Amos 1-3

Complete Jewish Bible

“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.

2 Here is what Adonai says:

“For Mo’av’s three crimes,
no, four — I will not reverse it —
because he burned the bones of the king of Edom,
turning them into lime;
² I will send fire on Mo’av,
and it will consume the palaces of K’riot.
Mo’av will die with turmoil and shouting,
along with the sound of the shofar.
³ I will cut off the judge from among them
and kill all his princes with him,” says Adonai.

⁴ Here is what Adonai says:

“For Y’hudah’s three crimes,
no, four — I will not reverse it —
because they rejected Adonai’s Torah
and haven’t observed his laws,
and their lies caused them to fall into error
and live the way their ancestors did;
⁵ I will send fire on Y’hudah,
and it will consume the palaces of Yerushalayim.

⁶ Here is what Adonai says:

“For Isra’el’s three crimes,
no, four — I will not reverse it —
because they sell the upright for silver
and the poor for a pair of shoes,
⁷ grinding the heads of the poor in the dust
and pushing the lowly out of the way;
father and son sleep with the same girl,
profaning my holy name;
⁸ lying down beside any altar
on clothes taken in pledge;
drinking wine in the house of their God
bought with fines they imposed.

⁹ “I destroyed the Emori before them;
though tall as cedars and strong as oaks,
I destroyed their fruit above
and their root below.
¹⁰ More than that, I brought you up from Egypt,
led you forty years in the desert,
so that you could have the Emori’s land.
¹¹ I raised up some of your sons to be prophets,
other young men of yours to be n’zirim.
People of Isra’el!
Isn’t that true?” asks Adonai.
¹² But you gave the n’zirim wine to drink
and ordered the prophets, ‘Don’t prophesy!’
¹³ “Enough! I will make all this crush you,
just as a cart overloaded with grain
crushes what’s under it.
¹⁴ Even the swift won’t be able to flee;
the strong won’t be able to use their strength,
the warriors won’t save themselves.
¹⁵ Archers won’t be able to stand,
the fastest runners won’t save themselves,
those on horses won’t save themselves.
¹⁶ On that day even the bravest warriors
will throw off their weapons and flee,” says Adonai.

² “Of all the families on earth,
only you have I intimately known.
This is why I will punish you
for all your crimes.”
³ Do two people travel together
without having so agreed?
⁴ Does a lion roar in the forest
when it has no prey?
Does a young lion growl in his lair
if it has caught nothing?
⁵ Does a bird get caught in a trap on the ground
if it hasn’t been baited?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
when it has taken nothing?
⁶ When the shofar is blown in the city,
don’t the people tremble?
Can disaster befall a city
without Adonai’s having done it?
⁷ Adonai, God, does nothing without
revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.
⁸ The lion has roared. Who will not fear?
Adonai, God, has spoken. Who will not prophesy?

⁹ “Proclaim it on the palaces in Ashdod
and on the palaces in the land of Egypt; say:
‘Assemble yourselves on the hills of Shomron!
See what great tumult is seething within it,
how much oppression is being done there.’
¹⁰ For they don’t know how to do right,” says Adonai.
“They store up violence and robbery in their palaces.”

¹¹ Therefore, here is what Adonai Elohim says:

“An enemy will surround the land.
He will strip you of your strength,
and plunder your palaces.”

¹² This is what Adonai says:

¹³ “As a shepherd rescues from the mouth of a lion
a couple of leg bones or a piece of an ear;
so the people of Isra’el in Shomron will be rescued,
huddled under cushions in the corners of their beds.

“Hear, and testify against the house of Ya‘akov,”
says Adonai Elohim Elohei-Tzva’ot.
¹⁴ “For when I punish Isra’el’s crimes,
I will also punish the altars of Beit-El.
The horns of the altar will be cut off,
and they will fall to the ground.

¹⁵ I will tear down winter houses
as well as summer houses;
houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed;
the mansions will be no more,” says Adonai.