Amos 2

¹The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Moab ^a

for three crimes, even four,

because he burned the bones

of the king of Edom to lime. ^b

²Therefore, I will send fire against Moab,

and it will consume the citadels of Kerioth. ^c

Moab will die with a tumult, ^d

with shouting and the sound of the ram’s horn.

³I will cut off the judge ^e from the land

and kill all its officials ^f with him.

The Lord has spoken.

Judgment on Judah

⁴The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Judah ^g

for three crimes, even four,

because they have rejected the instruction of the Lord^h

and have not kept his statutes. ⁱ

The lies ^j that their ancestors followed ^k

have led them astray.

⁵Therefore, I will send fire ^l against Judah,

and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem.

Judgment on Israel

⁶The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Israel ^m

for three crimes, even four,

because they sell a righteous person for silver

and a needy person for a pair of sandals. ⁿ

⁷They trample the heads of the poor ^o

on the dust of the ground

and obstruct the path of the needy. ^p

A man and his father have sexual relations

with the same girl, ^q

profaning my holy name. ^r

⁸They stretch out beside every altar ^s

on garments taken as collateral, ^t

and in the house of their God

they drink wine obtained through fines. ^u

⁹Yet I destroyed the Amorite ^v as Israel advanced;

his height ^w was like the cedars,

and he was as sturdy as the oaks;

I destroyed his fruit ^x above and his roots beneath.

¹⁰And I brought you from the land of Egypt ^y

and led you forty years in the wilderness ^z

in order to possess the land of the Amorite. ^aa

¹¹I raised up some of your sons as prophets ^ab

and some of your young men as Nazirites. ^ac

Is this not the case, Israelites?

This is the Lord’s declaration.

¹²But you made the Nazirites drink wine

and commanded the prophets,

“Do not prophesy.” ^ad

¹³Look, I am about to crush ^ae you in your place ^af

as a wagon crushes when full of grain.

¹⁴Escape will fail the swift, ^ag

the strong one will not maintain his strength, ^ah

and the warrior will not save his life.

¹⁵The archer will not stand his ground, ^ai

the one who is swift of foot

will not save himself,

and the one riding a horse will not save his life. ^aj

¹⁶Even the most courageous of the warriors

will flee naked on that day ^ak —

this is the Lord’s declaration.