Amos
Amos, chapter 2, New English Translation
Chapter 2
1 This is what the L
ORD says: "Because Moab has committed three crimes - make that four! - I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They burned the bones of Edom's king into lime.
2 So I will set Moab on fire, and it will consume Kerioth's fortresses. Moab will perish in the heat of battle amid war cries and the blaring of the ram's horn.
3 I will remove Moab's leader; I will kill all Moab's officials with him." The L
ORD has spoken!
4 This is what the L
ORD says: "Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions - make that four! - I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They rejected the L
ORD's law; they did not obey his commands. Their false gods, to which their fathers were loyal, led them astray.
5 So I will set Judah on fire, and it will consume Jerusalem's fortresses."
God Will Judge Israel 6 This is what the L
ORD says: "Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions - make that four! - I will not revoke my decree of judgment. They sold the innocent for silver, the needy for a pair of sandals.
7 They trample on the dirt-covered heads of the poor; they push the destitute away. A man and his father go to the same girl; in this way they show disrespect for my moral purity.
8 They stretch out on clothing seized as collateral; they do so right beside every altar! They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied; they do so right in the temple of their God!
9 For Israel's sake I destroyed the Amorites. They were as tall as cedars and as strong as oaks, but I destroyed the fruit on their branches and their roots in the ground.
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.
11 I made some of your sons prophets and some of your young men Nazirites. Is this not true, you Israelites?" The L
ORD is speaking!
12 "But you made the Nazirites drink wine; you commanded the prophets, 'Do not prophesy!'
13 Look! I will press you down, like a cart loaded down with grain presses down.
14 Fast runners will find no place to hide; strong men will have no strength left; warriors will not be able to save their lives.
15 Archers will not hold their ground; fast runners will not save their lives, nor will those who ride horses.
16 Bravehearted warriors will run away naked in that day." The L
ORD is speaking!