The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa – the vision he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash[a] was king of Israel.

He said:

‘The Lord roars from Zion
    and thunders from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds dry up,
    and the top of Carmel withers.’

Judgment on Israel’s neighbours

This is what the Lord says:

‘For three sins of Damascus,
    even for four, I will not relent.
Because she threshed Gilead
    with sledges having iron teeth,
I will send fire on the house of Hazael
    that will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad.
I will break down the gate of Damascus;
    I will destroy the king who is in[b] the Valley of Aven[c]
and the one who holds the sceptre in Beth Eden.
    The people of Aram will go into exile to Kir,’
says the Lord.

This is what the Lord says:

‘For three sins of Gaza,
    even for four, I will not relent.
Because she took captive whole communities
    and sold them to Edom,
I will send fire on the walls of Gaza
    that will consume her fortresses.
I will destroy the king[d] of Ashdod
    and the one who holds the sceptre in Ashkelon.
I will turn my hand against Ekron,
    till the last of the Philistines are dead,’
says the Sovereign Lord.

This is what the Lord says:

‘For three sins of Tyre,
    even for four, I will not relent.
Because she sold whole communities of captives to Edom,
    disregarding a treaty of brotherhood,
10 I will send fire on the walls of Tyre
    that will consume her fortresses.’

11 This is what the Lord says:

‘For three sins of Edom,
    even for four, I will not relent.
Because he pursued his brother with a sword
    and slaughtered the women of the land,
because his anger raged continually
    and his fury flamed unchecked,
12 I will send fire on Teman
    that will consume the fortresses of Bozrah.’

13 This is what the Lord says:

‘For three sins of Ammon,
    even for four, I will not relent.
Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead
    in order to extend his borders,
14 I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah
    that will consume her fortresses
amid war cries on the day of battle,
    amid violent winds on a stormy day.
15 Her king[e] will go into exile,
    he and his officials together,’
says the Lord.

This is what the Lord says:

‘For three sins of Moab,
    even for four, I will not relent.
Because he burned to ashes
    the bones of Edom’s king,
I will send fire on Moab
    that will consume the fortresses of Kerioth.[f]
Moab will go down in great tumult
    amid war cries and the blast of the trumpet.
I will destroy her ruler
    and kill all her officials with him,’
says the Lord.

This is what the Lord says:

‘For three sins of Judah,
    even for four, I will not relent.
Because they have rejected the law of the Lord
    and have not kept his decrees,
because they have been led astray by false gods,[g]
    the gods[h] their ancestors followed,
I will send fire on Judah
    that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.’

Judgment on Israel

This is what the Lord says:

‘For three sins of Israel,
    even for four, I will not relent.
They sell the innocent for silver,
    and the needy for a pair of sandals.
They trample on the heads of the poor
    as on the dust of the ground
    and deny justice to the oppressed.
Father and son use the same girl
    and so profane my holy name.
They lie down beside every altar
    on garments taken in pledge.
In the house of their god
    they drink wine taken as fines.

‘Yet I destroyed the Amorites before them,
    though they were tall as the cedars
    and strong as the oaks.
I destroyed their fruit above
    and their roots below.
10 I brought you up out of Egypt
    and led you for forty years in the wilderness
    to give you the land of the Amorites.

11 ‘I also raised up prophets from among your children
    and Nazirites from among your youths.
Is this not true, people of Israel?’
declares the Lord.
12 ‘But you made the Nazirites drink wine
    and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.

13 ‘Now then, I will crush you
    as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.
14 The swift will not escape,
    the strong will not muster their strength,
    and the warrior will not save his life.
15 The archer will not stand his ground,
    the fleet-footed soldier will not get away,
    and the horseman will not save his life.
16 Even the bravest warriors
    will flee naked on that day,’
declares the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Amos 1:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant of Jehoash
  2. Amos 1:5 Or the inhabitants of
  3. Amos 1:5 Aven means wickedness.
  4. Amos 1:8 Or inhabitants
  5. Amos 1:15 Or / Molek
  6. Amos 2:2 Or of her cities
  7. Amos 2:4 Or by lies
  8. Amos 2:4 Or lies