Amos 1

Common English Bible

Introduction

1 These are the words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa. He perceived these things concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, in the days of Judah’s King Uzziah and in the days of Israel’s King Jeroboam, Joash’s son.

Proclamation of divine judgment

²    He said:
    The Lord roars from Zion.
        He shouts from Jerusalem;
        the pastures of the shepherds wither,
        and the top of Carmel dries up.

A word to Damascus

³    The Lord proclaims:
    For three crimes of Damascus,
        and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
    because they have harvested Gilead
        with sharp iron tools.
⁴    I will send down fire on the house of Hazael;
        it will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
⁵    I will break the fortified gates of Damascus,
        and eliminate the people from the Aven Valley,
    including the one who rules from Beth-eden;
        the people of Aram will be forced to live in Kir,
says the Lord.

A word to Gaza and Ashdod

⁶    The Lord proclaims:
    For three crimes of Gaza,
        and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
    because they rounded up entire communities,
        to hand them over to Edom.
⁷    I will send down a fire on the wall of Gaza;
        it will devour Gaza’s palaces.
⁸    I will eliminate the people from Ashdod,
        the one who rules from Ashkelon.
    I will turn my hand against Ekron,
        and the Philistines who remain will perish,
says the Lord God.

A word to Tyre

⁹The Lord proclaims:
    For three crimes of Tyre,
        and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
    because they have delivered up entire communities over to Edom,
        and neglected their covenantal obligations.
¹⁰So I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre;
        it will devour their palaces.

A word to Edom

¹¹The Lord proclaims:
    For three crimes of Edom,
        and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
    because he chased after his brother with the sword,
        denied all compassion,
        kept his anger alive,
        and fueled his wrath forever.
¹²So I will send a fire on Teman;
        it will devour the fortresses of Bozrah.

A word to Ammon

¹³The Lord proclaims:
    For three crimes of the Ammonites,
        and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
    because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead
        in order to possess more land.
¹⁴So I will start a fire at the wall of Rabbah;
        the fire will devour its palaces,
        with a war cry on the day of battle,
        with strong wind on the day of the storm.
¹⁵Then their king will be taken away,
        he and his officials together,
says the Lord.