The words of Amos, who was among the (A)shepherds[a] of (B)Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel (C)in the days of (D)Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of (E)Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years[b] before (F)the earthquake.

Judgment on Israel's Neighbors

And he said:

(G)“The Lord roars from Zion
    and utters his voice from Jerusalem;
(H)the pastures of the shepherds mourn,
    and the (I)top of (J)Carmel withers.”

Thus says the Lord:

(K)“For three transgressions of (L)Damascus,
    and for four, (M)I will not revoke the punishment,[c]
because they have threshed (N)Gilead
    with threshing sledges of iron.
(O)So I will send a fire upon the house of (P)Hazael,
    and it shall devour the strongholds of (Q)Ben-hadad.
I will (R)break the gate-bar of (S)Damascus,
    and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of (T)Aven,[d]
and him who holds the scepter from (U)Beth-eden;
    and the people of (V)Syria shall go into exile to (W)Kir,”
says the Lord.

Thus says the Lord:

(X)“For three transgressions of (Y)Gaza,
    and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because (Z)they carried into exile a whole people
    to deliver them up to Edom.
So I will send a fire upon the wall of (AA)Gaza,
    and it shall devour her strongholds.
I will cut off the inhabitants from (AB)Ashdod,
    and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;
I will turn my hand against Ekron,
    and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,”
says the Lord God.

Thus says the Lord:

(AC)“For three transgressions of (AD)Tyre,
    and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they delivered up a whole people to Edom,
    and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood.
10 So I will send a fire upon the wall of (AE)Tyre,
    and it shall devour her strongholds.”

11 Thus says the Lord:

(AF)“For three transgressions of (AG)Edom,
    and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
(AH)because he pursued his brother with the sword
    (AI)and cast off all pity,
(AJ)and his anger tore perpetually,
    (AK)and he kept his wrath forever.
12 So I will send a fire upon (AL)Teman,
    and it shall devour the strongholds of (AM)Bozrah.”

13 Thus says the Lord:

(AN)“For three transgressions of the (AO)Ammonites,
    and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because (AP)they have ripped open pregnant women in (AQ)Gilead,
    that they might enlarge their border.
14 So I will kindle a fire in the wall of (AR)Rabbah,
    (AS)and it shall devour her strongholds,
with shouting on the day of battle,
    (AT)with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
15 and (AU)their king shall go into exile,
    he and his princes[e] together,”
says the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Amos 1:1 Or sheep breeders
  2. Amos 1:1 Or during two years
  3. Amos 1:3 Hebrew I will not turn it back; also verses 6, 9, 11, 13
  4. Amos 1:5 Or On
  5. Amos 1:15 Or officials

Amos is Called to Prophesy

The words of Amos,[a] who was among the sheep breeders of Tekoa, which he spoke[b] concerning Israel during the reign of[c] Uzziah, king of Judah and during the reign of[d] Joash’s son Jeroboam, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

He said, “From Zion the Lord roars,
    and from Jerusalem he shouts aloud.
The shepherds’ pastures will languish,
    and Carmel’s summit will wither.”

A Warning to Damascus

This is what the Lord says:

“For three transgressions of Damascus
    —and now for a fourth—
        I will not turn away;
because they have trampled down[e] Gilead
    with ironclad threshing sleds.
So I will send down fire upon the house of Hazael,
    and it will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
I will shatter the gate bars of Damascus,
    and I will cut off the residents of the Aven Valley,
along with the one who holds the scepter from Beth-eden;
    and the people of Aram will be exiled to Kir,”
        says the Lord.

A Warning to Gaza

This is what the Lord says:

“For three transgressions of Gaza
    —and now for a fourth—
        I will not turn away;
because they exiled the entire population,
    delivering them to Edom.
So I will send down fire upon the wall of Gaza,
    and it will devour their fortified citadels;
and I will cut off the inhabitants of Ashdod,
    along with Ashkelon’s ruler.[f]
I will turn to attack[g] Ekron,
    and the rest of the Philistines will die,”
        says the Lord God.

A Warning to Tyre

This is what the Lord says:

“For three transgressions of Tyre
    —and now for a fourth—
        I will not turn away;
because they delivered the entire population to Edom,
    and did not remember their covenant with their relatives.[h]
10 So I will send down fire upon the wall of Tyre,
    and it will devour their fortified citadels.”

A Warning to Edom

11 This is what the Lord says:

“For three transgressions of Edom
    —and now for a fourth—
        I will not turn away;
because he[i] pursued his brother with a sword,
    refusing to be compassionate.[j]
His anger was raging[k] continuously;
    he kept up his unending wrath.
12 So I will send down fire upon Teman,
    and it will devour the fortified citadels of Bozrah.”

A Warning to Ammon

13 This is what the Lord says:

“For three transgressions of the Ammonites
    —and now for a fourth—
        I will not turn away;
because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead
    in order to enlarge their national borders.[l]
14 So I will send down fire upon the wall of Rabbah,
    and it will devour their fortified citadels
        with an alarm sounding in the time of battle,
    and with a whirlwind in the time of storm.
15 Their king will go into captivity—
    he and his princes together,”
        says the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Amos 1:1 The Heb. name Amos means burden
  2. Amos 1:1 Lit. saw
  3. Amos 1:1 Or in the days of
  4. Amos 1:1 Or in the days of
  5. Amos 1:3 Or have threshed
  6. Amos 1:8 Lit. with the one who holds the scepter of Ashkelon
  7. Amos 1:8 Lit. turn my hand against
  8. Amos 1:9 Or brothers
  9. Amos 1:11 I.e. the nation personified as an individual
  10. Amos 1:11 Lit. sword, abandoning his compassion
  11. Amos 1:11 Lit. anger was tearing away
  12. Amos 1:13 Or their boundary