Amos 1
Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors
(Jeremiah 12:14–17)
¹ These are the words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders 1 of Tekoa—what he saw concerning Israel two years 2 before the earthquake, in the days when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash 3 was king of Israel.
² He said: “The LORD roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the summit of Carmel withers.”
³ This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Damascus, even four, I will not revoke My judgment,4 because they threshed Gilead with sledges of iron.
⁴ So I will send fire upon the house of Hazael to consume the citadels of Ben-hadad.
⁵ I will break down the gates of Damascus; I will cut off the ruler 5 from the Valley of Aven 6 and the one who wields the scepter in Beth-eden. The people of Aram will be exiled to Kir,” says the LORD.
⁶ This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Gaza, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they exiled a whole population, delivering them up to Edom.
⁷ So I will send fire upon the walls of Gaza, to consume its citadels.
⁸ I will cut off the ruler of Ashdod and the one who wields the scepter in Ashkelon. I will turn My hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,” says the Lord GOD.
⁹ This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Tyre, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they delivered up a whole congregation of exiles to Edom and broke a covenant of brotherhood.
¹⁰ So I will send fire upon the walls of Tyre to consume its citadels.”
¹¹ This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Edom, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and stifled all compassion; his anger raged continually, and his fury flamed incessantly.
¹² So I will send fire upon Teman to consume the citadels of Bozrah.”
¹³ This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of the Ammonites, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their territory.
¹⁴ So I will kindle a fire in the walls of Rabbah to consume its citadels amid war cries on the day of battle and a violent wind on the day of tempest.
¹⁵ Their king will go into exile 7— he and his princes together,” says the LORD.
1:1 Or sheep breeders ↩︎
1:1 Or during the two years ↩︎
1:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant of Jehoash ↩︎
1:3 Or I will not revoke the punishment; Hebrew I will not revoke it; also in verses 6, 9, 11, and 13 ↩︎
1:5 Or the inhabitants ↩︎
1:5 Aven means wickedness. ↩︎
1:15 Possibly Milcom will go into exile; Milcom, also called Molech, was god of the Ammonites; see Leviticus 18:21 and 1 Kings 11:7. ↩︎