Amos 2:4 - 2:16

4 Thus says Yahweh,

“For three transgressions of Judah and for four

I will not turn back its punishment

Because they rejected the law of Yahweh

And have not kept His statutes;

Their falsehood also has led them astray,

That which their fathers walked after.

So I will send fire upon Judah,

And it will consume the citadels of Jerusalem.”

6 Thus says Yahweh,

“For three transgressions of Israel and for four

I will not turn back its punishment

Because they sell the righteous for money

And the needy for a pair of sandals.

These who pant after the very dust of the earth on the head of the poor

Also turn aside the way of the humble;

And a man and his father go to the same young woman

In order to profane My holy name.

On garments taken as pledges they stretch out beside every altar,

And in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.

“Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,

Though his height was like the height of cedars,

And he was strong as the oaks;

I even destroyed his fruit above and his root below.

And it was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt,

And I led you in the wilderness forty years

That you might take possession of the land of the Amorite.

Then I raised up some of your sons to be prophets

And some of your choice men to be Nazirites.

Is this not so, O sons of Israel?” declares Yahweh.

“But you made the Nazirites drink wine,

And you commanded the prophets saying, ‘You shall not prophesy!’

Behold, I am weighted down beneath you

As a wagon is weighted down when filled with sheaves.

So flight will perish from the swift,

And the strong will not instill his power with courage,

Nor will the mighty man make his life escape.

He who grasps the bow will not stand his ground,

The swift of foot will not escape,

Nor will he who rides the horse make his life escape.

Even the most courageous of heart among the mighty men will flee naked in that day,” declares Yahweh.