Revelation Public Library
Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Moab,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;[a]
because he burned to lime
the bones of the king of Edom.
2 So I will send a fire on 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 officials with him,
says the Lord.
4 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Judah,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;[b]
because they have rejected the law of the Lord,
and have not kept his statutes,
but they have been led astray by the same lies
after which their ancestors walked.
5 So I will send a fire on Judah,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.
6 Thus says the Lord:
For three transgressions of Israel,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;[c]
because they sell the righteous for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals—
7 they who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth,
and push the afflicted out of the way;
father and son 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
wine bought with fines they imposed.
9 Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them,
whose height was like the height of cedars,
and who was as strong as oaks;
I destroyed his fruit above,
and his roots beneath.
10 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 Amorite.
11 And I raised up some of your children to be prophets
and some of your youths to be nazirites.[d]
Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?
says the Lord.
12 But you made the nazirites[e] drink wine,
and commanded the prophets,
saying, “You shall not prophesy.”
13 So, I will press you down in your place,
just as a cart presses down
when it is full of sheaves.[f]
14 Flight shall perish from the swift,
and the strong shall not retain their strength,
nor shall the mighty save their lives;
15 those who handle the bow shall not stand,
and those who are swift of foot shall not save themselves,
nor shall those who ride horses save their lives;
16 and those who are stout of heart among the mighty
shall flee away naked in that day,
says the Lord.
Footnotes
a. Amos 2:1 Heb cause it to return
b. Amos 2:4 Heb cause it to return
c. Amos 2:6 Heb cause it to return
d. Amos 2:11 That is, those separated or those consecrated
e. Amos 2:12 That is, those separated or those consecrated
f. Amos 2:13 Meaning of Heb uncertain
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.