A modern English translation drawn directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Translated word-for-word where possible, by a committee with scholarly oversight.
Uses the same source texts as the ESV, NASB, and most academic Bibles, including the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Nestle-Aland critical edition.
Amos 1
Amos 1 is the opening chapter of the thirtieth book of the Bible. The 15-verse chapter opens the prophet's series of judgment oracles against the nations surrounding Israel.
The chapter opens by identifying the prophet: Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa, a town in Judah. He prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah of Judah and Jeroboam II of Israel, in the mid-eighth century BC. The opening line places his vision two years before an earthquake severe enough to be remembered centuries later.
After a brief opening declaration that the Lord roars from Zion, Amos begins a sequence of judgment oracles against neighboring nations. Each oracle follows the same formula: "For three transgressions of [nation], and for four, I will not turn back its punishment," followed by a specific crime and a specific punishment.
The chapter contains four of these oracles. Damascus is condemned for threshing Gilead with iron sledges; its rulers will be cut off and the people exiled. Gaza is condemned for taking entire populations captive and selling them to Edom; fire will fall on the city. Tyre is condemned for handing whole communities over to Edom and breaking a covenant of brotherhood. Edom is condemned for pursuing Israel with the sword and stifling all compassion.
Each oracle ends with fire as the announced judgment. The chapter closes with the oracle against Edom, and the sequence will continue in chapter 2.
Verse 1. These are the words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders of Tekoa—what he saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, in the days when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.
Verse 2. He said: “The LORD roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem; the pastures of the shepherds mourn, and the summit of Carmel withers.”
Verse 3. This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Damascus, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they threshed Gilead with sledges of iron.
Verse 4. So I will send fire upon the house of Hazael to consume the citadels of Ben-hadad.
Verse 5. I will break down the gates of Damascus; I will cut off the ruler from the Valley of Aven and the one who wields the scepter in Beth-eden. The people of Aram will be exiled to Kir,” says the LORD.
Verse 6. This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Gaza, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they exiled a whole population, delivering them up to Edom.
Verse 7. So I will send fire upon the walls of Gaza, to consume its citadels.
Verse 8. I will cut off the ruler of Ashdod and the one who wields the scepter in Ashkelon. I will turn My hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,” says the Lord GOD.
Verse 9. This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Tyre, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they delivered up a whole congregation of exiles to Edom and broke a covenant of brotherhood.
Verse 10. So I will send fire upon the walls of Tyre to consume its citadels.”
Verse 11. This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Edom, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and stifled all compassion; his anger raged continually, and his fury flamed incessantly.
Verse 12. So I will send fire upon Teman to consume the citadels of Bozrah.”
Verse 13. This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of the Ammonites, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their territory.
Verse 14. So I will kindle a fire in the walls of Rabbah to consume its citadels amid war cries on the day of battle and a violent wind on the day of tempest.
Verse 15. Their king will go into exile—he and his princes together,” says the LORD.
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