Amos 2
Common English Bible
A word to Moab
2 The Lord proclaims:
For three crimes of Moab,
and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
because he burned to lime
the bones of the king of Edom.
2 So I will send down a fire on Moab;
it will devour the palaces of Kerioth.
Moab will die in a great uproar,
with a war cry, with the sound of the ram’s horn.
3 I will remove their judge from them
and slay all their officials with him,
says the Lord.
A word to Judah
4 The Lord proclaims:
For three crimes of Judah,
and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
because they have rejected the Instruction of the Lord,
and haven’t kept his laws.
They have been led off the right path by the same lies
after which their ancestors walked.
5 So I will send a fire on Judah,
and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
A word to Israel
6 The Lord proclaims:
For three crimes of Israel,
and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
because they have sold the innocent for silver,
and those in need for a pair of sandals.
7 They crush the head of the poor into the dust of the earth,
and push the afflicted out of the way.
Father and son have intercourse with the same young woman,
degrading my holy name.
8 They stretch out beside every altar
on garments taken in loan;
in the house of their god they drink
wine bought with fines they imposed.
9 Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them,
whose height was as tall as cedar trees,
and whose strength was as strong as oak trees.
I destroyed his fruit above
and his roots below.
10 Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt,
and led you forty years in the wilderness,
to lay claim to the land of the Amorite.
11 I raised up some of your children to be prophets
and some of your youth to be nazirites.
Isn’t this so, people of Israel?
says the Lord.
12 But you made the nazirites drink wine,
and commanded the prophets,
saying, “You won’t prophesy.”
13 So now I will oppress you,
just like a cart is weighed down[a]
when it is full of harvested grain.
14 Fast runners will find no refuge;
the strong will lose their strength;
the mighty will be unable to save their lives.
15 Those who shoot the bow won’t survive.
Fast runners won’t escape;
those who ride horses won’t save themselves.
16 The bravest warrior
will flee away naked in that day,
says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Amos 2:13 Heb uncertain
Amos 2
Easy-to-Read Version
Punishment for Moab
2 This is what the Lord says: “I will definitely punish the people of Moab for the many crimes they did. Moab burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime. 2 So I will start a fire in Moab that will destroy the high towers of Kerioth.[a] There will be terrible shouting and the sounds of a trumpet, and Moab will die. 3 So I will bring an end to the kings[b] of Moab, and I will kill all the leaders of Moab.” This is what the Lord said.
Punishment for Judah
4 This is what the Lord says: “I will definitely punish Judah for the many crimes they did. They refused to obey the Lord’s teachings and they did not keep his commands. Their ancestors believed lies, and those same lies caused the people of Judah to stop following God. 5 So I will start a fire in Judah that will destroy the high towers of Jerusalem.”
Punishment for Israel
6 This is what the Lord says: “I will definitely punish Israel for the many crimes they have done. They sold honest people for a little silver. They sold the poor for the price of a pair of sandals. 7 They pushed their faces into the ground and walked on them. They stopped listening to suffering people. Fathers and sons had sexual relations with the same woman. They ruined my holy name. 8 They took clothes from the poor, and then they sat on those clothes while worshiping at their altars. They loaned money to the poor, and then they took their clothes as a promise for payment.[c] They made people pay fines and used the money to buy wine for themselves to drink in the temple of their god.
9 “But it was I who destroyed the Amorites[d] before them. They were as tall as cedar trees and as strong as oaks, but I destroyed their fruit above and their roots below.[e]
10 “I was the one who brought you from the land of Egypt. For 40 years I led you through the desert. I helped you take the Amorites’ land. 11 I made some of your sons to be prophets and some of your young men to be Nazirites. People of Israel, it is true.” This is what the Lord said. 12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine. You told the prophets not to prophesy. 13 You have become more than I can bear. I am bent low like a wagon loaded with grain. 14 No one will escape, not even the fastest runner. Strong men will not be strong enough. Soldiers will not be able to save themselves. 15 People with bows and arrows will not survive. Fast runners will not escape. People on horses will not escape alive. 16 At that time even very brave soldiers will run away. They will not take the time to put their clothes on.” This is what the Lord said.
Footnotes
- Amos 2:2 Kerioth A city in Moab. This might be Ar, the capital city of Moab.
