Amos
1
1 These are the words of Amos, one of the sheep farmers from Tekoa. He saw ⌞a vision⌟ about Israel during the reigns of Judah’s King Uzziah and Israel’s King Jeroboam, son of Joash. This happened two years before the earthquake.
2 He said:
The Lord roars from Zion,
and his voice thunders from Jerusalem.
The pastures of the shepherds are turning brown,
and the top of ⌞Mount⌟ Carmel is dried up.
Damascus Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
3 This is what the Lord says:
Because Damascus has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The Arameans have crushed ⌞the people of⌟ Gilead
with iron-spiked threshing* sledges.
4 I will send a fire on the house of Hazael
and burn down the palaces of Ben Hadad.
5 I will break the bars ⌞on the gates⌟ of Damascus.
I will cut off those living in Aven Valley
and the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden.
The people of Aram will go into captivity at Kir.
The Lord has said this.
Gaza Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
6 This is what the Lord says:
Because Gaza has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The Philistines have taken all the people captive
in order to hand them over to the Edomites.
7 I will send a fire on the walls of Gaza
and burn down its palaces.
8 I will cut off those living in Ashdod
and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon.
I will turn my power against Ekron.
The rest of the Philistines will die.
The Almighty Lord has said this.
Tyre Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
9 This is what the Lord says:
Because Tyre has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The Tyrians have handed all the people over to the Edomites.
The Tyrians didn’t remember their treaty with their relatives.
10 I will send a fire on the walls of Tyre
and burn down its palaces.
Edom Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
11 This is what the Lord says:
Because Edom has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The Edomites pursued their relatives with swords.
They refused to show any compassion to them.
Their anger was unstoppable.
They refused to control their fury.
12 I will send a fire on Teman
and burn down the palaces of Bozrah.
Ammon Will Be Judged for Its Crimes
13 This is what the Lord says:
Because Ammon has committed three crimes, and now a fourth crime,
I will not change my plans.
The Ammonites enlarged their territory
by ripping open pregnant women in Gilead.
14 I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah
and burn down its palaces
while troops are shouting on the day of battle
and winds are howling on the day of the storm.
15 Their king will go into captivity along with his officials.
The Lord has said this.
* 1:3 Threshing is the process of beating stalks to separate them from the grain.