Amos 2

1 This is what the Lord says: The people of Moab have repeatedly sinned and so I will not hesitate to punish them, because they desecrated the bones of the king of Edom by burning them, turning them into lime.

This is what Yahweh says: “For three sins of Moab, even for four, I will not turn away punishment, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime.

2 So I will send down fire on Moab, and I will burn up the fortresses of Kerioth, and the people of Moab will die in the midst of uproar, battle cries, and the sound of the trumpet.

I will send fire on Moab, and it will devour the fortresses of Kerioth. Moab will die in an uproar, with shouting and the sound of the trumpet.

3 I will cut down their king and all their princes with him, says the Lord.

I will destroy the judge in her, and I will kill all the princes with him,” says Yahweh.

4 This is what the Lord says: The people of Judah have repeatedly sinned and so I will not hesitate to punish them, because they rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept his commands. Their lies have led them astray, the same lies that their forefathers followed.

This is what Yahweh says: “For three sins of Judah, even for four, I will not turn away punishment, because they rejected the law of Yahweh and did not keep his statutes. Their lies caused them to go astray, after which their fathers had also walked.

5 So I will send down fire on Judah, and I will burn up the fortresses of Jerusalem.

I will send fire on Judah, and it will devour the fortresses of Jerusalem.”

6 This is what the Lord says: The people of Israel have repeatedly sinned and so I will not hesitate to punish them, because they sell good people for silver, and poor people for a pair of sandals.

This is what Yahweh says: “For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn away punishment, because they sold the innocent for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals.

7 They trample the heads of the poor into the dust, and push the needy out of the way. A man and his father have sex with the same servant girl so that my holy name is profaned.

They trample on the heads of the poor as people trample on dust on the ground; they push the oppressed away. A man and his father sleep with the same girl and so profane my holy name.

8 At every altar they stretch themselves out in clothes taken from debtors as collateral, in the temple of their god they drink wine taken from the people they fined.

They lie down beside every altar on clothes taken as pledges, and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who were fined.

9 Yet it was I was the one who destroyed the Amorites before you, even though they were as tall as cedars and as strong as oaks. I destroyed them root and branch.

Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of cedars; he was strong as the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below.

10 It was I who brought you out of the land of Egypt and led you through the desert for forty years so that you could take the Amorites' land.

Also, I brought you up out of the land of Egypt and led you forty years in the wilderness to possess the land of the Amorites.

11 I appointed some of your sons to be prophets, and some of your young men to be Nazirites. Isn't this true, people of Israel?

I raised up prophets from among your sons and Nazirites from your young men. Is it not so, people of Israel? —this is Yahweh's declaration.

12 But you made the Nazirites sin by drinking wine, and you told the prophets, “Don't tell us what God says.”

But you persuaded the Nazirites to drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.

13 Now see what I am going to do. I will crush you where you are, as if crushed by a heavy cart loaded down with sheaves of grain.

Look, I will crush you as a cart that is full of grain can crush someone.

14 Not even your fastest runners will escape; strong men will lose their strength. Even the greatest warrior will not be able to save his life.

The swift will find no escape; the strong will not add to his own strength; neither will the mighty save himself.

15 The archer will not stand his ground. The quickest on his feet will not be able to get away, and even those on horseback will not save themselves.

The archer will not stand; the fast runner will not escape; the horseman will not save himself.

16 On that day even the bravest of the mighty warriors will run away naked, says the Lord.

Even the bravest warriors will flee naked in that day —this is Yahweh's declaration.”