Amos 2

‘The people of Moab have done a lot of sins.

That is why I will punish them.

Their king burnt the bones

of the king of Edom to ashes to make lime.

₂That is why I will send a fire to the land of Moab

and the strong buildings

in the town of Kerioth will burn down.

Their enemies will shout_loudly.

They will roar like lions and they will blow the trumpet.

They will go to war_against Moab

and the people of Moab will die.

₃I will kill the king of Moab

and all his officials with him.’

‘The people in the land_of_Judah

have done a lot of sins.

That is why I will punish them.

The laws of the Lord were not important to them,

and they did not do what the Lord said.

Their forefathers worshipped false gods

and that is why the people of Judah did wrong.

₅That is why I will send fire

to the land_of_Judah,

and the strong buildings

in the city of Jerusalem will burn down.’

‘The Israelites have done a lot of sins.

That is why I will punish them.

They sold innocent people to get money,

and those people became slaves.

They sold poor people because those poor people

owed them money for a pair of sandals.

₇They trampled the heads

of poor people into the ground.

They don't do right to the people who have nothing.

A young man and his father

have sex with the same slave girl

and so they make my holy name impure.

₈They take the clothes

of people who owe them money

and they lie down on those clothes at the altars.

They make people pay fines with wine

and then they drink that wine

in the house of their God.

₉The Amorites were big people.

They were as tall as cedar trees

and as strong as oak trees.

But I killed the Amorites,

the parents and their children.

I did that to give the Israelites a place

where they could live.

₁₀Yes, I brought you out of Egypt

and I went with you

through the desert for 40 years,

so that you could come

and take the land of the Amorites.

₁₁I chose some of your sons

to be prophets

and I chose some of your young men

to be Nazirites.

People of Israel, is it true or is it not true?

₁₂But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink,

and you told the prophets not to prophesy.

₁₃That is why I will punish you.

You will fall down like a wagon

that has too much wheat on it.

₁₄People who can run fast

will not be able to run away.

Strong people will not be strong enough.

Soldiers will not be able to save themselves.

₁₅People who shoot with bows_and_arrows

will run away.

People who can run fast

will not be able to flee.

People who ride on horses

will not be able to save themselves.

₁₆On that day everyone will run away naked,

even the bravest soldiers.’