Amos 2

1. Thus says the Lord: 1 “For three transgressions of Moab, 1 and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,[a] 1 because he burned to lime 1 the bones of the king of Edom.

2. So I will send a fire upon Moab, 2 and it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth, 2 and Moab shall die amid uproar, 2 amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;

3. I will cut off the ruler from its midst, 3 and will kill all its princes[b] with him,” 3 says the Lord.

Judgment on Judah

4. Thus says the Lord: 4 “For three transgressions of Judah, 4 and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, 4 because they have rejected the law of the Lord, 4 and have not kept his statutes, 4 but their lies have led them astray, 4 those after which their fathers walked.

5. So I will send a fire upon Judah, 5 and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.”

Judgment on Israel

6. Thus says the Lord: 6 “For three transgressions of Israel, 6 and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, 6 because they sell the righteous for silver, 6 and the needy for a pair of sandals—

7. those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth 7 and turn aside the way of the afflicted; 7 a man and his father go in to the same girl, 7 so that my holy name is profaned;

8. they lay themselves down beside every altar 8 on garments taken in pledge, 8 and in the house of their God they drink 8 the wine of those who have been fined.

9. “Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, 9 whose height was like the height of the cedars 9 and who was as strong as the oaks; 9 I destroyed his fruit above 9 and his roots beneath.

10. Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt 10 and led you forty years in the wilderness, 10 to possess the land of the Amorite.

11. And I raised up some of your sons for prophets, 11 and some of your young men for Nazirites. 11 Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?” 11 declares the Lord.

12. “But you made the Nazirites drink wine, 12 and commanded the prophets, 12 saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’

13. “Behold, I will press you down in your place, 13 as a cart full of sheaves presses down.

14. Flight shall perish from the swift, 14 and the strong shall not retain his strength, 14 nor shall the mighty save his life;

15. he who handles the bow shall not stand, 15 and he who is swift of foot shall not save himself, 15 nor shall he who rides the horse save his life;

16. and he who is stout of heart among the mighty 16 shall flee away naked in that day,” 16 declares the Lord.

Footnotes:
a. Amos 2:1: Hebrew I will not turn it back; also verses 4, 6
b. Amos 2:3: Or officials