Amos 1
1 The words of Amos, who was among herdsmen of Thecua: which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Ozias king of Juda, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joas king of Israel two years before the earthquake.
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 roar from Sion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem: and the beautiful places of the shepherds have mourned, and the top of Carmel is withered.
And he said, The Lord roars from Zion, he shouts from Jerusalem. The shepherds' pastures wither, the top of Mount Carmel dries up.
3 Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Damascus, and for four I will not convert it: because they have thrashed Galaad with iron wains.
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 Azael, and it shall devour the houses of Benadad.
So I will send fire down on the house of Hazael and burn up Ben-Hadad's fortresses.
5 And I will break the bar of Damascus: and I will cut off the inhabitants from the plain of the idol, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of pleasure: and the people of Syria shall be carried away to Cyrene, saith 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 Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Gaza, and for four I will not convert it: because they have carried away a perfect captivity to shut them up in 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, and it shall devour the houses thereof.
So I will send down fire on the walls of Gaza and burn up its fortresses.
8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Azotus, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ascalon: and I will turn my hand against Accaron, and the rest of the Philistines shall perish, saith 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 Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Tyre, and for four I will not convert it: because they have shut up an entire captivity in Edom, and have not remembered the covenant of brethren.
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 upon the wall of Tyre, and it shall devour the houses thereof.
So I will send down fire on the walls of Tyre and burn up its fortresses.
11 Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Edom, and for four I will not convert him: because he hath pursued his brother with the sword, and hath cast off all pity, and hath carried on his fury, and hath kept his wrath to the end.
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 I will send a fire into Theman: and it shall devour the houses of Bosra.
So I will send down fire on Teman, and I will burn up the fortresses of Bozrah.
13 Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of the children of Ammon, and for four I will not convert him: because he hath ripped up the women with child of Galaad to enlarge his border.
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 kindle a fire in the wall of Rabba: and it shall devour the houses thereof with shouting in the day of battle, and with a whirlwind in the day of trouble.
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 Melchom shall go into captivity, both he, and his princes together, saith the Lord.
Their king will be sent into exile together with his princes, says the Lord.
