Amos 2

1 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment; because he burned 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 But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet:

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 judge from the midst of it and will slay all its princes with him, saith the LORD.

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

4 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away their punishment; because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after which their fathers have 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 But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.

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

6 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away their punishment; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor 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 pant 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 to the same maid, 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 they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.

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 I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet 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 Also I brought you from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.

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 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 gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.

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

13 Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed 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 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself:

Then flight will fail the swift, and the strength of the strongest will be useless. The warrior will not save his life,

15 Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.

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 courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD.

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