Amos 1
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
1 The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of King Uzziah of Judah and in the days of King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel, two years[a] before the earthquake.(A)
Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors
2 And he said:
The Lord roars from Zion
and utters his voice from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds wither,
and the top of Carmel dries up.(B)
3 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Damascus,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,[b]
because they have threshed Gilead
with threshing sledges of iron.(C)
4 So I will send a fire on the house of Hazael,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.(D)
5 I will break the gate bars of Damascus
and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven
and the one who holds the scepter from Beth-eden,
and the people of Aram shall go into exile to Kir,
says the Lord.(E)
6 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Gaza,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,[c]
because they carried into exile entire communities,
to hand them over to Edom.(F)
7 So I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza,
and it shall devour its strongholds.
8 I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod
and the one 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.(G)
9 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Tyre,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,[d]
because they delivered entire communities over to Edom
and did not remember the covenant of kinship.(H)
10 So I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre,
and it shall devour its strongholds.(I)
11 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Edom,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,[e]
because he pursued his brother with the sword
and cast off all pity;
he maintained his anger perpetually[f]
and kept his wrath[g] forever.(J)
12 So I will send a fire on Teman,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah.(K)
13 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of the Ammonites,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,[h]
because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead
in order to enlarge their territory.(L)
14 So I will kindle a fire against the wall of Rabbah,
and it shall devour its strongholds,
with shouting on the day of battle,
with a storm on the day of the whirlwind;(M)
15 then their king shall go into exile,
he and his officials together,
says the Lord.(N)
Amos 1
Evangelical Heritage Version
1 The words of Amos, who was among the sheep breeders[a] from Tekoa. He saw a vision concerning Israel during the days of Uzziah king of Judah and during the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2 He said:
The Lord roars from Zion.
From Jerusalem he sends out his voice.
The pastures of the shepherds dry up,[b]
and the top of Mount Carmel withers.
Judgment Against Aram
3 This is what the Lord says:
Because of three sins[c] of Damascus,
because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
because they cut up Gilead with iron threshing boards.[d]
4 So I will send fire against the house of Hazael,
and it will consume the fortresses of Ben Hadad.
5 I will break the bars of the gates of Damascus,
and I will cut off the one seated in the Valley of Aven,
and the one who holds a scepter in Beth Eden.[e]
So the people of Aram will go into exile toward Kir.[f]
The Lord has spoken.
Judgment Against Philistia
6 This is what the Lord says:
Because of three sins of Gaza,
because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
because they sold an entire population into exile,
handing them over to Edom.
7 So I will send fire against the city wall of Gaza,
and it will consume her citadels.
8 I will cut off the one seated in Ashdod,
and the one who holds a scepter in Ashkelon.
I will also turn my hand against Ekron,
and what is left of the Philistines will perish.
The Lord God has spoken.
Judgment Against Canaan
9 This is what the Lord says:
Because of three sins of Tyre,
because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
because they delivered over an entire population and exiled them to Edom,
and they did not remember a treaty of brotherhood.
10 So I will send fire against the city wall of Tyre,
and it will consume her citadels.
Judgment Against Edom
11 This is what the Lord says:
Because of three sins of Edom,
because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
because he[g] pursued his brother with a sword,
and he had no compassion.[h]
His anger kept tearing Israel apart,
and his fury raged without stopping.
12 So I will send fire against Teman,
and it will consume the citadels of Bozrah.
Judgment Against Ammon
13 This is what the Lord says:
Because of three sins of the Ammonites,
because of four, I will not hold back judgment,
because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their own territory.
14 So I will ignite a fire against the city wall of Rabbah,
and it will consume her citadels
with a battle cry on the day of war,
with a strong wind on the day of the storm.
15 Then their king will go into exile,
he and his officials together.
The Lord has spoken.
Footnotes
- Amos 1:1 Or ranchers
- Amos 1:2 Or mourn
- Amos 1:3 Or crimes
- Amos 1:3 A threshing board or threshing sledge is similar to a toboggan, but it has iron teeth protruding from the bottom. It is dragged over piles of grain to cut up the straw and release the kernels of grain.
- Amos 1:5 Valley of Aven and Beth Eden mean Valley of Wickedness and House of Pleasure. They may be figurative names for the region around Damascus.
- Amos 1:5 The location of Kir is unknown. It probably lies far to the north or east.
- Amos 1:11 Edom is referred to by the singular he because it is also a name of Jacob’s brother Esau.
- Amos 1:11 Or he destroyed pregnant women
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.