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1This is what the Lord says:
“Because Moab has committed three crimes –
make that four! – I will not revoke my decree of judgment.
They burned the bones of Edom’s king into lime.
2So I will set Moab on fire,[#sn The destruction of Moab by fire is an example of a judgment in kind – as the Moabites committed the crime of “burning,” so the Lord will punish them by setting them on fire.]
and it will consume Kerioth’s fortresses.
Moab will perish in the heat of battle
amid war cries and the blaring of the ram’s horn.
3I will remove Moab’s leader;[#tn Heb “cut off” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NAB “root out”; NCV “bring to an end.”; #tn Heb “the leader [traditionally, “judge”] from her midst.”]
I will kill all Moab’s officials with him.”
The Lord has spoken!
4This is what the Lord says:
“Because Judah has committed three covenant transgressions –
make that four! – I will not revoke my decree of judgment.
They rejected the Lord ’s law;
they did not obey his commands.
Their false gods,
to which their fathers were loyal,
led them astray.
5So I will set Judah on fire,
and it will consume Jerusalem’s fortresses.”
6This is what the Lord says:
“Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions –
make that four! – I will not revoke my decree of judgment.
They sold the innocent for silver,
the needy for a pair of sandals.
7They trample on the dirt-covered heads of the poor;[#tn Most scholars now understand this verb as derived from the root II שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to crush; to trample”), an alternate form of שׁוּף (shuf), rather than from I שָׁאַף (sha’af, “to pant, to gasp”; cf. KJV, ASV, NASB).; #tn Heb “those who stomp on the dirt of the ground on the head of the poor.” It is possible to render the line as “they trample the heads of the poor into the dust of the ground,” thereby communicating that the poor are being stepped on in utter contempt (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 79-80). The participial form הַשֹּׁאֲפִים (hasho’afim) is substantival and stands in apposition to the pronominal suffix on מִכְרָם (mikhram, v. 6b).sn The picture of the poor having dirt-covered heads suggests their humiliation before their oppressors and/or their sorrow (see 2 Sam 1:2; 15:32).]
they push the destitute away.
A man and his father go to the same girl;
in this way they show disrespect for my moral purity.
8They stretch out on clothing seized as collateral;
they do so right beside every altar!
They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied;
they do so right in the temple of their God!
9For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites.[#tn Heb “I destroyed the Amorites from before them.” The translation takes מִפְּנֵי (mippÿney) in the sense of “for the sake of.” See BDB 818 s.v. פָּנֻה II.6.a and H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos (Hermeneia), 134. Another option is to take the phrase in a spatial sense, “I destroyed the Amorites, [clearing them out] from before them [i.e., Israel]” (cf. NIV, NRSV).]
They were as tall as cedars
and as strong as oaks,
but I destroyed the fruit on their branches
and their roots in the ground.
10I brought you up from the land of Egypt;
I led you through the wilderness for forty years
so you could take the Amorites’ land as your own.
11I made some of your sons prophets
and some of your young men Nazirites.
Is this not true, you Israelites?”
The Lord is speaking!
12“But you made the Nazirites drink wine;[#sn Nazirites were strictly forbidden to drink wine (Num 6:2-3).]
you commanded the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy!’
13Look! I will press you down,
like a cart loaded down with grain presses down.
14Fast runners will find no place to hide;[#tn Heb “and a place of refuge will perish from the swift.”]
strong men will have no strength left;
warriors will not be able to save their lives.
15Archers will not hold their ground;[#tn Heb “the one who holds the bow.”; #tn For the idiom of “holding [or “standing”] one’s ground” in battle, there is a similar phrase in Ezek 13:5; also related is the expression “to hold one’s own against” (or “to withstand”) in Judg 2:14; 2 Kgs 10:4; Dan 8:7 (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 97). Other options include “will not endure” or “will not survive.”]
fast runners will not save their lives,
nor will those who ride horses.
16Bravehearted warriors will run away naked in that day.”[#tn Or “the most stouthearted” (NAB); NRSV “those who are stout of heart.”]
The Lord is speaking!