1 The LORD says:
I will not relent from punishing Moab f
for three crimes, even four,
because he burned the bones
of the king of Edom to lime. g
2 Therefore, I will send fire against Moab,
and it will consume the citadels of Kerioth. h
Moab will die with a tumult, i
with shouting and the sound of the ram’s horn.
3 I will cut off the judge j from the land
and kill all its officials k with him.
The LORD has spoken.
Judgment on Judah
4 The LORD says:
I will not relent from punishing Judah l
for three crimes, even four,
because they have rejected the instruction of the LORD m
and have not kept his statutes. n
The lies o that their ancestors followed p
have led them astray.
5 Therefore, I will send fire q against Judah,
and it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem.
Judgment on Israel
6 The LORD says:
I will not relent from punishing Israel r
for three crimes, even four,
because they sell a righteous person for silver
and a needy person for a pair of sandals. s
7 They trample the heads of the poor t
on the dust of the ground
and obstruct the path of the needy. u
A man and his father have sexual relations
with the same girl, v
profaning my holy name. w
8 They stretch out beside every altar x
on garments taken as collateral, y
and in the house of their God
they drink wine obtained through fines. z
9 Yet I destroyed the Amorite a as Israel advanced;
his height b was like the cedars,
and he was as sturdy as the oaks;
I destroyed his fruit c above and his roots beneath.
10 And I brought you from the land of Egypt d
and led you forty years in the wilderness e
in order to possess the land of the Amorite. f
11 I raised up some of your sons as prophets g
and some of your young men as Nazirites. h
Is this not the case, Israelites?
This is the LORD’S declaration.
12 But you made the Nazirites drink wine
and commanded the prophets,
“Do not prophesy.” i
13 Look, I am about to crush you in your place j
as a wagon crushes when full of grain.
14 Escape will fail the swift, k
the strong one will not maintain his strength, l
and the warrior will not save his life.
15 The archer will not stand his ground, m
the one who is swift of foot
will not save himself,
and the one riding a horse will not save his life. n
16 Even the most courageous of the warriors
will flee naked on that day o—
this is the LORD’S declaration.
2:1–3. The sixth war oracle identifies Moab as a very rebellious nation that God is determined to punish because the Moabites desecrated the body of the dead king of Edom, an act of vindictiveness and total disrespect for an enemy (2:1). Especially heinous in this case is the burning of the corpse, thus depriving the king of a culturally appropriate burial. So God will send the fire of war on the chief cities of Moab, and many people will die, specifically those in power (2:2–3).
2:4–5. Following the established pattern, Amos speaks about the many rebellious deeds of Judah and God’s determination to hold them accountable. Two of Judah’s acts of rebellion are recounted (2:4). First, they have not followed the covenant stipulations in the law of Moses, which they agreed to follow when they committed themselves to a covenant relationship with God; now they will be held accountable for what they agreed to. One of the ways they have failed is that they have listened to the lies of their leaders and false prophets (cf. Is 3:12; 28:15; Mc 3:5) who have led the people astray after other gods and did not stop them from unjust practices.
2:6–8. The climactic conclusion to this prophetic message is the extended oracle about Israel (2:6–16), the people Amos is talking to. They are expecting this war oracle to end with the usual positive conclusion that God will save them and use Israel to defeat God’s enemies. But Amos surprises them by using the same terminology of judgment against Israel because Israel too has sinned many times (“three . . . even four,” 2:6a). Thus, Israel is no better than these other nations and should be evaluated on the same terms. Instead of listing just one sin, Amos catalogs seven ways the people of Israel have rebelled against God (2:6–8). These rebellious acts involve the mistreatment of others (just as with the other nations), but Israel shamefully mistreats its own people, not foreigners.
2:9–16. In order to emphasize the ungratefulness and perversity of the Israelites, Amos goes on to describe God’s past acts of grace on behalf of the people of Israel, who are now rebelling against him (2:9–12). Many years ago God graciously defeated their enemies while they were enslaved in Egypt and enabled Joshua and the Israelite army to defeat the many nations (including their giants) living in Canaan. He also cared for them by providing everything they needed for forty years while they wandered in the wilderness, and he sent them prophets and Nazirites to reveal his will, but they forgot about his grace and rejected his prophets.