Amos 2 - New Century Version (NCV)

The People of Moab

2 This is what the Lord says:

“For the many crimes of Moab,
I will punish them.
They burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime.
2 So I will send fire on Moab
that will destroy the strong buildings of the city of Kerioth.
The people of Moab will die in a great noise,
in the middle of the sounds of war and trumpets.
3 So I will bring an end to the king of Moab,
and I will kill all its leaders with him,” says the Lord.

The People of Judah

4 This is what the Lord says:

“For the many crimes of Judah,
I will punish them.
They rejected the teachings of the Lord
and did not keep his commands;
they followed the same gods
as their ancestors had followed.
5 So I will send fire on Judah,
and it will destroy the strong buildings of Jerusalem.”

Israel Is Punished

6 This is what the Lord says:

“For the many crimes of Israel,
I will punish them.
For silver, they sell people who have done nothing wrong;
they sell the poor to buy a pair of sandals.
7 They walk on poor people as if they were dirt,
and they refuse to be fair to those who are suffering.
Fathers and sons have sexual relations with the same woman,
and so they ruin my holy name.
8 As they worship at their altars,
they lie down on clothes taken from the poor.
They fine people,
and with that money they buy wine to drink in the house of their god.

9 “But it was I who destroyed the Amorites before them,
who were tall like cedar trees and as strong as oaks—
I destroyed them completely.
10 It was I who brought you from the land of Egypt
and led you for forty years through the desert
so I could give you the land of the Amorites.
11 I made some of your children to be prophets
and some of your young people to be Nazirites.
People of Israel, isn’t this true?” says the Lord.
12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine
and told the prophets not to prophesy.
13 Now I will make you get stuck,
as a wagon loaded with grain gets stuck.
14 No one will escape, not even the fastest runner.
Strong people will not be strong enough;
warriors will not be able to save themselves.
15 Soldiers with bows and arrows will not stand and fight,
and even fast runners will not get away;
soldiers on horses will not escape alive.
16 At that time even the bravest warriors
will run away without their armor,” says the Lord.