I will shatter the gate bars of Damascus, and I will cut off the residents of the Aven Valley, along with the one who holds the scepter from Beth-eden; and the people of Aram will be exiled to Kir," says the LORD.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Edom and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because he pursued his brother with a sword, refusing to be compassionate. His anger was raging continuously; he kept up his unending wrath.

They lay down beside every altar, on garments pledged as collateral, drinking wine paid for through fines imposed by the temple of their gods.

I also raised up your sons to be prophets, and from your young men I raised up Nazirites. Is this not true, people of Israel?" declares the LORD.

The skilled archer will not be able to stand, the swift runner will not survive, and the mounted rider will not preserve his own life.

Because they do not know how to act right," declares the LORD, "they are filling their strongholds with treasures that they took from others by violence into their fortified citadels."

This is what the LORD says: "Just as a shepherd might save from the lion's mouth only two leg bones or a scrap of an ear, the Israelis will be saved in a similar manner those in Samaria who sit on the remains of their broken beds, and those in Damascus who lie on the edge of their couches."

"because on that day I will lay out the charges against Israel. I will also bring judgment upon the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and will fall to the ground.

"Come to Bethel and sin, to Gilgal and sin even more! Bring along your morning sacrifices, and pay your tithes every other day.

"Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel. Because I am about to do this, prepare to be summoned to your God, Israel!"

"Seek the LORD and live! Otherwise, he may break out like a fire in the house of Joseph and devour Bethel, and there will be no one to extinguish it.

"Pursue good and not evil, so that you may live, and this is what will happen: The LORD God of the Heavenly Armies will be with you, as you have been claiming.

Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in court perhaps the LORD, the God of the Heavenly Armies, will be gracious to the survivors of Joseph.'"

Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of the Heavenly Armies, the Lord, says: "There will be dirges in all of the streets; and in all of the highways they will cry out in anguish. They will call the farmer to mourning and those who lament to grieve.

And in all of the vineyards there will be mourning when I pass through your midst,' says the LORD."

It will be like a man who runs from a lion, only to encounter a bear; or who comes home, leans his hand against a wall, and a serpent bites him!

Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness, and not light pitch black at that, without a ray of sunshine?"

So I will cause you to be taken captive beyond Damascus," says the LORD, whose name is God of the Heavenly Armies.

therefore you will be the first to go into exile, and the celebrations of those who are lounging will end."

"The Lord GOD has sworn by himself," declares the LORD, the God of the Heavenly Armies, "I utterly detest the arrogance of Jacob; I hate his fortresses; and I will deliver up the city, along with everyone in it.

One's relative will pick up the corpse to carry them from the house for burning, saying to whomever remains inside the house, "Is there anyone still with you?' And he will say, "No.' He will respond, "Be quiet, because we do not mention the name "LORD".'

You rejoice in nothing worth mentioning that is, you keep on saying, "We captured Karnaim by our own strength of will and by our own effort, didn't we?'

This is what the Lord GOD showed me: Look! The Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire, and it was drying up the great depths of the ocean and consuming the land.

Isaac's high places will be destroyed, and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined. I will rise in opposition to the house of Jeroboam with my sword."

because Amos is saying this: "By the sword will Jeroboam die, and Israel will surely go into exile far from her homeland.'"

"Therefore this is what the LORD says: "Your wife will become a whore in the city, and your sons and daughters will die by the sword. Your land will be divided and apportioned, and you will die in a foreign land. Israel will surely go into exile, far from its homeland."'"

At that time," declares the Lord GOD, "the temple songs will be wailing. Many bodies will accumulate everywhere.

and who are saying, "When will the New Moon fade so we may sell grain, and the Sabbath conclude so we may market winnowed wheat? shortchanging the measure, raising the price, falsifying the scales by treachery,

"The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: I will never forget anything they have done.

Surely the land will tremble because of this, won't it? And all who live in it will mourn, won't they? The entire land will swell up like a flooded river. It will be stirred up and then will sink like the river of Egypt.

I will turn your festivals into mourning, and all of your songs to dirges. I will cause all of you to put on sackcloth and to shave all of your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son, and its conclusion will be like the end of a bitter day."

Those who have been swearing oaths by the sin of Samaria, or who say, "As your god lives, Dan"' or who say, "As the way of Beer-sheba lives"' will fall, and will never rise again."

I saw the Lord standing beside the altar as he was saying, "Strike the doorposts so that the thresholds tremble, bringing them down on the heads of all of them. Those who survive I will kill with the sword. Those who flee will not escape. There will be no deliverance for the fugitives.

All sinners among my people will die by the sword, especially all who are saying, "Disaster will not come upon or conquer us!'"

I will plant the people of Israel in their own land, never again to be torn out of their land that I gave them," says the LORD your God.