Amos 1–2

1These are the words of Amos, one of the shepherds from the town of Tekoa. He saw this vision about Israel two years before the earthquake. It was at the time Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.

²Amos said,

“The Lord will roar from Jerusalem;

he will send his voice from Jerusalem.

The pastures of the shepherds will become dry,

and even the top of Mount Carmel will dry up.”

Israel’s Neighbors Are Punished

The People of Aram

³This is what the Lord says:

“For the many crimes of Damascus,

I will punish them.

They drove over the people of Gilead

with threshing boards that had iron teeth.

⁴So I will send fire upon the house of Hazael

that will destroy the strong towers of Ben-Hadad.

⁵I will break down the bar of the gate to Damascus

and destroy the king who is in the Valley of Aven,

as well as the leader of Beth Eden.

The people of Aram will be taken captive to the country of Kir,” says the Lord.

The People of Philistia

⁶This is what the Lord says:

“For the many crimes of Gaza,

I will punish them.

They sold all the people of one area

as slaves to Edom.

⁷So I will send a fire on the walls of Gaza

that will destroy the city’s strong buildings.

⁸I will destroy the king of the city of Ashdod,

as well as the leader of Ashkelon.

Then I will turn against the people of the city of Ekron,

and the last of the Philistines will die,” says the Lord God.

The People of Phoenicia

⁹This is what the Lord says:

“For the many crimes of Tyre,

I will punish them.

They sold all the people of one area

as slaves to Edom,

and they forgot the agreement among relatives they had made with Israel.

¹⁰So I will send fire on the walls of Tyre

that will destroy the city’s strong buildings.”

The People of Edom

¹¹This is what the Lord says:

“For the many crimes of Edom,

I will punish them.

They hunted down their relatives, the Israelites, with the sword,

showing them no mercy.

They were angry all the time

and kept on being very angry.

¹²So I will send fire on the city of Teman

that will even destroy the strong buildings of Bozrah.” ⁿ

The People of Ammon

¹³This is what the Lord says:

“For the many crimes of Ammon,

I will punish them.

They ripped open the pregnant women in Gilead

so they could take over that land

and make their own country larger.

¹⁴So I will send fire on the city wall of Rabbah

that will destroy its strong buildings.

It will come during a day of battle,

during a stormy day with strong winds.

¹⁵Then their king and leaders will be taken captive;

they will all be taken away together,” says the Lord.

The People of Moab

2This is what the Lord says:

“For the many crimes of Moab,

I will punish them.

They burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime.

²So I will send fire on Moab

that will destroy the strong buildings of the city of Kerioth.

The people of Moab will die in a great noise,

in the middle of the sounds of war and trumpets.

³So I will bring an end to the king of Moab,

and I will kill all its leaders with him,” says the Lord.

The People of Judah

⁴This is what the Lord says:

“For the many crimes of Judah,

I will punish them.

They rejected the teachings of the Lord

and did not keep his commands;

they followed the same gods

as their ancestors had followed.

⁵So I will send fire on Judah,

and it will destroy the strong buildings of Jerusalem.”

Israel Is Punished

⁶This is what the Lord says:

“For the many crimes of Israel,

I will punish them.

For silver, they sell people who have done nothing wrong;

they sell the poor to buy a pair of sandals.

⁷They walk on poor people as if they were dirt,

and they refuse to be fair to those who are suffering.

Fathers and sons have sexual relations with the same woman,

and so they ruin my holy name.

⁸As they worship at their altars,

they lie down on clothes taken from the poor.

They fine people,

and with that money they buy wine to drink in the house of their god.

⁹“But it was I who destroyed the Amorites before them,

who were tall like cedar trees and as strong as oaks—

I destroyed them completely.

¹⁰It was I who brought you from the land of Egypt

and led you for forty years through the desert

so I could give you the land of the Amorites.

¹¹I made some of your children to be prophets

and some of your young people to be Nazirites.

People of Israel, isn’t this true?” says the Lord.

¹²“But you made the Nazirites drink wine

and told the prophets not to prophesy.

¹³Now I will make you get stuck,

as a wagon loaded with grain gets stuck.

¹⁴No one will escape, not even the fastest runner.

Strong people will not be strong enough;

warriors will not be able to save themselves.

¹⁵Soldiers with bows and arrows will not stand and fight,

and even fast runners will not get away;

soldiers on horses will not escape alive.

¹⁶At that time even the bravest warriors

will run away without their armor,” says the Lord.