< Amos 1 >
1 The words of 'Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he foresaw concerning Israel in the days of 'Uzziyah the king of Judah, and in the days of Jerobo'am the son of Joash the king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
The message of Amos, one of the sheep breeders of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the reign of King Uzziah of Judah, and in the reign of Jeroboam the son of King Joash of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2 And he said, The Lord will cry aloud out of Zion, and from Jerusalem will he send forth his voice; and then shall mourn the pastures of the shepherds, and then shall dry up the top of Carmel.
Amos said: Whenever the Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, the pastures of the shepherds dry up, the top of Carmel becomes arid.
3 Thus hath said the Lord, For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, will I not turn away their punishment; because they have threshed [the inhabitants of] Gil'ad with threshing instruments of iron;
The Lord says: For Damascus’ three crimes – no, four! – I will not rescind my judgment. They have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron.
4 And I will send a fire into the house of Chazael, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
Therefore I will send fire on Hazael’s house, it will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
5 And I will break the bars of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from the valley of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of 'Eden: and the people of Syria shall be exiled unto Kir, saith the Lord.
I will break open the gate of Damascus, I will wipe out those who live in the valley of Aven and the sceptered ruler of Beth-Eden. The people of Aram will go into captivity in Kir, says the Lord.
6 Thus hath said the Lord, For three transgressions of Gazzah, and for four, will I not turn away their punishment; because they carried away exiles in full numbers, to deliver them up to Edom;
The Lord says: For Gaza’s three crimes – no, four! – I will not rescind my judgment. They carried away captive a whole nation, sold them as slaves to Edom.
7 And I will send a fire against the wall of Gazzah, which shall devour her palaces;
Therefore I will send fire on the wall of Gaza, and it shall devour her palaces.
8 And I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn my hand against 'Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord Eternal.
And I will wipe out those who live in Ashdod, and the sceptered ruler of Askelon. I will turn my hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines will perish, says the Lord.
9 Thus hath said the Lord, For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, will I not turn away their punishment; because they delivered up the exiles in full numbers to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant;
The Lord says: For Tyre’s three crimes – no, four! – I will not rescind my judgment. They carried away captive a whole people into exile in Edom, and did not remember the brotherly covenant.
10 And I will send a fire against the walls of Tyre, which shall devour her palaces.
So I will send fire on the walls of Tyre. It will devour her palaces.
11 Thus hath said the Lord, For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, will I not turn away their punishment; because he pursued with the sword his brother, and disregarded his mercy, and his anger tore in pieces continually, and he kept his wrath for ever:
The Lord says: For Edom’s three crimes – no, four! – I will not rescind my judgment. They pursued their relatives with the sword, stilled their pity, cherished their anger continually, retained their fury forever.
12 And I will send out a fire against Theman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
So I will send a fire into Teman. It will destroy the palaces of Bozrah.
13 Thus hath said the Lord, For three transgressions of the children of 'Ammon, and for four, will I not turn away their punishment; because they have ripped up the pregnant women of Gil'ad, in order to enlarge their own territory;
The Lord says: For Ammonites’ three crimes – no, four! – I will not rescind my judgment. They have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead, in their lust for land.
14 And I will kindle a fire within the walls of Rabbah, which shall devour her palaces, with shouting on the day of battle, with a storm on the day of the tempest;
So I will kindle a fire on the wall of Rabbah. It will destroy her palaces, with a war-cry in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind.
15 And their king shall go into exile, he and his princes together, saith the Lord.
Their king will go into exile, he and his nobles together, says the Lord.