Amos 1-2
Modern English Version
Judgment Against Israel’s Neighbors
1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds 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.
2 He said:
The Lord roars from Zion
and utters His voice from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds languish,
the top of Carmel withers.
3 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Damascus,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they have threshed Gilead
with threshing sledges of iron.
4 So I will send fire against the house of Hazael,
and it will devour the fortresses of Ben-Hadad.
5 I will break the gate bar of Damascus;
from the Valley of Aven I will cut off the one enthroned,
and from Beth Eden the one who holds the scepter.
The people of Aram will go into captivity to Kir,
says the Lord.
6 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Gaza,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they carried away into exile an entire deportation,
to deliver them up to Edom.
7 So I will send fire against the wall of Gaza,
and it will devour its fortresses.
8 From Ashdod I will cut off the one enthroned
and from Ashkelon the one who holds the scepter.
I will turn My hand against Ekron,
and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,
says the Lord God.
9 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Tyre,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they delivered up an entire deportation to Edom,
and did not remember the covenant of kinship.
10 So I will send fire against the wall of Tyre,
and it will devour its fortresses.
11 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Edom,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because he pursued his brother with the sword,
and repressed all pity;
his anger tore with no ceasing,
and his wrath persisted with no end.
12 So I will send fire against Teman,
and it will devour the fortresses of Bozrah.
13 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of the Ammonites,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead,
in order to enlarge their border.
14 So I will kindle a fire against the wall of Rabbah,
and it will devour its fortresses,
with a war cry on the day of battle,
with a tempest on the day of the whirlwind.
15 Their king shall go into captivity,
he and his princes together,
says the Lord.
2 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Moab,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because he burned to lime
the bones of the king of Edom.
2 So I will send fire against Moab,
and it will devour the fortresses of Kerioth;
Moab will die in uproar,
with a war cry and the alarm of the trumpet.
3 I will cut off the ruler from its midst,
and will slay all its princes with him,
says the Lord.
Judgment Against Judah
4 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Judah,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they have rejected the law of the Lord,
and have not kept His commandments.
The lies which their fathers followed
have led them astray.
5 So I will send fire against Judah,
and it will devour the fortresses of Jerusalem.
Judgment Against Israel
6 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Israel,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they sell the righteous for silver,
and the poor for a pair of sandals.
7 They trample the head of the poor
into the dust of the earth,
and push the oppressed out of the way.
A man and his father go in to the same woman,
profaning My holy name.
8 They recline by every altar
on garments taken in pledge,
and in the house of their gods
they drink the wine from those who have been fined.
9 Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,
whose height was like the height of the cedars.
He was strong as the oaks,
yet I destroyed his fruit above
and his roots below.
10 It was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt,
and led you forty years through the wilderness,
to possess the land of the Amorite.
11 I raised up some of your sons as prophets,
and some of your young men as Nazirites.
Is it not so, O children of Israel?
says the Lord.
12 But you made the Nazirites drink wine,
and commanded the prophets, saying, “Do not prophesy.”
13 Indeed I will slow you down,
as a wagon is slowed that is full of sheaves.
14 Flight will perish from the swift,
the strong will not retain his strength,
nor will the warrior save his life.
15 The bowman will not stand firm,
the swift-footed will not escape,
nor will the horseman save his life.
16 He that is courageous among the warriors
will flee away naked on that day,
says the Lord.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.