Amos is Called to Prophesy
1 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.
2 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
3 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.
4 So I will send down fire upon the house of Hazael,
and it will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
5 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
6 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.
7 So I will send down fire upon the wall of Gaza,
and it will devour their fortified citadels;
8 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
9 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
- Amos 1:1 The Heb. name Amos means burden
- Amos 1:1 Lit. saw
- Amos 1:1 Or in the days of
- Amos 1:1 Or in the days of
- Amos 1:3 Or have threshed
- Amos 1:8 Lit. with the one who holds the scepter of Ashkelon
- Amos 1:8 Lit. turn my hand against
- Amos 1:9 Or brothers
- Amos 1:11 I.e. the nation personified as an individual
- Amos 1:11 Lit. sword, abandoning his compassion
- Amos 1:11 Lit. anger was tearing away
- Amos 1:13 Or their boundary