- Amos
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2
1 This is what the Lord says: The people of Moab have repeatedly sinned and so I will not hesitate to punish them, because they desecrated the bones of the king of Edom by burning them, turning them into lime.*Some have thought that they then used this lime to plaster their homes. The main point is that they deliberately desecrated the remains. 2 So I will send down fire on Moab, and I will burn up the fortresses of Kerioth, and the people of Moab will die in the midst of uproar, battle cries, and the sound of the trumpet. 3 I will cut down their king and all their princes with him, says the Lord.
4 This is what the Lord says: The people of Judah have repeatedly sinned and so I will not hesitate to punish them, because they rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept his commands. Their lies have led them astray, the same lies that their forefathers followed. 5 So I will send down fire on Judah, and I will burn up the fortresses of Jerusalem.
6 This is what the Lord says: The people of Israel have repeatedly sinned and so I will not hesitate to punish them, because they sell good people for silver, and poor people for a pair of sandals. 7 They trample the heads of the poor into the dust, and push the needy out of the way. A man and his father have sex with the same servant girl so that my holy name is profaned. 8 At every altar they stretch themselves out in clothes taken from debtors as collateral, in the temple of their god they drink wine taken from the people they fined.
9 Yet it was I who was the one who destroyed the Amorites before you,†“Before you”: or “for your sake.” even though they were as tall as cedars and as strong as oaks. I destroyed them root and branch.
10 It was I who brought you out of the land of Egypt and led you through the desert for forty years so that you could take the Amorites' land.
11 I appointed some of your sons to be prophets, and some of your young men to be Nazirites.‡Nazirites: men who took special vows of service for God, and who were not allowed to drink wine or cut their hair. Isn't this true, people of Israel? 12 But you made the Nazirites sin by drinking wine, and you told the prophets, “Don't tell us what God says.”§“Don't tell us what God says”: literally, “You shall not prophesy.”
13 Now see what I am going to do. I will crush you where you are, as if crushed by a heavy cart loaded down with sheaves of grain. 14 Not even your fastest runners will escape; strong men will lose their strength. Even the greatest warrior will not be able to save his life. 15 The archer will not stand his ground. The quickest on his feet will not be able to get away, and even those on horseback will not save themselves. 16 On that day even the bravest of the mighty warriors will run away naked, says the Lord.

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*2:1 Some have thought that they then used this lime to plaster their homes. The main point is that they deliberately desecrated the remains.

†2:9 “Before you”: or “for your sake.”

‡2:11 Nazirites: men who took special vows of service for God, and who were not allowed to drink wine or cut their hair.

§2:12 “Don't tell us what God says”: literally, “You shall not prophesy.”

© 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher