Amos 1
1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
Here is the message that was given to Amos, a shepherd from Tekoa in Judah. This is what he saw concerning Israel when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam, son of Jehoash, was king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2 And he said, The LORD shall roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the pastures of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.
And he said, The Lord roars from Zion, he shouts from Jerusalem. The shepherds' pastures wither, the top of Mount Carmel dries up.
3 Thus saith the LORD: For three transgressions of Damascus, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:
This is what the Lord says: The people of Damascus have repeatedly sinned and so I will not hesitate to punish them, for they beat the people of Gilead with sharp iron threshing tools.
4 but I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
So I will send fire down on the house of Hazael and burn up Ben-Hadad's fortresses.
5 And I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD.
I will smash the gates of Damascus, I will cut down those who live in the Valley of Aven, and the ruler from Beth Eden. The people of Aram will be deported as prisoners to the land of Kir, says the Lord.
6 Thus saith the LORD: For three transgressions of Gaza, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole people, to deliver them up to Edom:
This is what the Lord says: The people of Gaza have repeatedly sinned and so I will not hesitate to punish them, for they sent into exile whole communities, handing them over to Edom.
7 But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it shall devour the palaces thereof:
So I will send down fire on the walls of Gaza and burn up its fortresses.
8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon; and I will turn mine hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD.
I will cut down those who live in Ashdod and the ruler of Ashkelon. I will turn to punish Ekron and the Philistines who remain will die, says the Lord God.
9 Thus saith the LORD: For three transgressions of Tyre, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole people to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:
This is what the Lord says: The people of Tyre have repeatedly sinned and so I will not hesitate to punish them, for they exiled whole communities, handing them over to Edom, and did not keep their agreement to help each other as members of the same family.
10 but I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.
So I will send down fire on the walls of Tyre and burn up its fortresses.
11 Thus saith the LORD: For three transgressions of Edom, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:
This is what the Lord says: The people of Edom have repeatedly sinned and so I will not hesitate to punish them, for they hunted down the Israelites to whom they were related, killing them with swords. They attacked without mercy, tearing the Israelites to pieces in an angry rage that never stopped.
12 but I will send a fire upon Teman, and it shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
So I will send down fire on Teman, and I will burn up the fortresses of Bozrah.
13 Thus saith the LORD: For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border:
This is what the Lord says: The people of Ammon have repeatedly sinned and so I will not hesitate to punish them, because they ripped open pregnant women in Gilead as part of their war to enlarge their territory.
14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbath and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:
I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah and burn up its fortresses. There will be shouts on the day of battle which will whirl with rage like a windstorm.
15 and their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, saith the LORD.
Their king will be sent into exile together with his princes, says the Lord.
