Amos 1–3

Introduction

1The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds from Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah the king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Jehoash, two years before^a the earthquake.

Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors

²And he said, “Yahweh roars from Zion and he utters his voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds wither and the top of Carmel dries up.” ³Thus says Yahweh, “For three transgressions of Damascus and for four I will not revoke the punishment,^b because they threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron! ⁴So I will send fire against Hazael’s house and it will consume the citadel fortresses of Ben-Hadad. ⁵I will break the gate bars of Damascus and I will cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven and the one who takes hold of the scepter of Beth Eden, and the people of Aram will go into exile to Kir,” says Yahweh.

⁶Thus says Yahweh: “For three transgressions of Gaza and for four I will not revoke the punishment,^c because they exiled a whole community, handing them over to Edom! ⁷So I will send a fire against the wall of Gaza and it will devour its citadel fortresses. ⁸And I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod and the one who takes hold of the scepter of Ashkelon. I will also turn my hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,” says the Lord Yahweh.

⁹Thus says Yahweh: “For three transgressions of Tyre and for four I will not revoke the punishment,^d because they delivered up a whole community to Edom and they did not remember the covenant of brotherhood! ¹⁰So I will send a fire against the wall of Tyre and it will devour its citadel fortresses.”

¹¹Thus says Yahweh: “For three transgressions of Edom and for four I will not revoke the punishment,^e because he pursued his brother with the sword! He stifled his compassion and his anger tore them apart continually,^f and he kept his rage forever. ¹²So I will send a fire against Teman and it will devour the citadel fortresses of Bozrah.”

¹³Thus says Yahweh: “For three transgressions of Ammon and for four I will not revoke the punishment,^g because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their territory! ¹⁴So I will kindle a fire against the wall of Rabbah and it will devour its citadel fortresses with a war cry on the day of battle, with a storm on the day of the violent tempest. ¹⁵And their king will go into exile, he and his commanders together,” says Yahweh.

2Thus says Yahweh: “For three transgressions of Moab and for four I will not revoke the punishment,^a because he burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom. ²So I will send a fire against Moab and it will devour the citadel fortresses of Kerioth, and Moab will die amid uproar, amid war cries and amid the sound of a horn. ³And I will cut off the ruler from its midst and I will kill all of its officials with him,” says Yahweh.

Judgment on Judah

⁴Thus says Yahweh: “For three transgressions of Judah and for four I will not revoke the punishment,^b because they have rejected the law of Yahweh and have not kept his rules, and their lies have led them astray, after which their ancestors walked!^{c 5}So I will send a fire against Judah and it will devour the citadel fortresses of Jerusalem.

Judgment on Israel

⁶Thus says Yahweh: “For three transgressions of Israel and for four I will not revoke the punishment,^d because they sell the righteous for money and the poor for a pair of sandals! ⁷Those who trample the heads of the powerless into the dust of the ground and turn aside the way of the destitute, a man and his father have sexual relations with^e the same girl, so that they profane my holy name. ⁸They stretch themselves out beside every altar on clothing taken in pledge and they drink wine, bought with fines imposed,^f in the house of their God. ⁹Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them,^g who was as tall as^h cedars and was as strong as the oaks. I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath. ¹⁰And I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and I led you in the wilderness forty years to take possession of the land of the Amorite. ¹¹And I raised up some of your sons to be prophets and some of your young men to be Nazirites. Is it not so, O peopleⁱ of Israel? This is the declaration of Yahweh! ¹²But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’ ¹³Look! I am going to press you down in your place just as a utility cart full of mature stalks of grain is pressed down. ¹⁴Flight will perish from the swift and the strong person will not muster his strength and the warrior will not save his life. ¹⁵And the one who takes hold of the bow will not stand and the one who is swift on his feet will not save himself, nor will the one who rides the horse save his life. ¹⁶Even those who are strong of heart among the mighty will flee away naked from the city on that day. This is the declaration of Yahweh!”

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

3Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole clan that I brought up from the land of Egypt:^{a 2}“You only have I chosen^b of all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. ³Do two walk together unless they have met? ⁴Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?^c Does a fierce, young lion cry out from his den unless he has caught something? ⁵Does a bird fall into a trapping net on the earth when there is no snare for it? Does a trapping net spring up from the ground unless it has certainly caught something? ⁶Or is a horn blown in a city and people are not afraid? Or does a disaster occur in the city and Yahweh has not done it? ⁷Surely my Lord does not do anything unless he has revealed his secret to his servants the prophets. ⁸A lion has roared! Who is not afraid? My Lord Yahweh has spoken, who will not prophesy? ⁹Proclaim to the citadel fortresses in Ashdod and the citadel fortresses in the land of Egypt and say: “Gather on the mountains of Samaria and see the great panic in her midst and the oppression in her midst!” ¹⁰“They do not know how to do right,” declares Yahweh,^d “those who store up violence and destruction in their citadel fortresses.” ¹¹Therefore, thus says my Lord Yahweh, “A foe shall surround the land and bring down your strongholds, and your citadel fortresses shall be plundered.” ¹²Thus says Yahweh, “Just as the shepherd rescues two legs or a piece of an ear from the mouth of the lion, so shall the people^e of Israel who dwell in Samaria, with the corner of a couch and the damask of a bed.” ¹³“Listen and testify against the house of Jacob,” declares^f my Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts. ¹⁴“For on the day I punish Israel for its transgression,^g I will also punish the altars of Bethel and the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground. ¹⁵I will ruin the winter house as well as the summer house, and the houses of ivory will perish and the great houses shall come to an end,” declares^h Yahweh.