The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Moab(A)
for three crimes, even four,
because he burned the bones
of the king of Edom to lime.(B)
Therefore, I will send fire against Moab,
and it will consume the citadels of Kerioth.(C)
Moab will die with a tumult,(D)
with shouting and the sound of the ram’s horn.
I will cut off the judge(E) from the land
and kill all its officials(F) with him.
The Lord has spoken.

Judgment on Judah

The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Judah(G)
for three crimes, even four,
because they have rejected the instruction of the Lord(H)
and have not kept his statutes.(I)
The lies(J) that their ancestors followed(K)
have led them astray.
Therefore, I will send fire(L) against Judah,
and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem.

Judgment on Israel

The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Israel(M)
for three crimes, even four,
because they sell a righteous person for silver
and a needy person for a pair of sandals.(N)
They trample the heads of the poor(O)
on the dust of the ground
and obstruct the path of the needy.(P)
A man and his father have sexual relations
with the same girl,(Q)
profaning my holy name.(R)
They stretch out beside every altar(S)
on garments taken as collateral,(T)
and in the house of their God
they drink wine obtained through fines.(U)

Yet I destroyed the Amorite(V) as Israel advanced;
his height(W) was like the cedars,
and he was as sturdy as the oaks;
I destroyed his fruit(X) above and his roots beneath.
10 And I brought you from the land of Egypt(Y)
and led you forty years in the wilderness(Z)
in order to possess the land of the Amorite.(AA)
11 I raised up some of your sons as prophets(AB)
and some of your young men as Nazirites.(AC)
Is this not the case, Israelites?

This is the Lord’s declaration.

12 But you made the Nazirites drink wine
and commanded the prophets,
“Do not prophesy.”(AD)
13 Look, I am about to crush[a] you in your place(AE)
as a wagon crushes when full of grain.
14 Escape will fail the swift,(AF)
the strong one will not maintain his strength,(AG)
and the warrior will not save his life.
15 The archer will not stand his ground,(AH)
the one who is swift of foot
will not save himself,
and the one riding a horse will not save his life.(AI)
16 Even the most courageous of the warriors
will flee naked on that day(AJ)

this is the Lord’s declaration.

Footnotes

  1. 2:13 Or hinder; Hb obscure

A Warning to Moab

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.
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.
I will execute their rulers among them,
    killing all of their officials as well,”
        says the Lord.

A Warning to Judah

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.
So I will send down fire upon Judah,
    and it will devour the fortified citadels of Jerusalem.”

A Warning to Israel

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,
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.
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.
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

  1. Amos 2:1 Lit. he; i.e. the nation personified as an individual
  2. Amos 2:1 The Heb. lacks burning them
  3. Amos 2:2 The Heb. lacks of battle
  4. Amos 2:4 Lit. he; i.e. the nation personified as an individual
  5. Amos 2:7 Lit. They chase
  6. Amos 2:7 Lit. head
  7. Amos 2:7 Lit. turning aside
  8. Amos 2:8 I.e. violating Deut 24:10-13 in addition to idolatry
  9. Amos 2:9 I.e. a genus of coniferous evergreen in the family Pinaceae
  10. Amos 2:11 I.e. men who make a special vow with God (cf. Num 6:1-21)
  11. Amos 2:14 Lit. So flight will escape the swift runner