Amos 2:4-13

4Thus says the Lord, “For three transgressions of Judah and for four (multiplied delinquencies) I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it, Because they have rejected the law of the Lord [the sum of God’s instruction to His people] And have not kept His commandments; But their lies [and their idols], after which their fathers walked, Caused them to go astray.

5So I will send a fire [of war, conquest, and destruction by the Babylonians] upon Judah And it will devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.”

6Thus says the Lord, “For three transgressions of Israel and for four (multiplied delinquencies) I will not reverse its punishment or revoke My word concerning it, Because they sell the righteous and innocent for silver And the needy for the price of a pair of sandals.

7These who pant after (long to see) the dust of the earth on the head of the helpless [as sign of their grief and distress] Also turn aside the way of the humble; And a man and his father will go to the same girl So that My holy name is profaned.

8They stretch out beside every [pagan] altar on clothes taken in pledge [to secure a loan, disregarding God’s command], And in the house of their God [in contempt of Him] they frivolously drink the wine [which has been] taken from those who have been fined.

9“Yet it was I [not the false gods] who destroyed the Amorite before them, Though his height was like the height of the cedars, And he was as strong as the oaks; I even destroyed his fruit above and his root below.

10Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, And I led you forty years through the wilderness That you might possess the land of the Amorite.

11Then I raised up some of your sons to be prophets [who gave you My revelation], And some of your young men to be Nazirites (dedicated ones). Is this not true, O you children of Israel?” says the Lord.

12“But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink [despite their vows] And commanded the prophets, saying, ‘You shall not prophesy!’

13Behold, I am weighted down beneath you As a cart that is weighted down when it is full of sheaves.