Amos 1:3

The Message

God’s Message: “Because of the three great sins of Damascus —make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer. She pounded Gilead to a pulp, pounded her senseless with iron hammers and mauls. For that, I’m setting the palace of Hazael on fire. I’m torching Ben-hadad’s forts. I’m going to smash the Damascus gates and banish the crime king who lives in Sin Valley, the vice boss who gives orders from Paradise Palace. The people of the land will be sent back to where they came from—to Kir.” God’s Decree.

Cross References

2 Kings 13:7

Nothing was left of Jehoahaz’s army after Hazael’s oppression except for fifty cavalry, ten chariots, and ten thousand infantry. The king of Aram had decimated the rest, leaving behind him mostly chaff.

2 Kings 16:9

The king of Assyria responded to him. He attacked and captured Damascus. He deported the people to Nineveh as exiles. Rezin he killed.

2 Kings 8:12

Hazael said, “Why does my master weep?” “Because,” said Elisha, “I know what you’re going to do to the children of Israel: burn down their forts, murder their youth, smash their babies, rip open their pregnant women.”

Proverbs 6:16

Here are six things God hates, and one more that he loathes with a passion: eyes that are arrogant, a tongue that lies, hands that murder the innocent, a heart that hatches evil plots, feet that race down a wicked track, a mouth that lies under oath, a troublemaker in the family.

Ecclesiastes 11:2

Don’t hoard your goods; spread them around. Be a blessing to others. This could be your last night.

Isaiah 28:27

And at the harvest, the delicate herbs and spices, the dill and cumin, are treated delicately. On the other hand, wheat is threshed and milled, but still not endlessly. The farmer knows how to treat each kind of grain. He’s learned it all from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, who knows everything about when and how and where.

Amos 1:11

God’s Message: “Because of the three great sins of Edom —make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer. She hunts down her brother to murder him. She has no pity, she has no heart. Her anger rampages day and night. Her meanness never takes a timeout. For that, I’m burning down her capital, Teman, burning up the forts of Bozrah.”

Amos 1:13

God’s Message: “Because of the three great sins of Ammon —make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer. She ripped open pregnant women in Gilead to get more land for herself. For that, I’m burning down the walls of her capital, Rabbah, burning up her forts. Battle shouts! War whoops! with a tornado to finish things off! The king has been carted off to exile, the king and his princes with him.” God’s Decree. * * *

Amos 1:6

God’s Message: “Because of the three great sins of Gaza —make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer. She deported whole towns and then sold the people to Edom. For that, I’m burning down the walls of Gaza, burning up all her forts. I’ll banish the crime king from Ashdod, the vice boss from Ashkelon. I’ll raise my fist against Ekron, and what’s left of the Philistines will die.” God’s Decree.

Amos 1:9

God’s Message: “Because of the three great sins of Tyre —make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer. She deported whole towns to Edom, breaking the treaty she had with her kin. For that, I’m burning down the walls of Tyre, burning up all her forts.”

Amos 2:1

God’s Message: “Because of the three great sins of Moab —make that four—I’m not putting up with her any longer. She violated the corpse of Edom’s king, burning it to cinders. For that, I’m burning down Moab, burning down the forts of Kerioth. Moab will die in the shouting, go out in the blare of war trumpets. I’ll remove the king from the center and kill all his princes with him.” God’s Decree.

Amos 2:4

God’s Message: “Because of the three great sins of Judah —make that four—I’m not putting up with them any longer. They rejected God’s revelation, refused to keep my commands. But they swallowed the same old lies that got their ancestors onto dead-end roads. For that, I’m burning down Judah, burning down all the forts of Jerusalem.”

Amos 2:6

God’s Message: “Because of the three great sins of Israel —make that four—I’m not putting up with them any longer. They buy and sell upstanding people. People for them are only things—ways of making money. They’d sell a poor man for a pair of shoes. They’d sell their own grandmother! They grind the penniless into the dirt, shove the luckless into the ditch. Everyone and his brother sleeps with the ‘sacred whore’— a sacrilege against my Holy Name. Stuff they’ve extorted from the poor is piled up at the shrine of their god, While they sit around drinking wine they’ve conned from their victims.

Zechariah 9:1

War Bulletin: God’s Message challenges the country of Hadrach. It will settle on Damascus. The whole world has its eyes on God. Israel isn’t the only one. That includes Hamath at the border, and Tyre and Sidon, clever as they think they are. Tyre has put together quite a kingdom for herself; she has stacked up silver like cordwood, piled gold high as haystacks. But God will certainly bankrupt her; he will dump all that wealth into the ocean and burn up what’s left in a big fire. Ashkelon will see it and panic, Gaza will wring its hands, Ekron will face a dead end. Gaza’s king will die. Ashkelon will be emptied out, And a villain will take over in Ashdod.