Amos 2:6-16 ▼

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;

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. 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.

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!”

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; 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.