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2. Judgment on Israel

¹ This is what the LORD says:

   “For three sins of Moab,
   even for four, I will not relent.
Because he burned to ashes
   the bones of Edom’s king,
² I will send fire on Moab
   that will consume the fortresses of Kerioth. Or of her cities
Moab will go down in great tumult
   amid war cries and the blast of the trumpet.
³ I will destroy her ruler
   and kill all her officials with him,” says the LORD.

⁴ This is what the LORD says:

   “For three sins of Judah,
   even for four, I will not relent.
Because they have rejected the law of the LORD
   and have not kept his decrees,
because they have been led astray by false gods, Or by lies
   the gods Or lies their ancestors followed,
⁵ I will send fire on Judah
   that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.”

Judgment on Israel

⁶ This is what the LORD says:

   “For three sins of Israel,
   even for four, I will not relent.
They sell the innocent for silver,
   and the needy for a pair of sandals.
⁷ They trample on the heads of the poor
   as on the dust of the ground
   and deny justice to the oppressed.
Father and son use the same girl
   and so profane my holy name.
⁸ They lie down beside every altar
   on garments taken in pledge.
In the house of their god
   they drink wine taken as fines.

    ⁹ “Yet I destroyed the Amorites before them,
   though they were tall as the cedars
   and strong as the oaks.
I destroyed their fruit above
   and their roots below.
¹⁰ I brought you up out of Egypt
   and led you forty years in the wilderness
   to give you the land of the Amorites.

    ¹¹ “I also raised up prophets from among your children
   and Nazirites from among your youths.
Is this not true, people of Israel?” declares the LORD.
¹² “But you made the Nazirites drink wine
   and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.

    ¹³ “Now then, I will crush you
   as a cart crushes when loaded with grain.
¹⁴ The swift will not escape,
   the strong will not muster their strength,
   and the warrior will not save his life.
¹⁵ The archer will not stand his ground,
   the fleet-footed soldier will not get away,
   and the horseman will not save his life.
¹⁶ Even the bravest warriors
   will flee naked on that day,” declares the LORD.

I explained yesterday the verse, in which the Prophet says, in the name of God, that the people were like a grievous and heavy burden, as though they were a wagon laden with many sheaves. I stated that the Prophet’s words are differently explained by many interpreters, who give this view, — that God compares himself to a loaded wagon, under which the people were to be crushed. But no necessity constrains us to take the same verb in two senses, active and neuter, as they do; and then the comparison seems not quite suitable; and farther, it is better, as I have said, to say, that God complains, that he was loaded and pressed down under the people, than to render תחתיכם, tacheticm, “In your place;” for this is wholly a strained rendering. But most suitable is the Prophet’s meaning, when understood as the complaint of God, that it was a grievous thing to bear the burdens of the people, when he saw that they were men of levity, and, at the same time, burdensome.

Hence the Prophet now denounces vengeance such as they deserved; and he says first, Perish shall flight from the swift, etc., that is, no one will be so swift as to escape by fleeing; and the valiant shall do nothing by fighting; for it is to confirm strength when one resists an adversary and repels assaults. The valiant, therefore, shall fight with no advantage; and then, The strong shall not deliver his own life: he who holds the bow shall not stand; that is, he who is equipped with a bow, and repels his enemy at a distance, shall not be able to stand in his place. He who is swift on foot shall not be able to flee, nor he who mounts a horse; which means that whether footmen or horsemen, they shall not, by their celerity, be able to escape death. And, lastly, he who is stout and intrepid in heart among the valiant shall flee away naked, being content with life alone, and only anxious to provide for his own safety.

The Prophet intimates by all these words, that so grievous would be the slaughter of the people, that it would be a miracle if any should escape.

We now then see how severely the prophet at the very beginning handled this people. He no doubt observed their great obduracy: for he would not have assailed them so sharply at first, had they not been for a long time rebellious and had despised all warnings and threatening. Amos was not the first who addressed them; but the Israelites had hardened themselves against all threatenings before he came to them. It therefore behaved him sharply to reprove them, as God treats men according to their disposition. I come now to the third chapter.