Chapter 2
Moab
1 Thus says the Lord:
For three crimes of Moab, and now four—
I will not take it back—
Because he burned to ashes
the bones of Edom’s king,
2 I will send fire upon Moab,
and it will devour the strongholds of Kerioth;
Moab shall meet death amid uproar,
battle cries and blasts of the ram’s horn.
3 I will cut off the ruler from its midst,
and all the princes I will slay with him, says the Lord.
Judah
4 Thus says the Lord:
For three crimes of Judah, and now four—
I will not take it back—
Because they spurned the instruction of the Lord,(A)
and did not keep his statutes;
Because the lies which their ancestors followed
have led them astray,
5 I will send fire upon Judah,
and it will devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.
Israel
6 Thus says the Lord:
For three crimes of Israel, and now four—
I will not take it back—
Because they hand over the just for silver,
and the poor for a pair of sandals;(B)
7 They trample the heads of the destitute
into the dust of the earth,
and force the lowly out of the way.
Son and father sleep with the same girl,
profaning my holy name.
8 Upon garments taken in pledge
they recline beside any altar.(C)
Wine at treasury expense
they drink in their temples.
9 Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorites before them,
who were as tall as cedars,
and as strong as oak trees.
I destroyed their fruit above
and their roots beneath.(D)
10 It was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt,
and who led you through the desert for forty years,
to occupy the land of the Amorites;
11 I who raised up prophets among your children,
and nazirites among your young men.
Is this not so, Israelites?—
oracle of the Lord.
12 But you made the nazirites drink wine,
and commanded the prophets, “Do not prophesy!”(E)
13 Look, I am groaning beneath you,
as a wagon groans when laden with sheaves.
14 Flight shall elude the swift,
and the strong shall not retain strength;(F)
The warrior shall not save his life,
15 nor shall the archer stand his ground;
The swift of foot shall not escape,
nor shall the horseman save his life.
16 And the most stouthearted of warriors
shall flee naked on that day—
oracle of the Lord.
Footnotes
- 2:1
- 2:4–8, 12
- 2:4
- 2:6
- 2:7
- 2:8
- 2:11
Cross references
- 2:4 : Is 5:24.
- 2:6 : Am 8:6; Sir 46:19.
- 2:8 : Dt 24:12–13.
- 2:9 : Nm 21:21–32; Dt 2:24–37; Jb 18:16; Hos 9:16.
- 2:12 : Am 7:13; Nm 6:1–4; Is 30:10; Jer 11:21.
- 2:14 : Ps 33:16.
