Font Size
Amos 2
Contemporary English Version
Amos 2
Contemporary English Version
Judgment on Moab
2 (A) The Lord said:
I will punish Moab
for countless crimes,
and I won't change my mind.
They made lime from the bones[a]
of the king of Edom.
2 Now I will send fire to destroy
the fortresses of Kerioth.[b]
Battle shouts and trumpet blasts
will be heard as I destroy Moab
3 with its king and leaders.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Judgment on Judah
4 The Lord said:
I will punish Judah
for countless crimes,
and I won't change my mind.
They have rejected my teachings
and refused to obey me.
They were led astray
by the same false gods
their ancestors worshiped.
5 Now I will send fire on Judah
and destroy the fortresses
of Jerusalem.
Judgment on Israel
6 The Lord said:
I will punish Israel
for countless crimes,
and I won't change my mind.
They sell honest people for money,
and the needy are sold
for the price of sandals.
7 They smear the poor in the dirt
and push aside
those who are helpless.
My holy name is dishonored,
because fathers and sons sleep
with the same young women.
8 They lie down beside altars
on clothes taken
as security for loans.
And they drink wine in my temple,
wine bought with the money
they received from fines.
9 (B) Israel, the Amorites[c] were there
when you entered Canaan.
They were tall as cedars
and strong as oaks.
But I wiped them out—
I destroyed their branches
and their roots.
10 I had rescued you from Egypt,
and for forty years I had led you
through the desert.
Then I gave you the land
of the Amorites.
11 (C) I chose some of you
to be prophets
and others to be Nazirites.[d]
People of Israel,
you know this is true.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
12 But you commanded the prophets
not to speak their message,
and you pressured the Nazirites
into drinking wine.
13 And so I will crush you,
just as a wagon full of grain
crushes the ground.[e]
14 No matter how fast you run,
you won't escape.
No matter how strong you are,
you will lose your strength
and your life.
15 Even if you are an expert
with a bow and arrow,
you will retreat.
And you won't get away alive,
not even if you run fast
or ride a horse.
16 You may be brave and strong,
but you will run away,
stripped naked.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Footnotes
- 2.1 They … bones: They dug up the bodies of kings and made lime out of them to use as whitewash on their houses and walls.
- 2.2 Kerioth: A leading city of Moab and a center for the worship of Chemosh, the chief god of Moab.
- 2.9 Amorites: This word is used for all the people who lived in Canaan at the time Israel took over the land.
- 2.11 Nazirites: People who promised the Lord that they would never drink wine or cut their hair or come in contact with a dead body.
- 2.13 ground: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 13.
Amos 2
New International Version
Amos 2
New International Version
2 This is what the Lord says:
“For three sins of Moab,(A)
even for four, I will not relent.
Because he burned to ashes(B)
the bones of Edom’s king,
2 I will send fire on Moab
that will consume the fortresses of Kerioth.[a](C)
Moab will go down in great tumult
amid war cries(D) and the blast of the trumpet.(E)
3 I will destroy her ruler(F)
and kill all her officials with him,”(G)
says the Lord.(H)
4 This is what the Lord says:
“For three sins of Judah,(I)
even for four, I will not relent.
Because they have rejected the law(J) of the Lord
and have not kept his decrees,(K)
because they have been led astray(L) by false gods,[b](M)
the gods[c] their ancestors followed,(N)
5 I will send fire(O) on Judah
that will consume the fortresses(P) of Jerusalem.(Q)”
Judgment on Israel
6 This is what the Lord says:
“For three sins of Israel,
even for four, I will not relent.(R)
They sell the innocent for silver,
and the needy for a pair of sandals.(S)
7 They trample on the heads of the poor
as on the dust of the ground
and deny justice to the oppressed.
Father and son use the same girl
and so profane my holy name.(T)
8 They lie down beside every altar
on garments taken in pledge.(U)
In the house of their god
they drink wine(V) taken as fines.(W)
9 “Yet I destroyed the Amorites(X) before them,
though they were tall(Y) as the cedars
and strong as the oaks.(Z)
I destroyed their fruit above
and their roots(AA) below.
10 I brought you up out of Egypt(AB)
and led(AC) you forty years in the wilderness(AD)
to give you the land of the Amorites.(AE)
11 “I also raised up prophets(AF) from among your children
and Nazirites(AG) from among your youths.
Is this not true, people of Israel?”
declares the Lord.
12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine
and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.(AH)
13 “Now then, I will crush you
as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.(AI)
14 The swift will not escape,(AJ)
the strong(AK) will not muster their strength,
and the warrior will not save his life.(AL)
15 The archer(AM) will not stand his ground,
the fleet-footed soldier will not get away,
and the horseman(AN) will not save his life.(AO)
16 Even the bravest warriors(AP)
will flee naked on that day,”
declares the Lord.
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.