Amos 2

2The Lord says,

“The people of Moab have sinned again and again.

So I will punish them.

They burned the bones

of Edom’s king to ashes.

²So 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.

³I will cut off Moab’s ruler.

I will also kill all of its officials,”

says the Lord.

⁴The Lord says,

“The people of Judah have sinned again and again.

So I will punish them.

They have refused to obey my law.

They have not kept my rules.

Other gods have led them down the wrong path.

Their people before them

worshiped those gods.

⁵So I will send fire to destroy Judah.

It will burn up Jerusalem’s forts.”

The Lord Punishes Israel

⁶The Lord says,

“The people of Israel have sinned again and again.

So I will punish them.

They sell into slavery those who do what is right.

They trade needy people

for a mere pair of sandals.

⁷They 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.

⁸They lie down beside every altar

on clothes they had taken

until the owner paid back what was owed.

In the house of their God

they drink wine that was taken as fines.

⁹“I destroyed the Amorites to make room

for my people in the land.

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.

¹¹I raised up prophets from among your children.

I also set some of your young people apart to me as 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 grain

crushes anything it runs over.

In the same way, I will crush you.

¹⁴Your fastest runners will not escape.

The strongest people will not get away.

Even soldiers will not be able

to save their own lives.

¹⁵Men 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.

¹⁶Even your bravest soldiers

will run away naked on that day,”

announces the Lord.