A Warning to Moab
2 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Moab
because they[a] cremated the bones of the king of Edom,
burning them[b] to lime.
2 So I will send down fire upon Moab,
and it will devour the fortified citadels of Kerioth.
Moab will die in the uproar of battle,[c]
with a war cry
and with the trumpeting of the ram’s horn.
3 I will execute their rulers among them,
killing all of their officials as well,”
says the Lord.
A Warning to Judah
4 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Judah
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they[d] rejected the Law of the Lord
and did not keep his statutes.
Their own lies made them wander off,
following along the same path their ancestors walked.
5 So I will send down fire upon Judah,
and it will devour the fortified citadels of Jerusalem.”
A Warning to Israel
6 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Israel
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they sold the righteous for money,
and the poor for sandals,
7 moving quickly[e] to rub the face[f] of the needy in the dirt.
Corrupting[g] the ways of the humble,
a man and his father go to the same woman,
deliberately defiling my holy name.
8 They lay down beside every altar,
on garments pledged as collateral,[h]
drinking wine paid for through fines
imposed by the temple of their gods.
9 Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorites in front of them,
though their height seemed like a cedar,[i]
though their strength seemed like an oak,
but whose fruit I destroyed from above
and the roots from beneath.
10 Furthermore, I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
leading you in the wilderness for 40 years,
to take possession of the land of the Amorites.
11 I also raised up your sons to be prophets,
and from your young men I raised up Nazirites.[j]
Is this not true, people of Israel?”
declares the Lord.
12 “But you forced the Nazirites to drink wine,
and commanded the prophets,
‘You are not to prophesy!’
13 “Oh, how I am burdened down with you,
as a wagon is overloaded with harvested grain!
14 So the swift runner will not escape,[k]
the valiant will not fortify his strength,
and the mighty warrior will not save his life.
15 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.
16 Even the bravest of elite troops will run away naked at that time,”
declares the Lord.
Footnotes
- Amos 2:1 Lit. he; i.e. the nation personified as an individual
- Amos 2:1 The Heb. lacks burning them
- Amos 2:2 The Heb. lacks of battle
- Amos 2:4 Lit. he; i.e. the nation personified as an individual
- Amos 2:7 Lit. They chase
- Amos 2:7 Lit. head
- Amos 2:7 Lit. turning aside
- Amos 2:8 I.e. violating Deut 24:10-13 in addition to idolatry
- Amos 2:9 I.e. a genus of coniferous evergreen in the family Pinaceae
- Amos 2:11 I.e. men who make a special vow with God (cf. Num 6:1-21)
- Amos 2:14 Lit. So flight will escape the swift runner