Amos 2:11

2:11 I made some of your sons prophets

and some of your young men Nazirites. ¹ 

Is this not true, you Israelites?”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 2:16

2:16 Bravehearted ²  warriors will run away naked in that day.”

The Lord is speaking!

Amos 3:10

3:10 “They do not know how to do what is right.” (The Lord is speaking.)

“They store up ³  the spoils of destructive violence ⁴  in their fortresses.

Amos 3:13

3:13 Listen and warn ⁵  the family ⁶  of Jacob! ⁷ 

The sovereign Lord, the God who commands armies, ⁸  is speaking!

[2:11]  ¹ tn Or perhaps “religious devotees” (also in the following verse). The Hebrew term נָזִיר (nazir) refers to one who “consecrated” or “devoted” to God (see Num 6:1-21).

[2:16]  ² tn Or “the most stouthearted” (NAB); NRSV “those who are stout of heart.”

[3:10]  ³ tn Heb “those who.”

[3:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “violence and destruction.” The expression “violence and destruction” stand metonymically for the goods the oppressors have accumulated by their unjust actions.

[3:13]  ⁴ tn Or “testify against.”

[3:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[3:13]  ⁶ tn These words are spoken to either the unidentified heralds addressed at the beginning of v. 9, or to the Egyptians and Philistines (see v. 9b). Another possibility is that one is not to look for a specific addressee but rather appreciate the command simply as a rhetorical device to grab the attention of the listeners and readers of the prophetic message.

[3:13]  ⁷ tn Traditionally, “the God of hosts.”