1These are the words of Amos. He was a shepherd from the town of Tekoa. Here is the vision he saw concerning Israel. It came to him two years before the earthquake. At that time Uzziah was king of Judah. Jeroboam, the son of Jehoash, was king of Israel. Here are the words of Amos.2He said, ‘The LORD roars like a lion from Jerusalem. His voice sounds like thunder from Zion. The grasslands of the shepherds turn brown. The top of Mount Carmel dries up.’
The Lord judges Israel’s neighbours
3The LORD says, ‘The people of Damascus have sinned again and again. So I will judge them. They used threshing sleds with iron teeth to crush Gilead’s people.4So I will send fire to destroy the palace of King Hazael. It will burn up the forts of his son Ben-Hadad.5I will break down the city gate of Damascus. I will kill the king who lives in the Valley of Aven, that evil place. He holds the ruler’s sceptre in Beth Eden. The people of Aram will be taken away to Kir as prisoners,’ says the LORD.6The LORD says, ‘The people of Gaza have sinned again and again. So I will judge them. They captured whole communities. They sold them to Edom.7So I will send fire to destroy the walls of Gaza. It will burn up its forts.8I will kill the king of Ashdod. He holds the ruler’s sceptre in Ashkelon. I will use my power against Ekron. Every single Philistine will die,’ says the LORD and King.9The LORD says, ‘The people of Tyre have sinned again and again. So I will judge them. They captured whole communities. They sold them to Edom. They did not honour the treaty of friendship they had made.10So I will send fire to destroy the walls of Tyre. It will burn up its forts.’11The LORD says, ‘The people of Edom have sinned again and again. So I will judge them. They chased Israel with swords that were ready to strike them down. They killed the women of the land. They were angry all the time. Their anger was like a fire that blazed out. It could not be stopped.12So I will send fire to destroy the city of Teman. It will burn up Bozrah’s forts.’13The LORD says, ‘The people of Ammon have sinned again and again. So I will judge them. They ripped open the pregnant women in Gilead. They wanted to add land to their territory.14So I will set fire to destroy the walls of Rabbah. It will burn up its forts. War cries will be heard on that day of battle. Strong winds will blow on that stormy day.15Ammon’s king will be carried away. So will his officials,’ says the LORD.
2And he said: “The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the top of Carmel withers.” (Jos 19:26; Ps 65:12; Joe 3:16; Am 9:3)3Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,[3] because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. (2Ki 10:33; Pr 30:15; Pr 30:18; Pr 30:21; Pr 30:29; Isa 8:4; Isa 21:10; Am 1:9; Am 1:11; Am 1:13; Am 2:1; Am 2:4; Am 2:6)4So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad. (2Ki 13:24; Jer 49:27)5I will break the gate-bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven,[4] and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden; and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir,” says the Lord. (2Ki 16:9; 2Ki 19:12; Jer 51:30; Ho 4:15; Am 1:3; Am 9:7)6Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they carried into exile a whole people to deliver them up to Edom. (2Ch 28:18; Jer 47:1; Jer 47:5; Joe 3:4; Am 1:3; Zep 2:4; Zec 9:5)7So I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza, and it shall devour her strongholds. (Am 1:6)8I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod, and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; I will turn my hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,” says the Lord God. (1Sa 5:1; Am 3:9)9Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they delivered up a whole people to Edom, and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood. (Joe 3:4; Am 1:3)10So I will send a fire upon the wall of Tyre, and it shall devour her strongholds.” (Am 1:9)11Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity, and his anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever. (2Ch 28:17; Ps 137:7; Eze 35:5; Joe 3:19; Am 1:3; Mal 1:4)12So I will send a fire upon Teman, and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah.” (1Ch 1:44; 1Ch 1:45; Isa 63:1; Ob 1:9)13Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of the Ammonites, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead, that they might enlarge their border. (Jer 49:1; Ho 13:16; Am 1:3; Zep 2:8)14So I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour her strongholds, with shouting on the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind; (2Sa 11:1; 2Sa 12:26; Eze 21:20; Eze 21:28)15and their king shall go into exile, he and his princes[5] together,” says the Lord. (Jer 49:3)