God will punish the nations near Israel
3 The Lord says, ‘The people of Damascus have done more and more wrong things. So I will certainly punish them!
1:3Damascus was the capital city of Syria (also called Aram).
They have been cruel to the people of Gilead. They used their iron weapons to tear them into pieces. 4 I will send a fire to destroy the palace that King Hazael built. It will destroy the strong buildings of King Ben-Hadad. 5 I will also break the strong gates of the city of Damascus. I will remove all the people who live in the Aven Valley. I will remove the king of Beth-Eden. Their enemies will take the people of Syria far away to Kir as prisoners.’ That is what the Lord says.
6 The Lord says, ‘The people of Gaza have done more and more wrong things. So I will certainly punish them.
1:6Gaza was a city where the Philistine people lived. Philistines came from a country near Israel called Philistia. They were a nation of people who were powerful enemies of Israel. They lived beside the sea on the west side of Israel.
They caught my people and they took them away from their homes. They sold them to the people of Edom. 7 So I will send a fire to burn the walls of Gaza. It will destroy the strong buildings in Gaza. 8 I will remove the king of Ashdod city. And I will remove the king who rules in Ashkelon city. I will punish the people who live in Ekron city. All the Philistines who remain will die.’ That is what the Lord God says.
1:8Philistines were people from a country called Philistia. The Philistines were a nation of people who lived beside the sea on the west side of Israel. They were strong enemies of Israel.
9 The Lord says, ‘The people of Tyre have done more and more wrong things. So I will certainly punish them.
Before, they had been friends with Israel's people. They had promised the Israelites, “We will be like brothers.” But the people of Tyre did not do what they had promised. They took my people away. They sold my people to the people of Edom and my people became slaves. 10 So I will start a fire on the walls of Tyre. And the fire will burn all the strong buildings. It will destroy them completely.’
11 The Lord says, ‘The people of Edom have done more and more wrong things. So I will certainly punish them.
They took their swords and they chased after their cousins, the Israelites. They were not kind. Instead, they continued to be angry all the time. They did not stop attacking them. 12 So I will start a fire. And the fire will destroy the big city of Teman. The fire will also burn the strong buildings of Bozrah city.’
1:11The Edomites were descendants of Esau. The Israelites were descendants of Jacob. Jacob and Esau were brothers who were twins.
13 The Lord says, ‘The people of Ammon have done more and more wrong things. So I will certainly punish them.
People from Ammon fought against the people of Gilead. They wanted to get more land for themselves. While they were killing people there, they also cut pregnant women open. 14 So I will send fire. And the fire will destroy the walls of 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.
1:14Rabbah was the capital city of Ammon.
Amos 2
1 The Lord says, ‘The people of Moab have done more and more wrong things. So I will certainly punish them.
They dug up the bones of Edom's king. They burned his bones until they became ashes. 2 So I will send fire to the country called Moab. The fire will destroy the strong buildings in Kerioth town. The people will hear their enemies shout. And they will hear the sounds that their enemies' trumpets make. And the people will die. 3 I will let the enemies kill the ruler of Moab. And I will let them kill all its leaders too.’ That is what the Lord says.
2:1Edom was a country near Israel. It was also called Seir.
