Amos 2

1 Thus hath said the Lord, For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, will I not turn away their punishment; because he burnt the bones of the king of Edom into lime;

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 against Moab, which shall devour the palaces of Keriyoth: and Moab shall die in the tumult, in the shouting, amidst the sound of the cornet;

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 cut off the judges from her midst, and all her princes will I slay, with him, saith the Lord.

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

4 Thus hath said the Lord, For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, will I not turn away their punishment; because they have despised the law of the Lord, and did not keep his statutes, and their lying idols caused them to err, after which their fathers had walked;

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 out a fire against Judah, which shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.

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

6 Thus hath said the Lord, For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, will I not turn away their punishment; because they sold for silver the righteous, and the needy for a pair of 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 That are eager after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same young woman, in order to profane 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 upon pledged garments they stretch themselves out by every altar, and the wine of the condemned do they drink in the house of their gods.

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 have I destroyed the Emorite from before them, whose height was like the height of cedars, and who was strong as the oaks; but I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.

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 And it was I who have brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to take possession of the land of the Emorite.

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 have raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for nazarites: is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith 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 But ye have given the nazarites wine to drink; and concerning the prophets have ye commanded, saying, Ye shall not prophesy.

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

13 Behold, I press down [the ground] under you, as the wagon presseth [it] down that is full of sheaves.

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

14 And refuge shall vanish from the swift, and the strong shall not make use of his force, neither shall the mighty man escape with 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 he that handleth the bow shall not be able to stand; and he that is swift of foot shall not escape: neither shall he that rideth the horse escape with his life.

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

16 And he that is most courageous hearted among the mighty shall flee away naked on that day, saith the Lord.

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