< Amos 2 >
1 These are the words of the Lord: For three crimes of Moab, and for four, I will not let its fate be changed; because he had the bones of the king of Edom burned to dust.
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Moab, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because he burned to lime the bones of Edom’s king.
2 And I will send a fire on Moab, burning up the great houses of Kerioth: and death will come on Moab with noise and outcries and the sound of the horn:
So I will send fire against Moab to consume the citadels of Kerioth. Moab will die in tumult, amid war cries and the sound of the ram’s horn.
3 And I will have the judge cut off from among them, and all their captains I will put to death with him, says the Lord.
I will cut off the ruler of Moab and kill all the officials with him,”
4 These are the words of the Lord: For three crimes of Judah, and for four, I will not let its fate be changed; because they have given up the law of the Lord, and have not kept his rules; and their false ways, in which their fathers went, have made them go out of the right way.
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they reject the Law of the LORD and fail to keep His statutes; they are led astray by the lies in which their fathers walked.
5 And I will send a fire on Judah, burning up the great houses of Jerusalem.
So I will send fire upon Judah to consume the citadels of Jerusalem.”
6 These are the words of the Lord: For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not let its fate be changed; because they have given the upright man for silver, and the poor for the price of two shoes;
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Israel, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals.
7 Crushing the head of the poor, and turning the steps of the gentle out of the way: and a man and his father go in to the same young woman, putting shame on my holy name:
They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the earth; they push the needy out of their way. A man and his father have relations with the same girl and so profane My holy name.
8 By every altar they are stretched on clothing taken from those who are in their debt, drinking in the house of their god the wine of those who have made payment for wrongdoing.
They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. And in the house of their God, they drink wine obtained through fines.
9 Though I sent destruction on the Amorite before them, who was tall as the cedar and strong as the oak-tree, cutting off his fruit from on high and his roots from under the earth.
Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, though his height was like that of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below.
10 And I took you up out of the land of Egypt, guiding you for forty years in the waste land, so that you might take for your heritage the land of the Amorite.
And I brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness, that you might take possession of the land of the Amorite.
11 And some of your sons I made prophets, and some of your young men I made separate for myself. Is it not even so, O children of Israel? says the Lord.
I raised up prophets from your sons and Nazirites from your young men. Is this not true, O children of Israel?”
12 But to those who were separate you gave wine for drink; and to the prophets you said, Be prophets no longer.
“But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.
13 See, I am crushing you down, as one is crushed under a cart full of grain.
Behold, I am about to crush you in your place as with a cart full of grain.
14 And flight will be impossible for the quick-footed, and the force of the strong will become feeble, and the man of war will not get away safely:
Escape will fail the swift, the strong will not prevail by his strength, and the mighty will not save his life.
15 And the bowman will not keep his place; he who is quick-footed will not get away safely: and the horseman will not keep his life.
The archer will not stand his ground, the fleet of foot will not escape, and the horseman will not save his life.
16 And he who is without fear among the fighting men will go in flight without his clothing in that day, says the Lord.
Even the bravest of mighty men will flee naked on that day,”