Amos 2
2:1 This is what the
“Because Moab has committed three crimes1 –
make that four!2 – I will not revoke my decree of judgment.3
They burned the bones of Edom’s king into lime.4
2:2 So I will set Moab on fire,5
and it will consume Kerioth’s6 fortresses.
Moab will perish7 in the heat of battle8
amid war cries and the blaring9 of the ram’s horn.10
2:3 I will remove11 Moab’s leader;12
I will kill all Moab’s13 officials14 with him.”
The
2:4 This is what the
“Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions15 –
make that four!16 – I will not revoke my decree of judgment.17
They rejected the
they did not obey his commands.
Their false gods,19
to which their fathers were loyal,20
led them astray.
2:5 So I will set Judah on fire,
and it will consume Jerusalem’s fortresses.”21
God Will Judge Israel
2:6 This is what the
“Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions22 –
make that four!23 – I will not revoke my decree of judgment.24
They sold the innocent25 for silver,
the needy for a pair of sandals.26
2:7 They trample27 on the dirt-covered heads of the poor;28
they push the destitute away.29
A man and his father go to the same girl;30
in this way they show disrespect31 for my moral purity.32
2:8 They stretch out on clothing seized as collateral;
they do so right33 beside every altar!
They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied;
they do so right in the temple34 of their God!35
2:9 For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites.36
They were as tall as cedars37
and as strong as oaks,
but I destroyed the fruit on their branches38
and their roots in the ground.39
2:10 I brought you up from the land of Egypt;
I led you through the wilderness for forty years
so you could take the Amorites’ land as your own.
2:11 I made some of your sons prophets
and some of your young men Nazirites.40
Is this not true, you Israelites?”
The
2:12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine;41
you commanded the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy!’
2:13 Look! I will press you down,
like a cart loaded down with grain presses down.42
2:14 Fast runners will find no place to hide;43
strong men will have no strength left;44
warriors will not be able to save their lives.
2:15 Archers45 will not hold their ground;46
fast runners will not save their lives,
nor will those who ride horses.47
2:16 Bravehearted48 warriors will run away naked in that day.”
The