Amos 2-4

English Standard Version

^(A)“For three transgressions of ^(B)Moab,
    and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,^[a]
because ^(C)he burned to lime
    the bones of the king of Edom.
² So I will send a fire upon Moab,
    and it shall devour the strongholds of ^(D)Kerioth,
and Moab shall die amid uproar,
    amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;
^3 (E)I will cut off the ruler from its midst,
    and will kill ^(F)all its princes^[b] with him,”
says the Lord.

^(G)“For three transgressions of Judah,
    and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because ^(H)they have rejected the law of the Lord,
    and have not kept his statutes,
but ^(I)their lies have led them astray,
    those after which their fathers walked.
⁵ So ^(J)I will send a fire upon Judah,
    and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.”

^(K)“For three transgressions of Israel,
    and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because ^(L)they sell the righteous for ^(M)silver,
    and the needy for a pair of sandals—
⁷ those who trample the head of the poor ^(N)into the dust of the earth
    and ^(O)turn aside the way of the afflicted;
^(P)a man and his father go in to the same girl,
    so that my holy name is profaned;
⁸ they lay themselves down beside every altar
    on garments ^(Q)taken in pledge,
and in the house of their God they drink
    the wine of those who have been fined.

⁹ “Yet ^(R)it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,
    ^(S)whose height was like the height of the cedars
    and who was as strong as the oaks;
^(T)I destroyed his fruit above
    and his roots beneath.
^10 (U)Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt
    ^(V)and led you forty years in the wilderness,
    ^(W)to possess the land of the Amorite.
¹¹ And I raised up some of your sons for prophets,
    and some of your young men for ^(X)Nazirites.
    Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?”
declares the Lord.

¹² “But you made the Nazirites ^(Y)drink wine,
    and commanded the prophets,
    saying, ^(Z)‘You shall not prophesy.’

¹³ “Behold, I will press you down in your place,
    as a cart full of sheaves presses down.
^14 (AA)Flight shall perish from the swift,
    ^(AB)and the strong shall not retain his strength,
    ^(AC)nor shall the mighty save his life;
¹⁵ he who handles the bow shall not stand,
    and he who is ^(AD)swift of foot shall not save himself,
    ^(AE)nor shall he who rides the horse save his life;
¹⁶ and he who is stout of heart among the mighty
    shall flee away naked in that day,”
declares the Lord.

^2 (AG)“You only have I known
    of all the families of the earth;
^(AH)therefore I will punish you
    for all your iniquities.

³ “Do two walk together,
    unless they have agreed to meet?
⁴ Does a lion roar in the forest,
    when he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
    if he has taken nothing?
⁵ Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
    when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
    when it has taken nothing?
^6 (AI)Is a trumpet blown in a city,
    and the people are not afraid?
^(AJ)Does disaster come to a city,
    unless the Lord has done it?

⁷ “For the Lord God does nothing
    ^(AK)without revealing his secret
    to his servants the prophets.
⁸ The lion has roared;
    who will not fear?
^(AL)The Lord God has spoken;
    who can but prophesy?”

⁹ Proclaim to the strongholds in ^(AM)Ashdod
    and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on ^(AN)the mountains of Samaria,
    and see the great tumults within her,
    and ^(AO)the oppressed in her midst.”
¹⁰ “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,
    ^(AP)“those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”

^(AQ)“An adversary shall surround the land
    and bring down^[c] your defenses from you,
    and ^(AR)your strongholds shall be plundered.”

¹³ “Hear, ^(AV)and testify against the house of Jacob,”
    declares the Lord God, ^(AW)the God of hosts,
¹⁴ “that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,
    ^(AX)I will punish the altars of Bethel,
and ^(AY)the horns of the altar shall be cut off
    and fall to the ground.
^15 (AZ)I will strike ^(BA)the winter house along with ^(BB)the summer house,
    and ^(BC)the houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses^[e] shall come to an end,”
declares the Lord.

4 “Hear this word, ^(BD)you cows of Bashan,
    who are ^(BE)on the mountain of Samaria,
^(BF)who oppress the poor, ^(BG)who crush the needy,
    who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’
^2 (BH)The Lord God has sworn by his holiness
    that, behold, the days are coming upon you,
^(BI)when they shall take you away with hooks,
    ^(BJ)even the last of you with fishhooks.
^3 (BK)And you shall go out through the breaches,
    each one straight ahead;
    and you shall be cast out into Harmon,”
declares the Lord.

^4 (BL)“Come to Bethel, and transgress;
    to ^(BM)Gilgal, and multiply transgression;
^(BN)bring your ^(BO)sacrifices every morning,
    your tithes every three days;
⁵ offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of ^(BP)that which is leavened,
    and proclaim ^(BQ)freewill offerings, publish them;
    ^(BR)for so you love to do, O people of Israel!”
declares the Lord God.

⁷ “I also ^(BU)withheld the rain from you
    when there were yet three months to the harvest;
^(BV)I would send rain on one city,
    and send no rain on another city;
one field would have rain,
    and the field on which it did not rain would wither;
⁸ so two or three cities ^(BW)would wander to another city
    to drink water, and would not be satisfied;
^(BX)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

^9 (BY)“I struck you with blight and mildew;
    your many gardens and your vineyards,
    your fig trees and your olive trees ^(BZ)the locust devoured;
^(CA)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

¹⁰ “I sent among you a pestilence ^(CB)after the manner of Egypt;
    I killed your young men with the sword,
and ^(CC)carried away your horses,^[f]
    and ^(CD)I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
^(CE)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

¹¹ “I overthrew some of you,
    ^(CF)as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
    and you were ^(CG)as a brand^[g] plucked out of the burning;
^(CH)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

¹² “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
    because I will do this to you,
    prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

¹³ For behold, ^(CI)he who forms the mountains and creates the wind,
    and ^(CJ)declares to man what is his thought,
^(CK)who makes the morning darkness,
    and ^(CL)treads on the heights of the earth—
    ^(CM)the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!