Amos 2

1 Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Moab, and for four, I will not convert him, in so far as he has burned the bones of the king of Idumea, all the way to ashes.

The Lord says: For Moab’s three crimes – no, four! – I will not rescind my judgment. They have burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom,

2 And I will send a fire onto Moab, and it will devour the buildings of Kerioth. And Moab will die with a noise, with the blare of a trumpet.

to desecrate the dead. So I will send a fire into Moab. It will devour the palaces of Kirioth, with a war-cry, with the sound of trumpets.

3 And I will destroy the judge in their midst, and I will execute all his leaders with him, says the Lord.

I will kill the ruler, all his nobles I will slay with him, says the Lord.

4 Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Judah, and for four, I will not convert him, in so far as he has rejected the law of the Lord and has not kept his commandments. For their idols, which their fathers followed, have deceived them.

The Lord says: For Judah’s three crimes – no, four! – I will not rescind my judgment. They have rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept his statutes. Instead their false gods their ancestors followed, have led them astray.

5 And I will send a fire onto Judah, and it will devour the buildings of Jerusalem.

So I will send a fire on Judah. It will devour the palaces of Jerusalem.

6 Thus says the Lord: For three wicked deeds of Israel, and for four, I will not convert him, in so far as he has sold the just for silver and the poor for shoes.

The Lord says: For Israel’s three crimes – no, four! – I will not rescind my judgment. They sell the righteous for money, the needy for a pair of shoes.

7 They grind the heads of the poor into the dust of the earth, and they divert the way of the humble. And the son, as well as his father, have gone to the same girl, so that they outrage my holy name.

They trample on the head of the poor, push the humble out of the way. Father and son go to the same temple girl, and so profane my holy name.

8 And they have lain on garments taken in pledge next to every altar. And they drank the wine of the damned in the house of their God.

They stretch themselves on garments taken in pledges beside every altar, and they drink the wine of those who have been fined in the house of their God.

9 Yet I exterminated the Amorites before their face, whose height was like the height of cedars, and whose strength was like the oak. And I crushed his fruit from above and his roots below.

It was I who destroyed the Amorites for your sake, whose height was like that of the cedars, as strong as oaks. I destroyed their fruit from above and their roots from below.

10 It is I who caused you to ascend from the land of Egypt, and I led you in the wilderness for forty years, so that you might possess the land of the Amorite.

It was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt, led you forty years in the wilderness, brought you here to possess the land of the Amorites.

11 And I stirred up prophets from your sons, and Nazirites from your young men. Is it not so, sons of Israel, says the Lord?

I raised up some of your sons to be prophets some of your youths to be Nazirites. Is not this indeed so, Israelites? says the Lord.

12 Yet you would offer wine to the Nazirites, and you would command the prophets, saying: “Do not prophesy.”

But you made the Nazirites drink wine and banned the prophets from prophesying.

13 Behold, I will creak under you, just as a wagon creaks that is laden with hay.

Listen! It is I who will make you groan in your places, as a wagon groans under its load of grain.

14 And flight will perish from the swift, and the strong will not maintain his strength, and the healthy will not save his life.

Then flight will fail the swift, and the strength of the strongest will be useless. The warrior will not save his life,

15 And one holding the bow will not stand firm, and the swift of foot will not be saved, and the rider on the horse will not save his life.

the archer will not stand firm, the swift of foot will not escape, the horseman will not save his life.

16 And the stout of heart among the strong will flee away naked in that day, says the Lord.

The bravest of warriors will flee away naked in that day, says the Lord.