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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.
Amos 2
King James Version
Amos 2
King James Version
2 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime:
2 But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth: and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet:
3 And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the Lord.
4 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked:
5 But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
6 Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor 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 unto the same maid, to 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.
9 Yet destroyed I 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.
10 Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.
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.
12 But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.
13 Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
14 Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself:
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.
16 And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the Lord.
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
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New International Version (NIV) 
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