amos had gone from his home at Tekoa to Bethel to prophesy against the kingdom of Israel, which had become very corrupt, and to warn the people of their coming doom. (Amos 1:1; 7:7-17.) They were to be sifted, scattered, among the nations. As Amos was speaking of their captivity, which they later suffered, it seems reasonable to conclude that the verses in question referred to their return from that captivity. All who wanted to return from that captivity to their own land had abundant opportunity. There is no evidence that the Jews will again be carried out of their own land into captivity, so as to be brought out of captivity in the future. All the prophecies that speak of a return of the Jews out of captivity have been fulfilled. One thing is sure: they are not now in captivity; therefore, they could not now be brought out of captivity, unless again carried into captivity. Pointed Paragraphs: ALL THINGS THAT PERTAIN “Seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue.” (2 Pet. 1:3.) We are in the habit of saying that God has given us in the gospel everything that is essential to life and godliness; but Peter goes a little farther than that and affirms that God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. There is a difference. To illustrate: There are certain things that are essential to an automobile; and there are other things that pertain to an automobile; but are not essential to it. When you have all things that are essential to an automobile, you can go to a supply house and purchase a lot of extras that pertain to an automobile. But suppose you have all the essentials of an automobile, and then you add all the things that pertain to an automobile, nothing else could be added that would make it any more complete. God has not only given us all things that are essential to life and godliness, but he has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness.