speech complete as it was originally written or delivered. The
fragments are collected in the Biblical book, called "Amos." Through
this book the name of the humble herdsmen of Tekoah is written large
in the history of religion.

It was Amos who first conceived of God as the God, not of Israel
alone, but of all peoples:

"Are you not as the Ethiopians to me,
O Israel? saith God.
Did I not bring Israel up out of the land of Egypt,
And the Philistines from Caphtor,
And the Syrians from Kir?"

It was Amos who first appeared as the public champion of the poor and
downtrodden, who publicly denounced the greed of the rich and the
corruption of the men in power:

"For I know how manifold are your transgressions,
And how mighty are your sins--
Ye, that trample upon the poor,
That afflict the just, that take a bribe,
And that turn away the needy in the gate."

It was Amos who first cried out against the mistaken idea that animal
sacrifices were what God asked of His people:

"Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and meal-offerings
In the wilderness, forty years, O house of Israel?"