Then I said, “O Lord GOD cease, I beseech thee! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!”/Then I said, “Stop, Sovereign LORD! How can your people survive? They are so small and weak!” What Amos said is exactly the same as verse 2b except for cease here instead of forgive (verse 2). The Hebrew means “Don’t do it” or Stop (so also The Translator’s Old Testament). In many languages it will be necessary to say “stop the heat” or “stop doing this,” etc.

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 .