Amos 2:1-11

1 Thus saith Hashem: For shloshah peysha’im of Moav, even for arba’ah, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of Melech Edom into lime;
2 But I will send an eish upon Moav, and it shall devour the fortresses of Keriyot; and Moav shall die with tumult, with war cries, and with the blast of the shofar;
3 And I will cut off the shofet (judge) from the midst thereof, and will slay all the sarim (princes) thereof with him, saith Hashem.
4 Thus saith Hashem: For shloshah peysha’im of Yehudah, even for arba’ah, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the torat Hashem, and have not been shomer over His chukkim, and their lies caused them to err, after the halakhah of their avot;
5 But I will send an eish upon Yehudah, and it shall devour the fortresses of Yerushalayim.
6 Thus saith Hashem: For shloshah peysha’im of Yisroel, even for arba’ah, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the tzaddik for kesef, and the needy for a pair of sandals;
7 They who pant after the dust of the ground on the rosh of the poor, and turn aside the derech of the anavim; and an ish and his av will go in unto the same na’arah, to commit chillul Hashem against My Shem kodesh;
8 And they lay themselves down upon clothes taken in pledge by every mizbe’ach, and they guzzle the yayin of the fined in the Beis Eloheichem.
9 Yet destroyed I HaEmori before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his p’ri from above, and his shorashim from beneath.
10 Also I brought you up from Eretz Mitzrayim, and led you arba’im shanah through the midbar, to possess the Eretz HaEmori (land of the Amorite).
11 And I raised up of your banim for nevi’im, and of your bochurim for Nezirim. Is it not even thus, O ye Bnei Yisroel? saith Hashem.

Amos 2:1-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 2

In this chapter the prophet foretells the calamities that should come upon the Moabites for their transgressions, Am 2:1-3; and the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem for their iniquities, Am 2:4,5; also the judgments of God that should come upon Israel the ten tribes for their sins, which sins are enumerated; their oppression of the poor, their lewdness and idolatry, Am 2:6-8; and which are aggravated by the blessings of goodness bestowed upon them, both temporal and spiritual, Am 2:9-12; wherefore they are threatened with ruin, which would be inevitable, notwithstanding their swiftness, strength, and courage, and their skill in shooting arrows, and riding horses, Am 2:13-16.

The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.