Amos 2 | New International Reader’s Version

1 The LORD says, ‘The people of Moab have sinned again and again. So I will judge them. They burned the bones of Edom’s king to ashes.

2 So I will send fire to destroy Moab. It will burn up Kerioth’s forts. Moab will come crashing down with a loud noise. War cries will be heard. So will the blast of trumpets.

3 I will kill Moab’s ruler. I will also kill all its officials,’ says the LORD.

4 The LORD says, ‘The people of Judah have sinned again and again. So I will judge them. They have refused to obey my law. They have not kept my rules. Other gods have led them astray. Their people of long ago worshipped those gods.

5 So I will send fire to destroy Judah. It will burn up Jerusalem’s forts.’

The Lord judges Israel

6 The LORD says, ‘The people of Israel have sinned again and again. So I will judge them. They sell into slavery those who have done no wrong. They trade needy people for a mere pair of sandals.

7 They grind the heads of the poor into the dust of the ground. They refuse to be fair to those who are crushed. A father and his son have sex with the same girl. They treat my name as if it were not holy.

8 They lie down beside every altar on clothes they have taken. They lie on those clothes until the owner pays back what is owed. In the house of their God they drink wine that was paid as fines.

9 ‘Yet I destroyed the Amorites to make room in the land for my people. The Amorites were as tall as cedar trees. They were as strong as oak trees. But I cut off their fruit above the ground and their roots below it.

10 ‘People of Israel, I brought you up out of Egypt. I led you in the desert for 40 years. I gave you the land of the Amorites.

11 I raised up prophets from among your children. I also set apart for myself some of your young people to be Nazirites. Isn’t that true, people of Israel?’ announces the LORD.

12 ‘But you made the Nazirites drink wine. You commanded the prophets not to prophesy.

13 ‘A cart that is loaded with corn crushes anything it runs over. In the same way, I will crush you.

14 Your fastest runners will not escape. The strongest people will not get away. Even soldiers will not be able to save their own lives.

15 Men who are armed with bows will lose the battle. Soldiers who are quick on their feet will not escape. Horsemen will not be able to save their own lives.

16 Even your bravest soldiers will run away naked on that day,’ announces the LORD.

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English Standard Version

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

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

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

Judgment on Judah

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

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

Judgment on Israel

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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