Amos 1
1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa; what he saw about Israel in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earth-shock.
Here is the message that was given to Amos, a shepherd from Tekoa in Judah. This is what he saw concerning Israel when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam, son of Jehoash, was king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2 And he said, The Lord will give a lion's cry from Zion, his voice will be sounding from Jerusalem; and the fields of the keepers of sheep will become dry, and the top of Carmel will be wasted away.
And he said, The Lord roars from Zion, he shouts from Jerusalem. The shepherds' pastures wither, the top of Mount Carmel dries up.
3 These are the words of the Lord: For three crimes of Damascus, and for four, I will not let its fate be changed; because they have been crushing Gilead with iron grain-crushing instruments.
This is what the Lord says: The people of Damascus have repeatedly sinned and so I will not hesitate to punish them, for they beat the people of Gilead with sharp iron threshing tools.
4 And I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, burning up the great houses of Ben-hadad.
So I will send fire down on the house of Hazael and burn up Ben-Hadad's fortresses.
5 And I will have the locks of the door of Damascus broken, and him who is seated in power cut off from the valley of Aven, and him in whose hand is the rod from the house of Eden; and the people of Aram will go away as prisoners into Kir, says the Lord.
I will smash the gates of Damascus, I will cut down those who live in the Valley of Aven, and the ruler from Beth Eden. The people of Aram will be deported as prisoners to the land of Kir, says the Lord.
6 These are the words of the Lord: For three crimes of Gaza, and for four, I will not let its fate be changed; because they took all the people away prisoners, to give them up to Edom.
This is what the Lord says: The people of Gaza have repeatedly sinned and so I will not hesitate to punish them, for they sent into exile whole communities, handing them over to Edom.
7 And I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, burning up its great houses:
So I will send down fire on the walls of Gaza and burn up its fortresses.
8 Him who is seated in power I will have cut off from Ashdod, and him in whose hand is the rod from Ashkelon; and my hand will be turned against Ekron, and the rest of the Philistines will come to destruction, says the Lord God.
I will cut down those who live in Ashdod and the ruler of Ashkelon. I will turn to punish Ekron and the Philistines who remain will die, says the Lord God.
9 These are the words of the Lord: For three crimes of Tyre, and for four, I will not let its fate be changed; because they gave up all the people prisoners to Edom, without giving a thought to the brothers' agreement between them.
This is what the Lord says: The people of Tyre have repeatedly sinned and so I will not hesitate to punish them, for they exiled whole communities, handing them over to Edom, and did not keep their agreement to help each other as members of the same family.
10 And I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre, burning up its great houses.
So I will send down fire on the walls of Tyre and burn up its fortresses.
11 These are the words of the Lord: For three crimes of Edom, and for four, I will not let its fate be changed; because his sword was turned against his brother, without pity, and his wrath was burning at all times, and he was angry for ever.
This is what the Lord says: The people of Edom have repeatedly sinned and so I will not hesitate to punish them, for they hunted down the Israelites to whom they were related, killing them with swords. They attacked without mercy, tearing the Israelites to pieces in an angry rage that never stopped.
12 And I will send a fire on Teman, burning up the great houses of Bozrah.
So I will send down fire on Teman, and I will burn up the fortresses of Bozrah.
13 These are the words of the Lord: For three crimes of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not let its fate be changed; because in Gilead they had women with child cut open, so that they might make wider the limits of their land.
This is what the Lord says: The people of Ammon have repeatedly sinned and so I will not hesitate to punish them, because they ripped open pregnant women in Gilead as part of their war to enlarge their territory.
14 And I will make a fire in the wall of Rabbah, burning up its great houses, with loud cries in the days of war, with a storm in the day of the great wind:
I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah and burn up its fortresses. There will be shouts on the day of battle which will whirl with rage like a windstorm.
15 And their king will be made prisoner, he and his captains together, says the Lord.
Their king will be sent into exile together with his princes, says the Lord.
