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.
This is the message that [Yahweh] gave to [me], Amos. I am a (shepherd/man who takes care of sheep). I am from [near] Tekoa [town south of Jerusalem]. I received this message about Israel in a vision two years before the [big] earthquake. It was when Uzziah was the king of Judah, and Jeroboam, the son of [King] Jehoash, was the king of Israel.
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.
This is what Yahweh said: “I will roar [like a lion] [MET]; when I speak from Zion [Hill in] Jerusalem [DOU], my voice will [resemble the sound of] thunder. [When that happens], the pastures where you shepherds [take care of] your sheep will dry up, and [the grass] on top of Carmel [Mountain] will (wither/become brown) [because I will cause that no rain will fall].”
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;
This is [also] what Yahweh said [to me]: “[I will punish the people of] Damascus, [the capital of Syria, ] because of the many sins that they have committed; I will not [change my mind about punishing them] [MTY], because [the cruel things that they did to the people of the] Gilead [region] [were like] [MET] people threshing grain using sledges [that have (iron teeth/sharp iron nails) in them].
4 And I will send a fire into the house of Chazael, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
I will cause a fire to burn the palace [that King] Hazael [built and lived in], the fortress where [his son King] Ben-Hadad [also] lived.
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 cause the gates of Damascus to be broken [down]; I will get rid of the king who rules in Aven Valley and the one who rules in Beth Eden. And the people of Syria will be captured and taken to the Kir [region where they originally lived].”
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;
Yahweh [also] said this [to me]: “[I will punish the people of the cities in Philistia]: [I will punish the people of] Gaza [city] because of the many sins that they have committed; I will not change my mind about punishing them, because they captured large groups of people and took them to Edom and sold them to become the slaves of [the people of] Edom.
7 And I will send a fire against the wall of Gazzah, which shall devour her palaces;
I will cause a fire to completely burn the walls of Gaza and [also] destroy its fortresses.
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.
I will get rid of the king of Ashdod [city] and the king who rules [MTY] in Ashkelon [city]. I will [also] strike/punish [the people of] Ekron [city], and [all] the people of Philistia who are still alive will be killed.”
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;
Yahweh [also] said this [to me]: “[I will punish the people of] Tyre [city] because of the many sins that they have committed; I will not change my mind about punishing them, because they [also] captured large groups of our people and took them to Edom, disregarding the treaty of friendship that they had made [with your rulers].
10 And I will send a fire against the walls of Tyre, which shall devour her palaces.
So I will cause a fire to completely burn the walls of Tyre and [also] destroy its fortresses.”
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:
Yahweh [also] said this [to me]: “I will punish [the people of] Edom because of the many sins that they have committed; I will not change my mind about punishing them, because they pursued the people [of Israel], who descended from Esau’s [brother Jacob, and killed them] with swords; they did not act mercifully toward them at all. They were extremely angry [with the people of Israel], and they continued to be angry [with them].
12 And I will send out a fire against Theman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
I will cause a fire to burn Teman [district in Edom] and completely burn the fortresses of Bozrah, [the biggest city in Edom].”
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;
Yahweh [also] said this [to me]: “I will punish [the people of] Ammon because of the many sins that [they] have committed; I will not change my mind about punishing them, because [their soldiers even] ripped open [the bellies of] pregnant women [when their army attacked] the Gilead [region] to gain more territory.
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;
I will cause a fire to [completely] burn the walls around Rabbah [city] and completely burn its fortresses. During that battle, [their enemies] will shout loudly and the fighting will be [like] [MET] a fierce/raging wind/storm.
15 And their king shall go into exile, he and his princes together, saith the Lord.
[After the battle], the king [of Ammon] and his officials will be (exiled/forced to go to another country).”
