Amos 1
Good News Translation
1 (A)These are the words of Amos, a shepherd from the town of Tekoa. Two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel, God revealed to Amos all these things about Israel.
2 (B)Amos said,
“The Lord roars from Mount Zion;
his voice thunders from Jerusalem.
The pastures dry up,
and the grass on Mount Carmel turns brown.”
God's Judgment on Israel's Neighbors
Syria
3 (C)The Lord says, “The people of Damascus have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They treated the people of Gilead with savage cruelty. 4 So I will send fire upon the palace built by King Hazael and I will burn down the fortresses of King Benhadad. 5 I will smash the city gates of Damascus and remove the inhabitants of Aven Valley and the ruler of Betheden. The people of Syria will be taken away as prisoners to the land of Kir.”
Philistia
6 (D)The Lord says, “The people of Gaza have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They carried off a whole nation and sold them as slaves to the people of Edom. 7 So I will send fire upon the city walls of Gaza and burn down its fortresses. 8 I will remove the rulers of the cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon. I will punish the city of Ekron, and all the Philistines who are left will die.”
Tyre
9 (E)The Lord says, “The people of Tyre have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They carried off a whole nation into exile in the land of Edom, and did not keep the treaty of friendship they had made. 10 So I will send fire upon the city walls of Tyre and burn down its fortresses.”
Edom
11 (F)The Lord says, “The people of Edom have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They hunted down their relatives,[a] the Israelites, and showed them no mercy. Their anger had no limits, and they never let it die. 12 So I will send fire upon the city of Teman and burn down the fortresses of Bozrah.”
Ammon
13 (G)The Lord says, “The people of Ammon have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. In their wars for more territory they even ripped open pregnant women in Gilead. 14 So I will send fire upon the city walls of Rabbah and burn down its fortresses. Then there will be shouts on the day of battle, and the fighting will rage like a storm. 15 Their king and his officers will go into exile.”
Footnotes
- Amos 1:11 The Israelites were descended from Jacob, who was the brother of Esau, the ancestor of the Edomites.
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
Complete Jewish Bible
1 The words of ‘Amos, one of the sheep owners in T’koa, which he saw concerning Isra’el in the days of ‘Uziyah king of Y’hudah and Yarov‘am the son of Yo’ash, king of Isra’el, two years before the earthquake; 2 he said:
Adonai is roaring from Tziyon
thundering from Yerushalayim;
the shepherds’ pastures will mourn,
and Mount Karmel’s summit will wither.
3 Here is what Adonai says:
“For Dammesek’s three crimes,
no, four — I will not reverse it —
because they threshed Gil‘ad
with an iron-spiked threshing-sledge;
4 I will send fire to the house of Haza’el,
and it will consume the palaces of Ben-Hadad.
5 I will break the bars of Dammesek’s gates.
I will cut off the inhabitants from Bik‘at-Aven,
and him who holds the scepter from Beit-‘Eden.
Then the people of Aram will go into exile
in Kir,” says Adonai.
6 Here is what Adonai says:
“For ‘Azah’s three crimes,
no, four — I will not reverse it —
because they exiled a whole population
and handed them over to Edom;
7 I will send fire to the wall of ‘Azah,
and it will consume its palaces.
8 I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod,
and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon.
I will turn my hand against ‘Ekron,
and the rest of the P’lishtim will perish,”
says Adonai, God.
9 Here is what Adonai says:
“For Tzor’s three crimes,
no, four — I will not reverse it —
because they exiled a whole population to Edom
and did not remember the covenant with kinsmen;
10 I will send fire to the wall of Tzor,
and it will consume its palaces.”
11 Here is what Adonai says:
“For Edom’s three crimes,
no, four — I will not reverse it —
because with sword he pursued his kinsman
and threw aside all pity,
constantly nursing his anger,
forever fomenting his fury;
12 I will send fire on Teman,
and it will consume the palaces of Botzrah.”
13 Here is what Adonai says:
“For the people of ‘Amon’s three crimes,
no, four — I will not reverse it —
because they ripped apart pregnant women
just to expand their territory,
14 I will set fire to the wall of Rabbah,
and it will consume its palaces
amid shouts on the day of battle,
amid a storm on the day of the whirlwind.
15 Their king will go into exile,
he and his princes together,” says Adonai.
Amos 1
The Message
1 The Message of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa, that he received on behalf of Israel. It came to him in visions during the time that Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam II son of Joash was king of Israel, two years before the big earthquake.
Swallowing the Same Old Lies
2 The Message:
God roars from Zion,
shouts from Jerusalem!
The thunderclap voice withers the pastures tended by shepherds,
shrivels Mount Carmel’s proud peak.
3-5 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Damascus
—make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She pounded Gilead to a pulp, pounded her senseless
with iron hammers and mauls.
For that, I’m setting the palace of Hazael on fire.
I’m torching Ben-hadad’s forts.
I’m going to smash the Damascus gates
and banish the crime king who lives in Sin Valley,
the vice boss who gives orders from Paradise Palace.
The people of the land will be sent back
to where they came from—to Kir.”
God’s Decree.
6-8 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Gaza
—make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She deported whole towns
and then sold the people to Edom.
For that, I’m burning down the walls of Gaza,
burning up all her forts.
I’ll banish the crime king from Ashdod,
the vice boss from Ashkelon.
I’ll raise my fist against Ekron,
and what’s left of the Philistines will die.”
God’s Decree.
9-10 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Tyre
—make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She deported whole towns to Edom,
breaking the treaty she had with her kin.
For that, I’m burning down the walls of Tyre,
burning up all her forts.”
11-12 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Edom
—make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She hunts down her brother to murder him.
She has no pity, she has no heart.
Her anger rampages day and night.
Her meanness never takes a timeout.
For that, I’m burning down her capital, Teman,
burning up the forts of Bozrah.”
13-15 God’s Message:
“Because of the three great sins of Ammon
—make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer.
She ripped open pregnant women in Gilead
to get more land for herself.
For that, I’m burning down the walls of her capital, Rabbah,
burning up her forts.
Battle shouts! War whoops!
with a tornado to finish things off!
The king has been carted off to exile,
the king and his princes with him.”
God’s Decree.
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Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
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.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson