1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
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1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
Amos, a shepherd of Tekoa, said,
2 And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.
God will roar from Zion,
and the top of Mount Carmel will wither.
3Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:
This is what God says,
I'll punish Damascus for three or four things. [1]
4 But I wiill send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad.
I'll set a fire in the house of Hazael,
5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD.
break the bar of Damascus,
cut off the inhabitants from the plain of Aven,
and force the people of Syria into captivity.
6Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom:
This is what God says,
I'll punish Gaza for three or four things. [1]
7 But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof:
I'll set a fire in Gaza,
8 And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD.
cut off Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Ekron,
and kill what's left of the Philistines.
9Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:
This is what God says,
I'll punish Tyrus for three or four things. [1]
10 But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof.
I'll set a fire in Tyrus.
11Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:
This is what God says,
I'll punish Edom for three or four things. [1]
12 But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
I'll set a fire in Teman.
13Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border:
This is what God says,
I'll punish Ammon for three or four things. [1]
14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:
15 And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, saith the LORD.
I'll set a fire in Rabbah.
For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four (v.6)
For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four (v.9)
For three transgressions of Edom, and for four (v.11)
For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four (v.13)
God says there are three or four reasons for him to punish the people of Damascus, Gaza, Tyrus, Edom, and Ammon, though the reasons are poorly specified, and when so, are seldom either three or four.
He always has the same punishment though: The divine pyromaniac will burn them to death by personally setting fire to their cities.