Amos 1:3 (DRB)

Passage

Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Damascus, and for four I will not convert it: because they have thrashed Galaad with iron wains.

Nearby Context

Amos 1:1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Thecua: which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Ozias king of Juda, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joas king of Israel two years before the earthquake.

Amos 1:2 And he said: The Lord will roar from Sion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem: and the beautiful places of the shepherds have mourned, and the top of Carmel is withered.

Amos 1:3 Thus saith the Lord: For three crimes of Damascus, and for four I will not convert it: because they have thrashed Galaad with iron wains.

Amos 1:4 And I will send a fire into the house of Azael, and it shall devour the houses of Benadad.

Amos 1:5 And I will break the bar of Damascus: and I will cut off the inhabitants from the plain of the idol, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of pleasure: and the people of Syria shall be carried away to Cyrene, saith the Lord.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "And he said The Lord will roar..." into verse 4's "And I will send a fire into...", so "thus" and "saith" 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 "thus" and "saith" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.