15 The leech has two daughters: “Give, Give!”
Three things(A) are never satisfied;
four never say, “Enough!”:
16 Sheol;(B) a childless womb;(C)
earth, which is never satisfied with water;
and fire, which never says, “Enough!”

17 As for the eye that ridicules a father(D)
and despises obedience to a mother,
may ravens of the valley pluck it out
and young vultures eat it.(E)

18 Three things are too wondrous for me;(F)
four I can’t understand:
19 the way of an eagle in the sky,
the way of a snake on a rock,
the way of a ship at sea,
and the way of a man with a young woman.

20 This is the way of an adulteress:
she eats and wipes her mouth
and says, “I’ve done nothing wrong.”(G)

21 The earth trembles under three things;
it cannot bear up under four:
22 a servant when he becomes king,(H)
a fool when he is stuffed with food,
23 an unloved woman when she marries,(I)
and a servant girl when she ousts her queen.

24 Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:
25 ants are not a strong people,
yet they store up their food in the summer;(J)
26 hyraxes are not a mighty people,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;(K)
27 locusts have no king,
yet all of them march in ranks;(L)
28 a lizard[a] can be caught in your hands,
yet it lives in kings’ palaces.

29 Three things are stately in their stride;
four are stately in their walk:

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Footnotes

  1. 30:28 Or spider

15 “The leech has two daughters.
    ‘Give! Give!’ they cry.

“There are three things that are never satisfied,(A)
    four that never say, ‘Enough!’:
16 the grave,(B) the barren womb,
    land, which is never satisfied with water,
    and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’

17 “The eye that mocks(C) a father,
    that scorns an aged mother,
will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley,
    will be eaten by the vultures.(D)

18 “There are three things that are too amazing for me,
    four that I do not understand:
19 the way of an eagle in the sky,
    the way of a snake on a rock,
the way of a ship on the high seas,
    and the way of a man with a young woman.

20 “This is the way of an adulterous woman:
    She eats and wipes her mouth
    and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’(E)

21 “Under three things the earth trembles,
    under four it cannot bear up:
22 a servant who becomes king,(F)
    a godless fool who gets plenty to eat,
23 a contemptible woman who gets married,
    and a servant who displaces her mistress.

24 “Four things on earth are small,
    yet they are extremely wise:
25 Ants are creatures of little strength,
    yet they store up their food in the summer;(G)
26 hyraxes(H) are creatures of little power,
    yet they make their home in the crags;
27 locusts(I) have no king,
    yet they advance together in ranks;
28 a lizard can be caught with the hand,
    yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

29 “There are three things that are stately in their stride,
    four that move with stately bearing:

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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)

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This is what the Lord says:

“For three sins of Moab,(A)
    even for four, I will not relent.
Because he burned to ashes(B)
    the bones of Edom’s king,

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Judgment on Judah

The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Judah(A)
for three crimes, even four,
because they have rejected the instruction of the Lord(B)
and have not kept his statutes.(C)
The lies(D) that their ancestors followed(E)
have led them astray.

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This is what the Lord says:

“For three sins of Judah,(A)
    even for four, I will not relent.
Because they have rejected the law(B) of the Lord
    and have not kept his decrees,(C)
because they have been led astray(D) by false gods,[a](E)
    the gods[b] their ancestors followed,(F)

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 2:4 Or by lies
  2. Amos 2:4 Or lies

Judgment on Israel

The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Israel(A)
for three crimes, even four,
because they sell a righteous person for silver
and a needy person for a pair of sandals.(B)

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Judgment on Israel

This is what the Lord says:

“For three sins of Israel,
    even for four, I will not relent.(A)
They sell the innocent for silver,
    and the needy for a pair of sandals.(B)

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