Amos 1:3 (ASV)

Passage

Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Damascus, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:

Nearby Context

Amos 1:1 The 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.

Amos 1:2 And he said, Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the pastures of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.

Amos 1:3 Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Damascus, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:

Amos 1:4 but I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, and it shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.

Amos 1:5 And I will break the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the valley of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden; and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith Jehovah.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "transgressions", "thus", "saith", "jehovah", "three", "damascus", "four", and "turn". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "transgressions" and "thus", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "And he said Jehovah will roar from..." into verse 4's "but I will send a fire into...", so "transgressions" and "thus" belong inside that flow. In Amos context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "transgressions" and "thus" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.