< Amos 1 >
1 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.
The words of Amos which came [to him] in Accarim out of Thecue, which he saw concerning Jerusalem, 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.
2 And he said, The Lord roars from Zion, he shouts from Jerusalem. The shepherds' pastures wither, the top of Mount Carmel dries up.
And he said, The Lord has spoken out of Sion, and has uttered his voice out of Jerusalem; and the pastures of the shepherds have mourned, and the top of Carmel is dried up.
3 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.
And the Lord said, For three sins of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away from it; because they sawed with iron saws the women with child of the Galaadites.
4 So I will send fire down on the house of Hazael and burn up Ben-Hadad's fortresses.
And I will send a fire on the house of Azael, and it shall devour the foundations of the son of Ader.
5 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.
And I will break to pieces the bars of Damascus, and will destroy the inhabitants out of the plain of On, and will cut in pieces a tribe out of the men of Charrhan: and the famous people of Syria shall be led captive, saith the Lord.
6 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.
Thus saith the Lord; For three sins of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away from them; because they took prisoners the captivity of Solomon, to shut [them] up into Idumea.
7 So I will send down fire on the walls of Gaza and burn up its fortresses.
And I will send forth a fire on the walls of Gaza, and it shall devour its foundations.
8 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.
And I will destroy the inhabitants out of Azotus, and a tribe shall be cut off from Ascalon, and I will stretch out my hand upon Accaron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord.
9 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.
Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not turn away from it; because they shut up the prisoners of Solomon into Idumea, and remembered not the covenant of brethren.
10 So I will send down fire on the walls of Tyre and burn up its fortresses.
And I will send forth a fire on the walls of Tyre, and it shall devour the foundations of it.
11 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.
Thus saith the Lord; For three sins of Idumea, and for four, I will not turn away from them; because they pursued their brother with the sword, and destroyed the mother upon the earth, and summoned up his anger for a testimony, and kept up his fury to the end.
12 So I will send down fire on Teman, and I will burn up the fortresses of Bozrah.
And I will send forth a fire upon Thaman, and it shall devour the foundations of her walls.
13 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.
Thus saith the Lord; For three sins of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away from him; because they ripped up the women with child of the Galaadites, that they might widen their coasts.
14 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.
And I will kindle a fire on the walls of Rabbath, and it shall devour her foundations with shouting in the day of war, and she shall be shaken in the days of her destruction:
15 Their king will be sent into exile together with his princes, says the Lord.
and her kings shall go into captivity, their priests and their rulers together, saith the Lord.