Amo 1 | EE | STEP | Amos was among men who were near the town called Tekoa. They watched sheep to keep them safe. And they gave the sheep what they needed. God spoke to him. And God showed to Amos the trouble that was coming to Israel. God showed it to him two years before the earthquake came. When God showed the trouble to Amos, Uzziah was the king of Judah. And Joash’s son, Jeroboam was the king of Israel.

Amos 1

Amos’s message

1 Amos was among men who were near the town called Tekoa. They watched sheep to keep them safe. And they gave the sheep what they needed. God spoke to him. And God showed to Amos the trouble that was coming to Israel. God showed it to him two years before the earthquake came. When God showed the trouble to Amos, Uzziah was the king of Judah. And Joash’s son, Jeroboam was the king of Israel.

2 Amos said, ‘The LORD speaks loudly from Zion and from Jerusalem. He is like a wild animal (lion) that makes a loud noise. He says, “The fields are green now. So the sheep can eat lots of grass. But those fields will become dry and so the grass will die. In the whole country, the grass will become dry and it will die. That will happen even on top of the mountain called Carmel.”’

A message to the people in Aram (Syria)

3 The LORD says, ‘The people in Damascus have done wrong things. Many times, they have done wrong things.

The people in Damascus were cruel. They had sharp tools that they had made from iron. And they used those tools to beat the people in Gilead. So I will send trouble to the people in Damascus. 4 I will start a fire. The fire will destroy King Hazael’s big house. And it will destroy the strong buildings that belong to his son Ben-Hadad. 5 I will also break the strong gates of Damascus city. I will remove all the people who live in the Aven valley. And I will remove the king of Beth-Eden. The people’s enemies will take all the people in Syria far away to the place called Kir.’ That is what the LORD says.

A message to the people called the Philistines

6 The LORD says, ‘The people in Gaza have done wrong things. Many times, they have done wrong things. The people from Gaza took my people away. They sold my people to those that lived in Edom. 7 So I will start a fire. And the fire will destroy the walls of Gaza. It will also destroy the strong buildings in Gaza.

8 I will remove the king of Ashdod city. And I will remove the king of Ashkelon city. I will send trouble to the people that live in Ekron city. I will send trouble to every Philistine, until they are all dead.’ That is what the great LORD says.

A message to the people on the island called Tyre

9 The LORD says, ‘The people in Tyre have done wrong things. Many times, they have done wrong things. So I will send trouble to the people in Tyre. Before, they had agreed with the people in Israel. They had promised to those people, “We will be like brothers.” But the people from Tyre did not do what they had promised. They took my people away. They sold my people to the people in Edom and my people became slaves. 10 So I will start a fire on the walls of Tyre city. And the fire will burn all the strong buildings. It will destroy them completely.’

A message to the people in Edom

11 The LORD says, ‘The people in Edom have done wrong things. Many times, they have done wrong things. So I will send trouble to them. They took long knives in their hands and they ran after their cousins, the Israelites. They were not kind, but they were very angry. And they continued to be angry all the time. They did not stop it. 12 So I will start a fire. And the fire will destroy the big city called Teman. The fire will also burn the strong buildings in the big city called Bozrah.’ ^{▼▼1:12 The Edomites and the Israelites were from the same family. They were from the brothers called Esau and Jacob. These two brothers were born at the same time from the same mother. Jacob also had the name Israel.} ^{▼▼1:12 The Edomites were from Esau and the Israelites were from Jacob (Israel).}

A message to the people in Ammon

13 The LORD says, ‘The people in Ammon have done wrong things. Many times, they have done wrong things. So I will send trouble to them. People from Ammon fought in the place called Gilead. (Gilead was next to their country.) Ammon’s people fought there to get more land for themselves. While they were killing people there, they also cut women open. Those women had babies inside them. 14 So I will send fire. And the fire will destroy the walls of the big city called Rabbah. It will destroy the strong buildings too. People will fight and they will shout. They will shout loudly, like the noise that a strong wind makes in a storm. 15 The enemies will take away their king and their leaders. They will take them to another country. The king and the leaders will not be free to return.’ That is what the LORD says.