Amos 1–2

1The words of Amos, who was one of the sheep breeders^Aa from Tekoa^b—what he saw regarding Israel in the days of King Uzziah^c of Judah and Jeroboam^d son of Jehoash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.^e

²He said:

The Lord roars^f from Zion

and makes his voice heard from Jerusalem;

the pastures of the shepherds mourn,^Bg

and the summit of Carmel^h withers.

JUDGMENT ON ISRAEL’S NEIGHBORS

³The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Damascusⁱ

for three crimes, even four,^j

because they threshed Gilead with iron sledges.

⁴Therefore, I will send fire against Hazael’s palace,

and it will consume Ben-hadad’s^k citadels.

⁵I will break down the gates^Cl of Damascus.

I will cut off the ruler from the Valley of Aven,

and the one who wields the scepter from Beth-eden.

The people of Aram will be exiled to Kir.^m

The Lord has spoken.

⁶The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Gazaⁿ

for three crimes, even four,

because they exiled a whole community,

handing them over to Edom.

⁷Therefore, I will send fire against the walls of Gaza,

and it will consume its citadels.

⁸I will cut off the ruler from Ashdod,^o

and the one who wields the scepter from Ashkelon.^p

I will also turn my hand against Ekron,

and the remainder of the Philistines^q will perish.

The Lord God has spoken.

⁹The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Tyre^r

for three crimes, even four,

because they handed over

a whole community of exiles to Edom

and broke^D a treaty of brotherhood.^s

¹⁰Therefore, I will send fire^t against the walls of Tyre,

and it will consume its citadels.

¹¹The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Edom^u

for three crimes, even four,

because he pursued his brother with the sword.^v

He stifled his compassion,

his anger tore at him^w continually,

and he harbored his rage incessantly.

¹²Therefore, I will send fire against Teman,^x

and it will consume the citadels of Bozrah.

¹³The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing the Ammonites^y

for three crimes, even four,

because they ripped open

the pregnant women of Gilead^z

in order to enlarge their territory.^aa

¹⁴Therefore, I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah,^ab

and it will consume its citadels.

There will be shouting on the day of battle^ac

and a violent wind on the day of the storm.^ad

¹⁵Their king and his princes

will go into exile together.^ae

The Lord has spoken.

2The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Moab^a

for three crimes, even four,

because he burned the bones

of the king of Edom to lime.^b

²Therefore, I will send fire against Moab,

and it will consume the citadels of Kerioth.^c

Moab will die with a tumult,^d

with shouting and the sound of the trumpet.

³I will cut off the judge^e from the land

and kill all its officials^f with him.

The Lord has spoken.

JUDGMENT ON JUDAH

⁴The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Judah^g

for three crimes, even four,

because they have rejected the instruction of the Lord^h

and have not kept his statutes.ⁱ

The lies^j that their ancestors followed^k

have led them astray.

⁵Therefore, I will send fire^l against Judah,

and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem.

JUDGMENT ON ISRAEL

⁶The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Israel^m

for three crimes, even four,

because they sell a righteous person for silver

and a needy person for a pair of sandals.ⁿ

⁷They trample the heads of the poor^o

on the dust of the ground

and obstruct the path of the needy.^p

A man and his father have sexual relations

with the same girl,^q

profaning my holy name.^r

⁸They stretch out beside every altar^s

on garments taken as collateral,^t

and in the house of their God

they drink wine obtained through fines.^u

⁹Yet I destroyed the Amorite^v as Israel advanced;

his height^w was like the cedars,

and he was as sturdy as the oaks;

I destroyed his fruit^x above and his roots beneath.

¹⁰And I brought you from the land of Egypt^y

and led you forty years in the wilderness^z

in order to possess the land of the Amorite.^aa

¹¹I raised up some of your sons as prophets^ab

and some of your young men as Nazirites.^ac

Is this not the case, Israelites?

This is the Lord’s declaration.

¹²But you made the Nazirites drink wine

and commanded the prophets,

“Do not prophesy.”^ad

¹³Look, I am about to crush^A you in your place^ae

as a wagon crushes when full of grain.

¹⁴Escape will fail the swift,^af

the strong one will not maintain his strength,^ag

and the warrior will not save his life.

¹⁵The archer will not stand his ground,^ah

the one who is swift of foot

will not save himself,

and the one riding a horse will not save his life.^ai

¹⁶Even the most courageous of the warriors

will flee naked on that day^aj—

this is the Lord’s declaration.