- Amos 2:3 kings Literally, “judges.”
- Amos 2:8 as a promise for payment. See Deut. 24:12-13 for the rules about making loans to the poor.
- Amos 2:9 Amorites One of the nations who lived in Canaan before the Israelites came. They were the people who scared the Israelites while Moses was leading them in the desert. See Num. 13:33.
- Amos 2:9 fruit above … below This means the parents and their children.
Amos 2
Wycliffe Bible
2 The Lord God saith these things, On three great trespasses of Moab, and on four, I shall not convert it, for it burnt the bones of the king of Idumea till to ashes. (The Lord God saith these things, For the three great trespasses of Moab, and for the fourth, I shall not turn away their punishment, for they burned the bones of the king of Edom unto ashes.)
2 And I shall send fire into Moab, and it shall devour the houses of Kerioth; and Moab shall die in sound, in the noise of a trump (and Moab shall die amid the sound of trumpets).
3 And I shall lose a judge of the midst thereof, and I shall slay with it all the princes thereof, saith the Lord. (And I shall destroy their judge, or their ruler, in their midst, and I shall kill all their leaders along with him, saith the Lord.)
4 The Lord saith these things, On three great trespasses of Judah, and on four, I shall not convert him, for he hath cast away the law of the Lord, and kept not the commandments of him; for their idols, after which the fathers of them went, deceived them. (The Lord saith these things, For the three great trespasses of Judah, and for the fourth, I shall not turn away their punishment, for they have thrown away the Law of the Lord, and they did not obey his commandments; for they were deceived by the same idols, which their forefathers served.)
5 And I shall send fire into Judah, and it shall devour the houses of Jerusalem.
6 The Lord saith these things, On three great trespasses of Israel, and on four, I shall not convert him, for that that he sold a just man for silver, and a poor man for shoes. (The Lord saith these things, For the three great trespasses of Israel, and for the fourth, I shall not turn away their punishment, because they sold the righteous, or the innocent, into slavery for some silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes.)
7 Which all-foul the heads of poor men on the dust of [the] earth, and bow away the way of meek men; and the son and his father went to a damsel, that they should defoul mine holy name. (Who push down the heads of the poor into the dust of the earth, and push the meek out of their way; and the son and his father went after the same young woman, and in doing so, they defile my holy name.)
8 And they ate on clothes laid to wed beside each altar, and drank the wine of condemned men in the house of their God. (And they lie down beside each altar, on clothes taken as a pledge from the poor, and drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their gods.)
9 Forsooth I destroyed Amorite from the face of them, whose highness was the highness of cedars, and he was strong as an oak; and I all-brake the fruit of him above, and the roots of him beneath. (And I destroyed the Amorites before them, who were as tall as cedars, and were as strong as oaks; and I altogether broke their fruit above, and their roots below.)
10 I am, that made you to go up from the land of Egypt, and led you out in desert by forty years, that ye should wield the land of (the) Amorite. (I am he, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you through the wilderness for forty years, so that ye could possess the land of the Amorites.)
11 And I raised of your sons into prophets, and (into) Nazarites of your young men. Whether it is not so, ye sons of Israel? saith the Lord. (And I raised up prophets from among your sons, and Nazarites from out of your young men. Is that not so, ye Israelites? saith the Lord.)
12 And ye poured out wine to (the) Nazarites, and commanded to (the) prophets, and said, Prophesy ye not.
13 Lo! I shall creak under you, as a wain charged with hay creaketh. (Lo! I shall creak under you, like a wagon, loaded with hay, creaketh.)
14 And flight shall perish from a swift man, and a strong man shall not hold his strength, and a stalworthy man shall not save his life; (And the swift shall not be able to escape, and a strong man shall not be able to hold onto his own strength, and a stalwart man, or a warrior, shall not be able to save his own life;)
15 and he that holdeth a bow shall not stand, and a swift man shall not be saved by his feet; and the rider of an horse shall not save his life, (and he who holdeth a bow shall not stand, and the swift shall not be saved by their own feet; and the rider of an horse shall not be able to save his own life,)
16 and a strong man of heart shall flee naked among strong men in that day, saith the Lord. (and even the most strong-hearted of the strong shall flee away naked on that day, saith the Lord.)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
2001 by Terence P. Noble