Amos 1–3

1The words of Amos, who was among the ^ashepherds¹ of ^bTekoa, which he saw concerning Israel ^cin the days of ^dUzziah king of Judah and in the days of ^eJeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years² before ^fthe earthquake.

Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors

²And he said:

^g“The Lord roars from Zion

and utters his voice from Jerusalem;

^hthe pastures of the shepherds mourn,

and the ⁱtop of ^jCarmel withers.”

³Thus says the Lord:

^k“For three transgressions of ^lDamascus,

and for four, ^lI will not revoke the punishment,³

because they have threshed ^mGilead

with threshing sledges of iron.

⁴ⁿSo I will send a fire upon the house of ^oHazael,

and it shall devour the strongholds of ^oBen-hadad.

⁵I will ^pbreak the gate-bar of ^lDamascus,

and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of ^qAven,⁴

and him who holds the scepter from ^rBeth-eden;

and the people of ^sSyria shall go into exile to ^tKir,”

says the Lord.

⁶Thus says the Lord:

^k“For three transgressions of ^uGaza,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

because ^vthey carried into exile a whole people

to deliver them up to Edom.

⁷So I will send a fire upon the wall of ^uGaza,

and it shall devour her strongholds.

⁸I will cut off the inhabitants from ^wAshdod,

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.

⁹Thus says the Lord:

^k“For three transgressions of ^xTyre,

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.

¹⁰So I will send a fire upon the wall of ^xTyre,

and it shall devour her strongholds.”

¹¹Thus says the Lord:

^k“For three transgressions of ^yEdom,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

^ybecause he pursued his brother with the sword

^zand cast off all pity,

^aand his anger tore perpetually,

^aand he kept his wrath forever.

¹²So I will send a fire upon ^bTeman,

and it shall devour the strongholds of ^cBozrah.”

¹³Thus says the Lord:

^k“For three transgressions of the ^dAmmonites,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

because ^ethey have ripped open pregnant women in ^fGilead,

that they might enlarge their border.

¹⁴So I will kindle a fire in the wall of ^gRabbah,

^hand it shall devour her strongholds,

with shouting on the day of battle,

^hwith a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;

¹⁵and ⁱtheir king shall go into exile,

he and his princes⁵ together,”

says the Lord.

2Thus says the Lord:

^k“For three transgressions of ^jMoab,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,¹

because ^khe burned to lime

the bones of the king of Edom.

²So I will send a fire upon Moab,

and it shall devour the strongholds of ^lKerioth,

and Moab shall die amid uproar,

amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;

^3mI will cut off the ruler from its midst,

and will kill ^mall its princes² with him,”

says the Lord.

Judgment on Judah

⁴Thus says the Lord:

ⁿ“For three transgressions of Judah,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

because ^othey have rejected the law of the Lord,

and have not kept his statutes,

but ^ptheir lies have led them astray,

those after which their fathers walked.

⁵So ^qI will send a fire upon Judah,

and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.”

Judgment on Israel

⁶Thus says the Lord:

ⁿ“For three transgressions of Israel,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,

because ^rthey sell the righteous for ^ssilver,

and the needy for a pair of sandals—

⁷those who trample the head of the poor ^tinto the dust of the earth

and ^uturn aside the way of the afflicted;

^va man and his father go in to the same girl,

so that my holy name is profaned;

⁸they lay themselves down beside every altar

on garments ^wtaken in pledge,

and in the house of their God they drink

the wine of those who have been fined.

⁹“Yet ^xit was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,

^ywhose height was like the height of the cedars

and who was as strong as the oaks;

^zI destroyed his fruit above

and his roots beneath.

^10aAlso it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt

^band led you forty years in the wilderness,

^xto possess the land of the Amorite.

¹¹And I raised up some of your sons for prophets,

and some of your young men for ^cNazirites.

Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?”

declares the Lord.

¹²“But you made the Nazirites ^ddrink wine,

and commanded the prophets,

saying, ^e‘You shall not prophesy.’

¹³“Behold, I will press you down in your place,

as a cart full of sheaves presses down.

^14fFlight shall perish from the swift,

^fand the strong shall not retain his strength,

^gnor shall the mighty save his life;

¹⁵he who handles the bow shall not stand,

and he who is ^hswift of foot shall not save himself,

ⁱnor shall he who rides the horse save his life;

¹⁶and he who is stout of heart among the mighty

shall flee away naked in that day,”

declares the Lord.

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

3^jHear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

^2k“You only have I known

of all the families of the earth;

^ltherefore I will punish you

for all your iniquities.

³“Do two walk together,

unless they have agreed to meet?

⁴Does a lion roar in the forest,

when he has no prey?

Does a young lion cry out from his den,

if he has taken nothing?

⁵Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,

when there is no trap for it?

Does a snare spring up from the ground,

when it has taken nothing?

^6mIs a trumpet blown in a city,

and the people are not afraid?

ⁿDoes disaster come to a city,

unless the Lord has done it?

⁷“For the Lord God does nothing

^owithout revealing his secret

to his servants the prophets.

⁸The lion has roared;

who will not fear?

^pThe Lord God has spoken;

who can but prophesy?”

⁹Proclaim to the strongholds in ^qAshdod

and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,

and say, “Assemble yourselves on ^rthe mountains of Samaria,

and see the great tumults within her,

and ^sthe oppressed in her midst.”

¹⁰“They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,

^t“those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”

¹¹Therefore thus says the Lord God:

^u“An adversary shall surround the land

and bring down¹ your defenses from you,

and ^vyour strongholds shall be plundered.”

¹²Thus says the Lord: ^w“As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, ^xso shall the people of Israel ^ywho dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part² of a bed.

¹³“Hear, ^zand testify against the house of Jacob,”

declares the Lord God, ^athe God of hosts,

¹⁴“that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,

^bI will punish the altars of Bethel,

and ^cthe horns of the altar shall be cut off

and fall to the ground.

^15dI will strike ^ethe winter house along with ^fthe summer house,

and ^gthe houses of ivory shall perish,

and the great houses³ shall come to an end,”

declares the Lord.