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The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of King Uzziah of Judah and in the days of King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors

² And he said:

The L ord roars from Zion,

and utters his voice from Jerusalem;

the pastures of the shepherds wither,

and the top of Carmel dries up.

Thus says the L ord:

For three transgressions of Damascus,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;

because they have threshed Gilead

with threshing sledges of iron.

So I will send a fire on the house of Hazael,

and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.

I will break the gate bars of Damascus,

and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven,

and the one who holds the scepter from Beth-eden;

and the people of Aram shall go into exile to Kir,

says the L ord.

Thus says the L ord:

For three transgressions of Gaza,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;

because they carried into exile entire communities,

to hand them over to Edom.

So I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza,

fire that shall devour its strongholds.

I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod,

and the one who holds the scepter from Ashkelon;

I will turn my hand against Ekron,

and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish,

says the Lord G od.

Thus says the L ord:

For three transgressions of Tyre,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;

because they delivered entire communities over to Edom,

and did not remember the covenant of kinship.

So I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre,

fire that shall devour its strongholds.

Thus says the L ord:

For three transgressions of Edom,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;

because he pursued his brother with the sword

and cast off all pity;

he maintained his anger perpetually,

and kept his wrath forever.

So I will send a fire on Teman,

and it shall devour the strongholds of Bozrah.

Thus says the L ord:

For three transgressions of the Ammonites,

and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;

because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead

in order to enlarge their territory.

So I will kindle a fire against the wall of Rabbah,

fire that shall devour its strongholds,

with shouting on the day of battle,

with a storm on the day of the whirlwind;

then their king shall go into exile,

he and his officials together,

says the L ord.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Now follows a denunciation of punishment, — that God would send a fire on the wall of Gaza, to devour its palaces. And it hence appears that Gaza was a splendid town, and sumptuously built; and for this reason the Prophet speaks of its palaces. He shows, at the same time, that neither strength nor wealth would prevent God from executing the punishment which the Gazites deserved. He names also other cities of Palestine, even Ascalon and Azdod, or Azotus, and Ecron. These cities the Philistine then possessed. The Prophet then intimates, that wheresoever they might flee, there would be no safe place for them; for the Lord would expose as a prey to enemies, not only Gaza, but also all the other cities. We may conclude that Ascalon was the first city; for there was the royal residence, though Gaza was the capital of the whole nation; it might yet be that the pleasantness of its situation, and other attractions, might have induced the king to reside there, though it was not the metropolis; Him then who holds the scepter I will cut off from Ascalon. He at last concludes, that all the remnants of Palestine would be destroyed. Now, whenever God denounces destruction on the Jews, he ever gives some hope, and says that the remnant would be saved: but here the Prophet declares that whatever remained of that nation would be destroyed; for God purposed to destroy them altogether, and also their very name.