Amos 2:4-16
World English Bible
4 Yahweh says:
“For three transgressions of Judah, yes, for four,
I will not turn away its punishment;
because they have rejected Yahweh’s law,
and have not kept his statutes,
and their lies have led them astray,
after which their fathers walked;
5 but I will send a fire on Judah,
and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”
6 Yahweh says:
“For three transgressions of Israel, yes, for four,
I will not turn away its punishment;
because they have sold the righteous for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals;
7 They trample on the dust of the earth on the head of the poor,
and deny justice to the oppressed;
and a man and his father use the same maiden, to profane my holy name;
8 and they lay themselves down beside every altar on clothes taken in pledge;
and in the house of their God[a] they drink the wine of those who have been fined.
9 Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them,
whose height was like the height of the cedars,
and he was strong as the oaks;
yet I destroyed his fruit from above,
and his roots from beneath.
10 Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt,
and led you forty years in the wilderness,
to possess the land of the Amorite.
11 I raised up some of your sons for prophets,
and some of your young men for Nazirites.
Isn’t this true,
you children of Israel?” says Yahweh.
12 “But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink,
and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘Don’t prophesy!’
13 Behold,[b] I will crush you in your place,
as a cart crushes that is full of grain.
14 Flight will perish from the swift;
and the strong won’t strengthen his force;
neither shall the mighty deliver himself;
15 neither shall he stand who handles the bow;
and he who is swift of foot won’t escape;
neither shall he who rides the horse deliver himself;
16 and he who is courageous among the mighty will flee away naked on that day,”
says Yahweh.
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Amos 2:4-16
New Living Translation
God’s Judgment on Judah and Israel
4 This is what the Lord says:
“The people of Judah have sinned again and again,
and I will not let them go unpunished!
They have rejected the instruction of the Lord,
refusing to obey his decrees.
They have been led astray by the same lies
that deceived their ancestors.
5 So I will send down fire on Judah,
and all the fortresses of Jerusalem will be destroyed.”
6 This is what the Lord says:
“The people of Israel have sinned again and again,
and I will not let them go unpunished!
They sell honorable people for silver
and poor people for a pair of sandals.
7 They trample helpless people in the dust
and shove the oppressed out of the way.
Both father and son sleep with the same woman,
corrupting my holy name.
8 At their religious festivals,
they lounge in clothing their debtors put up as security.
In the house of their gods,[a]
they drink wine bought with unjust fines.
9 “But as my people watched,
I destroyed the Amorites,
though they were as tall as cedars
and as strong as oaks.
I destroyed the fruit on their branches
and dug out their roots.
10 It was I who rescued you from Egypt
and led you through the desert for forty years,
so you could possess the land of the Amorites.
11 I chose some of your sons to be prophets
and others to be Nazirites.
Can you deny this, my people of Israel?”
asks the Lord.
12 “But you caused the Nazirites to sin by making them drink wine,
and you commanded the prophets, ‘Shut up!’
13 “So I will make you groan
like a wagon loaded down with sheaves of grain.
14 Your fastest runners will not get away.
The strongest among you will become weak.
Even mighty warriors will be unable to save themselves.
15 The archers will not stand their ground.
The swiftest runners won’t be fast enough to escape.
Even those riding horses won’t be able to save themselves.
16 On that day the most courageous of your fighting men
will drop their weapons and run for their lives,”
says the Lord.
Footnotes
- 2:8 Or their God.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
