Bible-Reading.com
  1. Tue: Jeremiah 25-26
  2. Wed: 1 Chronicles 13-18
  3. Thu: 1 Peter 1-2
Friday · Week 37
The Later Prophets

Amos 1-3

Week 37 · about 9 min
  1. Sat: Psalms 143-150
  2. Sun: Numbers 18-20
  3. Mon: John 13-15

Amos, a herdsman from Judah, preaches to wealthy northern Israel under King Jeroboam II.

A Herdsman Preaches to the Rich

Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Amos 3:3 (KJV)

Amos says he was “among the herdmen of Tekoa,” a working man from the south sent to preach in the prosperous north. He starts by condemning Israel’s neighbors: Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab. You can almost hear the crowd cheering. Then he condemns Judah. Then he turns on Israel itself. “They sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes.” Then God says, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you.” Being close to God doesn’t excuse anyone. It makes them more responsible.

Reflect: Are you quicker to see other people’s sins than your own?

Amos 1

1The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen 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.

2He said: “The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the pastures of the shepherds will mourn, and the top of Carmel will wither.”

3The LORD says: “For three transgressions of Damascus, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron;

4but I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, and it will devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.

5I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, and him who holds the scepter from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity to Kir,” says the LORD.

6The LORD says: “For three transgressions of Gaza, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they carried away captive the whole community, to deliver them up to Edom;

7but I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it will devour its palaces.

8I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; and I will turn my hand against Ekron; and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,” says the Lord GOD.

9The LORD says: “For three transgressions of Tyre, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because they delivered up the whole community to Edom, and didn’t remember the brotherly covenant;

10but I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre, and it will devour its palaces.”

11The LORD says: “For three transgressions of Edom, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because he pursued his brother with the sword and cast off all pity, and his anger raged continually, and he kept his wrath forever;

12but I will send a fire on Teman, and it will devour the palaces of Bozrah.”

13The LORD says: “For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they have ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead, that they may enlarge their border.

14But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it will devour its palaces, with shouting in the day of battle, with a storm in the day of the whirlwind;

15and their king will go into captivity, he and his princes together,” says the LORD.

Amos 2

1The LORD says: “For three transgressions of Moab, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime;

2but I will send a fire on Moab, and it will devour the palaces of Kerioth; and Moab will die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet;

3and I will cut off the judge from among them, and will kill all its princes with him,” says the LORD.

4The LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they have rejected the LORD’s law, and have not kept his statutes, and their lies have led them astray, after which their fathers walked;

5but I will send a fire on Judah, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”

6The LORD says: “For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals;

7They trample the heads of the poor into the dust of the earth and deny justice to the oppressed. A man and his father use the same maiden, to profane my holy name.

8They lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken in pledge. In the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.

9Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.

10Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.

11I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Isn’t this true, you children of Israel?” says the LORD.

12“But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘Don’t prophesy!’

13Behold, I will crush you in your place, as a cart crushes that is full of grain.

14Flight will perish from the swift. The strong won’t strengthen his force. The mighty won’t deliver himself.

15He who handles the bow won’t stand. He who is swift of foot won’t escape. He who rides the horse won’t deliver himself.

16He who is courageous among the mighty will flee away naked on that day,” says the LORD.

Amos 3

1Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying:

2“I have chosen only you of all the families of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all of your sins.”

3Do two walk together, unless they have agreed?

4Will a lion roar in the thicket, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?

5Can a bird fall in a trap on the earth, where no snare is set for him? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when there is nothing to catch?

6Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city, without the people being afraid? Does evil happen to a city, and the LORD hasn’t done it?

7Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.

8The lion has roared. Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken. Who can but prophesy?

9Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see what unrest is in her, and what oppression is among them.”

10“Indeed they don’t know to do right,” says the LORD, “Who hoard plunder and loot in their palaces.”

11Therefore the Lord GOD says: “An adversary will overrun the land; and he will pull down your strongholds, and your fortresses will be plundered.”

12The LORD says: “As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.”

13“Listen, and testify against the house of Jacob,” says the Lord GOD, the God of Armies.

14“For in the day that I visit the transgressions of Israel on him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar will be cut off, and fall to the ground.

15I will strike the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory will perish, and the great houses will have an end,” says the LORD.

World English Bible (WEB). World English Bible (WEB), public domain. “World English Bible” is a trademark of eBible.org.