So I will send fire upon the walls of Gaza, to consume its citadels.
Parallel translations
- WEB but I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it will devour its palaces.
- KJV But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof:
- NKJV But I will send a fire upon the wall of Gaza, Which shall devour its palaces.
- NASB “So I will send fire on the wall of Gaza And it will consume her citadels.
- NLT So I will send down fire on the walls of Gaza, and all its fortresses will be destroyed.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God will send fire on Gaza's walls to consume its fortified palaces. The cities that profited from cruelty will themselves be destroyed.
Overview
As with Damascus, the judgment falls as fire on the city's defenses and seats of power. Gaza's wealth, built on the slave trade, offers no protection. The pattern reinforces that ill-gotten security is no security at all before God. Divine justice ultimately overturns every system built on oppression.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Zeph 2:4For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted.
- 2 Kgs 18:8He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its borders, from watchtower to fortified city.
- Jer 47:1This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines before Pharaoh struck down Gaza.
- Rom 12:19Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
- Jer 25:18–20to make them a ruin, an object of horror and contempt and cursing, as they are to this day—Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials;
- Ps 75:7–8but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.
- Ps 94:1–5O LORD, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth.
- Deut 32:35Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”
- Zech 9:5–7Ashkelon will see and fear; Gaza will writhe in agony, as will Ekron, for her hope will wither. There will cease to be a king in Gaza, and Ashkelon will be uninhabited.
- 2 Chr 26:6Uzziah went out to wage war against the Philistines, and he tore down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Then he built cities near Ashdod and among the Philistines.
- Deut 32:41–43when I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me.
- Amos 1:4So I will send fire upon the house of Hazael to consume the citadels of Ben-hadad.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Amid judgment on injustice, Amos promises the raising up of David's fallen tent — read by James in Acts 15 as the ingathering of the nations into the kingdom of the risen Christ.
How Amos 1:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.