Amos 2:1-11

1 The Lord God saith these things, On three great trespasses of Moab, and on four, I shall not convert it, for it burnt the bones of the king of Idumea till to ashes. (The Lord God saith these things, For the three great trespasses of Moab, and for the fourth, I shall not turn away their punishment, for they burned the bones of the king of Edom unto ashes.)
2 And I shall send fire into Moab, and it shall devour the houses of Kerioth; and Moab shall die in sound, in the noise of a trump (and Moab shall die amid the sound of trumpets).
3 And I shall lose a judge of the midst thereof, and I shall slay with it all the princes thereof, saith the Lord. (And I shall destroy their judge, or their ruler, in their midst, and I shall kill all their leaders along with him, saith the Lord.)
4 The Lord saith these things, On three great trespasses of Judah, and on four, I shall not convert him, for he hath cast away the law of the Lord, and kept not the commandments of him; for their idols, after which the fathers of them went, deceived them. (The Lord saith these things, For the three great trespasses of Judah, and for the fourth, I shall not turn away their punishment, for they have thrown away the Law of the Lord, and they did not obey his commandments; for they were deceived by the same idols, which their forefathers served.)
5 And I shall send fire into Judah, and it shall devour the houses of Jerusalem.
6 The Lord saith these things, On three great trespasses of Israel, and on four, I shall not convert him, for that that he sold a just man for silver, and a poor man for shoes. (The Lord saith these things, For the three great trespasses of Israel, and for the fourth, I shall not turn away their punishment, because they sold the righteous, or the innocent, into slavery for some silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes.)
7 Which all-foul the heads of poor men on the dust of [the] earth, and bow away the way of meek men; and the son and his father went to a damsel, that they should defoul mine holy name. (Who push down the heads of the poor into the dust of the earth, and push the meek out of their way; and the son and his father went after the same young woman, and in doing so, they defile my holy name.)
8 And they ate on clothes laid to wed beside each altar, and drank the wine of condemned men in the house of their God. (And they lie down beside each altar, on clothes taken as a pledge from the poor, and drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their gods.)
9 Forsooth I destroyed Amorite from the face of them, whose highness was the highness of cedars, and he was strong as an oak; and I all-brake the fruit of him above, and the roots of him beneath. (And I destroyed the Amorites before them, who were as tall as cedars, and were as strong as oaks; and I altogether broke their fruit above, and their roots below.)
10 I am, that made you to go up from the land of Egypt, and led you out in desert by forty years, that ye should wield the land of (the) Amorite. (I am he, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you through the wilderness for forty years, so that ye could possess the land of the Amorites.)
11 And I raised of your sons into prophets, and (into) Nazarites of your young men. Whether it is not so, ye sons of Israel? saith the Lord. (And I raised up prophets from among your sons, and Nazarites from out of your young men. Is that not so, ye Israelites? saith the Lord.)

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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.