Amos 2:4-3:15

New King James Version

“For three transgressions of ^(A)Judah, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
^(B)Because they have despised the law of the Lord,
And have not kept His commandments.
^(C)Their lies lead them astray,
Lies ^(D)which their fathers followed.
^5 (E)But I will send a fire upon Judah,
And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.”

“For three transgressions of ^(F)Israel, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because ^(G)they sell the righteous for silver,
And the ^(H)poor for a pair of sandals.
⁷ They ^[a]pant after the dust of the earth which is on the head of the poor,
And ^(I)pervert the way of the humble.
^(J)A man and his father go in to the same girl,
^(K)To defile My holy name.
⁸ They lie down ^(L)by every altar on clothes ^(M)taken in pledge,
And drink the wine of ^[b]the condemned in the house of their god.

⁹ “Yet it was I who destroyed the ^(N)Amorite before them,
Whose height was like the ^(O)height of the cedars,
And he was as strong as the oaks;
Yet I ^(P)destroyed his fruit above
And his roots beneath.
¹⁰ Also it was ^(Q)I who brought you up from the land of Egypt,
And ^(R)led you forty years through the wilderness,
To possess the land of the Amorite.
¹¹ I raised up some of your sons as ^(S)prophets,
And some of your young men as ^(T)Nazirites.
Is it not so, O you children of Israel?”
Says the Lord.
¹² “But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink,
And commanded the prophets ^(U)saying,
‘Do not prophesy!’

¹³ “Behold,^(V) I am ^[c]weighed down by you,
As a cart full of sheaves ^[d]is weighed down.
^14 (W)Therefore ^[e]flight shall perish from the swift,
The strong shall not strengthen his power,
^(X)Nor shall the mighty ^[f]deliver himself;
¹⁵ He shall not stand who handles the bow,
The swift of foot shall not ^[g]escape,
Nor shall he who rides a horse deliver himself.
¹⁶ The most ^[h]courageous men of might
Shall flee naked in that day,”
Says the Lord.

² “You^(Y) only have I known of all the families of the earth;
^(Z)Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

³ Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
⁴ Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?
Will a young lion ^[i]cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
⁵ Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no ^[j]trap for it?
Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?
⁶ If a ^[k]trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?
^(AA)If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?

⁷ Surely the Lord God does nothing,
Unless ^(AB)He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
⁸ A lion has roared!
Who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken!
^(AC)Who can but prophesy?

“An adversary shall be all around the land;
He shall sap your strength from you,
And your palaces shall be plundered.”

“As a shepherd ^[o]takes from the mouth of a lion
Two legs or a piece of an ear,
So shall the children of Israel be taken out
Who dwell in Samaria—
In the corner of a bed and ^[p]on the edge of a couch!
¹³ Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,”
Says the Lord God, the God of hosts,
¹⁴ “That in the day I punish Israel for their transgressions,
I will also visit destruction on the altars of ^(AE)Bethel;
And the horns of the altar shall be cut off
And fall to the ground.
¹⁵ I will ^[q]destroy ^(AF)the winter house along with ^(AG)the summer house;
The ^(AH)houses of ivory shall perish,
And the great houses shall have an end,”
Says the Lord.